[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

SCMP-Students eager to make up for

Subject: SCMP-Students eager to make up for lost years 

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BF41DD.3E3805E0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Wednesday, December 8, 1999
  BURMA=20

Students eager to make up for lost years=20
REUTERS in Rangoon=20
Updated at 5.40pm:=20
Hundreds of thousands of Burmese students are anxiously waiting to =
return to their books for the time since the military closed campuses =
three years ago.=20
Some classes are set to resume from mid-December after the ruling State =
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) indicated this week that the =
institutions, closed following mass protests, would soon be reopened.=20

''I should have been a university third-year student by now,'' said Ma =
Khaing who passed his university entrance in 1996.=20

Maung Maung was a second-year student when classes were suspended at the =
Rangoon Institute of Technology, once a hotbed of unrest in the capital. =


''We are just longing to pursue our studies,'' she said.=20

Some students said they had been told to contact the institute to join =
classes. But they added that they had been told they could no longer =
attend classes at the campus in Rangoon.=20

They will have to go instead to three satellite towns on Rangoon's =
outskirts where campuses have been relocated, diplomats say, to get =
potentially restive student groups out of the capital.=20

''I don't mind where it will be as long as I can pursue my studies =
peacefully without further interruption,'' said another student.=20

In December 1996, students unleashed pent-up anger against the =
authorities at some campuses and on the streets of Rangoon. The =
military, unnerved by the spread of the unrest to other cities in the =
worst protests since a bloody student-led pro-democracy uprising in =
1988, promptly closed over 30 institutions a few days before final =
examinations. Over 100,000 students were affected in a move which drew =
howls of disapproval from the opposition.=20

''Never were schools closed for such a long time, even under the British =
colonialists,'' it said, calling the closure ''an immeasurable national =
loss''.=20

The opposition deplored the fact that while civilian universities and =
colleges had remained shut, military institutes of medicine and =
technology were kept open.=20

Over 400,000 students who passed entrance exams in 1996, 1997, 1998 and =
1999 have been waiting to enter universities.=20

Former Japanese premier Ryutaro Hashimoto, who visited Rangoon last =
week, urged the military to reopen universities after Japan proposed =
expanding aid to Burma if it moved towards democracy.=20



------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BF41DD.3E3805E0
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT face=3DHelvetica,Arial =
size=3D2>Wednesday,=20
December 8, 1999</FONT><BR>&nbsp; =
<!--ArticleEnd--><!--ArticleStart--><!--label--><FONT color=3D#003300=20
face=3DHelvetica,Arial size=3D2><B>BURMA</B></FONT> <FONT=20
size=3D4><B></B></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT =
size=3D4><B></B></FONT></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT size=3D4><B>Students eager to =
make up for lost=20
years</B> </FONT><FONT face=3DHelvetica,Arial =
size=3D2><B></B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Dleft><FONT face=3DHelvetica,Arial size=3D2><B>REUTERS in=20
Rangoon</B></FONT> <!--article--></DIV>
<DIV><B>Updated at 5.40pm: </B><BR>Hundreds of thousands of Burmese =
students are=20
anxiously waiting to return to their books for the time since the =
military=20
closed campuses three years ago. </DIV>
<P>Some classes are set to resume from mid-December after the ruling =
State Peace=20
and Development Council (SPDC) indicated this week that the =
institutions, closed=20
following mass protests, would soon be reopened.=20
<P>''I should have been a university third-year student by now,'' said =
Ma Khaing=20
who passed his university entrance in 1996.=20
<P>Maung Maung was a second-year student when classes were suspended at =
the=20
Rangoon Institute of Technology, once a hotbed of unrest in the capital. =

<P>''We are just longing to pursue our studies,'' she said.=20
<P>Some students said they had been told to contact the institute to =
join=20
classes. But they added that they had been told they could no longer =
attend=20
classes at the campus in Rangoon.=20
<P>They will have to go instead to three satellite towns on Rangoon's =
outskirts=20
where campuses have been relocated, diplomats say, to get potentially =
restive=20
student groups out of the capital.=20
<P>''I don't mind where it will be as long as I can pursue my studies =
peacefully=20
without further interruption,'' said another student.=20
<P>In December 1996, students unleashed pent-up anger against the =
authorities at=20
some campuses and on the streets of Rangoon. The military, unnerved by =
the=20
spread of the unrest to other cities in the worst protests since a =
bloody=20
student-led pro-democracy uprising in 1988, promptly closed over 30 =
institutions=20
a few days before final examinations. Over 100,000 students were =
affected in a=20
move which drew howls of disapproval from the opposition.=20
<P>''Never were schools closed for such a long time, even under the =
British=20
colonialists,'' it said, calling the closure ''an immeasurable national =
loss''.=20
<P>The opposition deplored the fact that while civilian universities and =

colleges had remained shut, military institutes of medicine and =
technology were=20
kept open.=20
<P>Over 400,000 students who passed entrance exams in 1996, 1997, 1998 =
and 1999=20
have been waiting to enter universities.=20
<P>Former Japanese premier Ryutaro Hashimoto, who visited Rangoon last =
week,=20
urged the military to reopen universities after Japan proposed expanding =
aid to=20
Burma if it moved towards democracy.=20
<P><!--ArticleEnd--></P></FONT></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BF41DD.3E3805E0--