Military coup in Myanmar: Army apparently suspends more than 125,000 teachers

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Demonstration against the military coup in Yangon: "You are threatening us with layoffs so that we can get back to work"

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STR / AFP

The military authorities in Myanmar apparently suspended more than 125,000 teachers shortly before the start of the new school year for having committed civil disobedience, according to the military.

This was reported by a representative of the country's teachers' association to the Reuters news agency.

He did not want to reveal his name because he was already on the junta's wanted list.

Some parents and teachers announced that they would boycott the new school year as part of the campaign against the military junta.

"They're threatening us with firing so we can get back to work," said the teacher's rep.

If so many teachers were fired, the school system would collapse.

He was told that the lawsuit against him would be dropped when he returned to work.

According to the latest available data, Myanmar has a total of 430,000 teachers.

There was initially no statement from the junta or the Ministry of Education.

The state newspaper "Global New Light of Myanmar" has called on teachers and students to return to schools in order to get the education system going again.

According to information from the teachers' association, 19,500 university employees were also suspended.

Students are at the forefront of the protest movement, and many are planning to boycott teaching.

Army takes brutal action against the protests

The military in the Southeast Asian country couped on February 1 and ousted the head of government Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since then, there has been chaos and violence in Myanmar.

The army tries to brutally suppress any resistance.

It abducts activists and persecutes opposition members with relentless harshness.

According to estimates by the prisoners' aid organization AAPP, almost 800 people have been killed since the coup.

More than 5,000 were arrested.

Those who escape from custody often bear traces of brutal torture.

The UN fears a civil war in Myanmar like the one in Syria, and the country is also heading for a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi is under house arrest.

Your National League for Democracy (NLD) had clearly won the election last November, and on Friday it became known that the military government wanted to ban the party.

The junta speaks of alleged election fraud by Suu Kyi, but has not yet provided any evidence of this.

Observers had described the vote as free and fair overall.

slü / Reuters