Teachers group opposes return to campuses until coronavirus concerns ease

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 18 May 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG
18 May, Sittwe

University instructors should work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, the representative committee for the University Teachers’ Association said on May 17, amid apparent confusion over expectations for the upcoming academic year.

U Arkar Moe Thu, policy affairs and research officer of the UTA representative committee, said some universities told their instructors to return to campus while others remain at home, adding that teachers across institutions of higher learning in Myanmar should instead be following a uniform COVID-19 work plan.

“Teachers do not know if they should follow the order of the State or the Ministry of Education or their relevant rector,” he said.

In its statement, the UTA representative committee said that until the pandemic is brought under control in Myanmar, the Ministry of Education would be responsible if an instructor becomes infected with the virus due to exposure on the job.

One lecturer said all teachers at Taungup University returned to work on May 17.

“We do not know clearly why we were told to return to work,” the lecturer said.

Teachers from Sittwe University also returned to work on May 17-18, according to the Sittwe University Teachers’ Union.

“We do not know why we were told to return to work,” said a teacher from the Sittwe University Teachers’ Union, offering an appraisal of the situation all but identical to that of the Taungup University lecturer.

U Arkar Moe Thu said those instructors who returned to work did so because they were worried that they would be jobless if they didn’t, or dare not defy the orders of their respective rectors.

The Ministry of the Office of the Union Government on May 3 released a statement extending most coronavirus-related orders, notifications, public announcements and directives from May 15 to May 31.

The Ministry of Health and Sports reported that as of 8 p.m. on May 18, Myanmar had confirmed 188 cases of COVID-19, with six deaths from the virus.