Myanmar National Education Law 2014
Article 7 of the Section 4 also states that the commission should not interfere with the management of institutions of higher education but only assist with policy-related issues for their development.
The advisory group also stated that government committees that would be established as mentioned in the law were not designed to control universities but just to allocate budget.
[20] The National League for Democracy, the main opposition party led by Aung San Su Kyi, was rather silent on the issue.
[18] During the drafting process of national education bill, NNER met with several government representatives and was even invited to meetings held in Naypyidaw.
The protests were, however, postponed in early September due to upcoming exams but the students continued holding public talks to voice why they opposed the bill.
[16] Initially, protesters also linked their campaigns against the bill to the arrest of an ABFSU member, Phyu Hnin Htwe, charged for allegedly kidnapping two Chinese workers from Letpadaung Copper Mine.
[23] On November 14, about 350 students gathered in front of Maha Bandula Park in downtown Yangon to stage a protest against the National Education Law.
[20] Zaw Htay, the Director General of Higher Education Department (Lower Myanmar) stated that negotiations were still open, after the students rejected a meeting with the ministry.
He also said that students, parents and experts would be consulted in the process of crafting by-laws[21] Shwe Mann, the speaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, also agreed to accept written submissions to the parliament while EPIC also offered to serve as an intermediary.
Myanmar Teachers Federation promptly rejected the ministry's attempt to form a union stating that it violated the internationally accepted principles of freedom of association.
[27] After the 60-day ultimatum to convene a quadripartite expired on Jan 16, students from far afield as Pakokku, Sagaing and Monywa set out to join the march from Mandalay to Yangon.
[28] Immediately after the march began, President Thein Sein, announced in a state-run newspaper on Jan 21 that the parliament should reconsider some parts of the National Education Law and said that amendments would lead to stability and allow the students to resume their studies.
[33] On February 1 as the quadripartite meeting was taking place, the NLD publicly announced that Thein Lwin, its central committee member and the chairman of National Network for Education Reform, did not represent the party or its policies.
[34] The first quadripartite meeting ended with the students reaching an agreement concerning eight preconditions on further negotiations although the government denied the request to ensure security to demonstrators.
[35] The first three preconditions from the students –issuing a public statement after every meeting, having information on education reforms available to the public, making sure all the parties involved in the meeting have equal opportunities to participate – were readily accepted while agreement on officially recognizing student and teacher unions was reached after four-hour long discussion albeit many details pending for further discussions.
[35] Furthermore, the meeting ended without any discussions on the eleven-point demands that the ACDE issued even though the students reached to an official agreement to continue the negotiations on February 3.
[36] That early afternoon, the Ministry of Information released photos of government delegates standing in an empty room with a caption saying that the students did not show up to the meeting.
[36] On the same day, Aung San Su Kyi confirmed her opinions on the current protests, asking Thein Lwin to resign from his position in the central executive committee if he wanted to pursue his work with NNER.
At the same time, a committee representing about 260 civil society groups released a statement urging the government to continue quadripartite meetings and to refrain from the use of violence against student protestors.
[40] On February 9, the NLD released a statement saying that Thein Lwin, a member of NNER, was suspended from his position in the party's central executive committee indefinitely.
[42] At the same time, the students marching from Mandalay were approaching Pyay in Bago Region and were about a mile away from a barricade set up by 200 riot police and 100 Swan Arr Shin members.
[41] Meanwhile, the students marching from Tanintharyi Region arrived in Mawlamyine, the capital of Mon State the day before and held several demonstrations joined by the locals (thein lwin suspended).
[49] On February 19, the protesters from Ayeyarwaddy Region stalled their march and set up temporary camps in Maubin and Pathein Townships as they waited for the decision from the parliament while giving public talks on the latest updates on the agreements they had with the government and the content of the proposed amendment bill.
[50] That day, Union Nationalities Alliance announced that they were in support of the student protests and donated $1000 while at the same time urging the parliament to quickly pass the amendments.
[54] The bill that the Ministry of Education proposed, according to Thein Lwin, the chairman of NNER, was the one presented at first at the quadripartite meeting but agreed to be discarded by the government.
[56] Later that day, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (SSMNC) – a body of government-appointed monks in charge of regulating Buddhist monks in Burma – issued a statement to the parliament publicly accusing that the proposed amendment bill that recognized unions will result in confusion between religious and political issues, leading to the demise of the roots of Theravada Buddhism.
[61] Earlier that day, students negotiated with Bago Region Border and Security Affairs Minister Col. Thet Htun who urged them to halt their march.
[66] On March 6, all eight students were released but they were charged under Article 18 of Peaceful Assembly Law for organizing unlawful protest, which could result in up to one-year prison sentence.
[68] After their second attempt an hour later, the police declared that the protest was illegal and ordered the students to evacuate the monastery five persons at a time and not to leave Yangon in one group.
[68] At 2:30 pm on the same day, a group of students marching from Hledan junction in Yangon to downtown was also dispersed using force, minutes after the protest began.
