171 teachers ‘temporarily suspended’ from duties in Arakan State

By DMG 17 May 2021

DMG Newsroom
17 May 2021, Sittwe 

A total of 171 teachers at basic education schools in Arakan State have been temporarily suspended from their duties, according to the head of the Arakan State Education Department, as Myanmar’s education system continues to be an arena for post-coup fallout.

U Tin Thein, the department head, said the teachers on the suspension list are those who did not return to schools until May 7 despite all basic education school teachers having been instructed to return on May 3.

“We’ve been instructed to release a temporary suspended list for teachers who were absent until May 7. We’ll have to follow the head office’s instruction,” said U Tin Thein.

“There are educators coming back to schools later. I don’t know about it exactly. Head office will decide how to take action against striking teachers,” he added. 

A teacher from Thandwe Township who wished to remain anonymous said she had returned to school after their head instructor ordered all teachers back by May 3. Officials from the township education department later checked in at their school.

“During the checking, I had to give them a list of attendant and absent students. They did not ask further questions,” she said.

Basic education school teachers were instructed to report for duty by May 3 to prepare for the reopening of schools on June 1, but the education community has criticised the directive as an attempt to compile a list of teachers participating in the civil disobedience movement (CDM).

The military regime’s push to reopen schools has faced resistance, with anti-junta forces calling for an education boycott as part of the nationwide CDM.