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Burma reopens schools, but not all
- Subject: Burma reopens schools, but not all
- From: Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 12:18:00
Subject: Burma reopens schools, but not all universities (Reuters 08/12/97)
Burma reopens schools, but
not all universities
12 August 1997
Web posted at: 19:34 JST, Tokyo time (10:34 GMT)
RANGOON, Aug 12 (Reuter) - Burma reopened nearly
39,000
schools two months late on Tuesday, but kept closed
some 30
universities and colleges suspected of being linked
to student unrest.
Tuesday's reopening involved 38,808 schools and more
than seven
million children. The schools had been closed since
March and had
been due to reopen in June.
Rangoon-based analysts said the ruling State Law and
Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) was afraid of protests
before its
admission to the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN)
last month.
"They did not want to lose face until their smooth
entry into
ASEAN," one analyst said.
About 20 of the universities and colleges still
closed, including
cradles of last year's unrest Yangon (Rangoon)
University and
Yangon Institute of Technology, have been shut since
December
1996.
Students have been at the forefront of sporadic anti-
government
protests since the abortive uprising of 1988.
The SLORC has declined to say when the universities
will be
reopened. An education ministry official contacted by
Reuters on
Tuesday said: "The time for opening the universities
is getting closer
than before."
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.