AP-Dissidents Criticize Closure Of

[tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: AP-Dissidents Criticize Closure Of Myanmar Universities

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0041_01BF37B2.AC6882E0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Thursday, November 25 7:59 PM SGT=20
Dissidents Criticize Closure Of Myanmar Universities
BANGKOK (AP)--The prolonged closure of universities in Myanmar to thwart =
student protests represents a "grave danger" to the future of the =
country, a Myanmar dissident student group said Thursday.=20
Universities and colleges have been open for only about 30 months - or =
two-and-a-half years - since the current military regime came to power =
in 1988, the All Burma Federation of Student Unions said in a statement. =


At the same time, the regime has set up technical and medical institutes =
and a computer university for the military, the ABFSU said.=20

The group appealed to foreign governments and Myanmar teachers and =
academics to press the military to reopen all universities and colleges =
in Myanmar, also known as Burma.=20

"Many students do not have access to education and it stands as a grave =
danger to the future of Burma," the statement said.=20

The ABFSU, which has exiled activists in Thailand, was at the forefront =
of a popular uprising against military rule in 1988 when thousands were =
gunned down.=20

Protests in December 1996 by students demanding the right to set up a =
student union led to the closure of universities and colleges =
nationwide.=20

There is now a backlog of 400,000 high school graduates waiting to =
enroll in higher education. Universities were briefly opened in 1998, =
but students were forced to take finals exams after one month, the ABFSU =
said.=20


------=_NextPart_000_0041_01BF37B2.AC6882E0
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><B>Thursday, November 25</B> 7:59 PM =
SGT=20
<H2><FONT size=3D4>Dissidents Criticize Closure Of Myanmar=20
Universities</FONT></H2>BANGKOK (AP)--The prolonged closure of =
universities in=20
Myanmar to thwart student protests represents a "grave danger" to the =
future of=20
the country, a Myanmar dissident student group said Thursday.=20
<P>Universities and colleges have been open for only about 30 months - =
or=20
two-and-a-half years - since the current military regime came to power =
in 1988,=20
the All Burma Federation of Student Unions said in a statement.=20
<P>At the same time, the regime has set up technical and medical =
institutes and=20
a computer university for the military, the ABFSU said.=20
<P>The group appealed to foreign governments and Myanmar teachers and =
academics=20
to press the military to reopen all universities and colleges in =
Myanmar, also=20
known as Burma.=20
<P>"Many students do not have access to education and it stands as a =
grave=20
danger to the future of Burma," the statement said.=20
<P>The ABFSU, which has exiled activists in Thailand, was at the =
forefront of a=20
popular uprising against military rule in 1988 when thousands were =
gunned down.=20
<P>Protests in December 1996 by students demanding the right to set up a =
student=20
union led to the closure of universities and colleges nationwide.=20
<P>There is now a backlog of 400,000 high school graduates waiting to =
enroll in=20
higher education. Universities were briefly opened in 1998, but students =
were=20
forced to take finals exams after one month, the ABFSU said.=20
</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0041_01BF37B2.AC6882E0--