Tuesday, 22 August 2000
International Team: Re-opening of universities in Burma
"a sham"
Bangkok:-- The re-opening of universities and colleges in Burma to coincide with the recent Asean Ministerial Meeting was con-
demned as "a sham", by a group of 14 people who went on a fact-finding trip to Rangoon. They called for the international
community to support democratic reforms that would lead to genuine education reform.
The group of 14 from 10 countries investigated the situation in Rangoon and participated at a day-long forum on education
hosted by the National League for Democracy (NLD). They reported their findings to a press conference held at the Foreign
Correspondents Club of Thailand this morning.
Ms Christine Weimar Lager, a youth worker and peace educationist from Norway said: "The so-called opening is a sham. The
regime is lying. Some campuses are so far away that students have to send a representative to take notes on their behalf,
because the cost of transportation is too high. The academic year has been cut to three months. Students, their teachers and
families have to swear loyalty to the government. There is a great deal of uncertainty for everyone intending to seek higher
education."
Burma Support Group Sydney representative Ms Lucy Abbott urged Asean and the international community not to swallow the
lie that education institutions were back to normal. "The regime wants governments to reward them with aid and trade. The
re-opening is a cynical move by the regime to buy itself more breathing space without really delivering education to civilians.
What's really needed is democracy, to allow development of solutions to Burma's education crisis."
Mr Graham Bailey of the South African Free Burma Campaign said that young people themselves knew that the education sys-
tem in Burma was a sham. "As it was in the apartheid days of South Africa, this regime is using education as a political tool.
People are being denied the right to learn how to right to think for themselves." Mr Bailey, a veteran anti-apartheid activist
expressed admiration for the courage and risks taken by NLD members to speak out about the situation. "Despite the immense
risks, the young people of Burma are also engaged in developing their own alternative education system."
Malaysian student Ms Nusratnajwani Bt Mohammad was amazed that young people at the forum were willing to risk their lib-
erty for education and freedom: "A young woman stood up and said she was willing to be jailed it was obvious that many
young people felt they have nothing to lose because the situation is already so bad."
Mr Michael Bootzin of the USA Free Burma Coalition said that the regime's efforts to keep the population ignorant so that they
could be controlled was not working. "There are still people who are determined to educate themselves against all odds. They
are far more thoughtful, analytical and aware of the country's problems and possible solutions. It is the military that is igno-
rant."
Mr
Martin Lacey
of
Ireland's Burma Action Group
called on the media and diplomats in Rangoon to closely monitor the
wellbeing of local participants at the Forum. "They should not be victimised."
Dr Suthin Noppaket of the Institute of Management Development called on the government of Thailand to support efforts to
educate Burma's youth. Dr Suthin, a former Member of Parliament said: "Thailand has a role to ensure that human rights edu-
cation is adopted as a key initiative by Asean, with Burma as a focus. Thailand should also take better care to educate the Bur-
mese in Thailand as a form of humanitarian aid."
The group of 14 were academics, journalists, youth workers, student activists and NGO representatives from Australia, Can-
ada, Indonesia,
Ireland
, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Thailand and the USA
The group joined nearly 200 NLD members and supporters to discuss the state of education in Burma. The local participants
were women and men from diverse backgrounds in terms of age, ethnicity, education and professional background. The Forum
took up the entire day's activities of the NLD and included six parallel workshops on specific themes.
Video footage of the forum was presented at the press conference. The footage included a brief interview with Aung San Suu
Kyi who emphasised that democracy was essential to education reform: "Democracy in Burma first, and everything else fol-
lows."
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