Myanmar junta closes Yangon schools (r)

[kyawkyaw@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar junta closes Yangon schools

       Mon 17 Aug 98 - 11:00 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 17 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Monday closed all schools in
Yangon in apparent preparation for
       university examinations to be held, foreign diplomats said.

       It was not immediately clear if schools outside the capital were
also closed, and junta officials could not be reached
       for comment.

       "The kids showed up for school and were just sent home," one western
diplomat said, adding there had been no
       notice of the closures.

       The government has for several weeks been advising some, but not
all, university students they could sit exams
       Tuesday for the first time since universities were closed following
campus unrest in December 1996.

       Howver, the exams were to be held at certain schools and other
facilities across the country in what diplomats said
       was a bid to avoid students gathering at campuses or travelling to
Yangon.

       "Not every school is a test centre," another foreign diplomat said,
adding "the word is they are not going to open till
       mid next week."

       The exams are to take place in an atmosphere of escalating tension
just days before an August 21 deadline set by the
       leading National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party for
authorities to convene parliament or face
       unspecified consequences.

       The NLD-led opposition won 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta
has refused to relinquish power.

       The Thailand-based opposition All Burma Students Democratic Front,
meanwhile, said students involved in the 1996
       unrest had been excluded from the new exams. The claim could not be
independently verified.



          ©AFP 1998