Once again, parents in military-ruled Burma are counting the cost of a primary education for their children in public schools. It is an annual ritual that comes with the beginning of a new school year, which coincides with the onset of the monsoon rains in June. Although the South-east Asian nation has laws affirming that primary school education is free and compulsory, the economic headaches parents have to cope with at this time of the year suggest otherwise, according to a parent from Rangoon, the former capital, who spoke on condition of anonymity.