"Myanmar university students staged a rare protest during a speech by the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at an education sector event in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday, criticizing the civilian-led government’s decision to extend the academic year by one month. She was giving the opening speech at an education sector development workshop at the Myanmar Convention Center when students from the Yangon University Union, Sagaing University Student Union, and Educational College Union stood up with signs objecting to the Ministry of Education’s extension of the school year to March. Other students demonstrated in a hallway outside the room where Aung San Suu Kyi was speaking. They also blasted a decision by the ministry to cut in half the current 10-day classes for students enrolled in distance-learning courses. Students from Mandalay’s Yadanabon University protested against the move in October, saying it would create additional expenses and hassle by requiring them to be physically present on campus for on-site classes two different times before taking their exams beginning with the 2020 school year, the Myanmar Times reported..."