KYAUNG PADAUNG, Mandalay Division — Thousands of supporters greeted student demonstrators upon their arrival on Thursday in Kyauk Padaung, after more than a week-long march from Mandalay that is set to end in Rangoon.
The students set out from Burma’s second largest city on Jan. 20, demanding changes to a new National Education Law and more inclusive consultation on education reform.
Dozens of local university and high school students, as well as other supporters, joined the procession as it entered the city limits, walking with them until they reached a monastery where the crowd will spend the night.
Some students, however, said that they were “afraid” to join the demonstrators because they had been warned of possible arrest.
“We want to join them,” said a student at the Government Technical Institute who wished to remain anonymous, “but our teachers said that we have to do it at our own risk because we could be arrested and jailed.”
Following a speech by student leaders at the institute, several of its students joined the procession nonetheless as they carried on through the town.
Student demonstrations gained traction soon after passage of the National Education Law in September 2014. Its critics claim the legislation centralizes authority, restricts the formation of independent student unions and curbs curricular freedoms.
After hundreds of demonstrators set out on a march from Mandalay to Rangoon last week, the president urged lawmakers to acknowledge their grievances and amend the law. Students responded that they would not end the protests until the government guaranteed an inclusive review process beginning with quadripartite talks between students, advocates, lawmakers and the president.
On Wednesday, the government agreed to host quadripartite discussions on Feb. 1 in Rangoon. Demonstrators said that they will pause their protest on that day, but will continue their trek until that time despite students’ claims of increasing pressure from local authorities.
“We plan to change the way we protest, to put more pressure on the government to amend the National Education Law,” said Thiha Wintin, one of the leaders of the movement. “We will never stop until we reach our goal.”
