eThe military coups in Myanmar’s history have continually destroyed the dreams of the youths. On February 1, 2021, with the reasons for lying about the election results, the Myanmar military took over the country. The military arrested President U Win Myint including leader Daw Aung San Su Kyi and some of the National League for Democracy (NLD) electors. For this injustice action, thousands of people came to the road to revolt against the military and participated in the Spring Revolution. Then, a large number of government staff from different fields including students joined the Civil Disobedience Movement in protesting the actions of the Myanmar military. During the coup, the Myanmar dictatorship committed various kinds of violence such as arresting, killing, and seizing assets of the Myanmar people who were against its rules (Jurist Staff, 2023). According to Assistance Associaton Political Prisoners’ data published in 2023, there were 4162 people killed and 13639 people arrested by the Myanmar Military since the coup began in 2021 (AAPP, 2023). Because of the military coup, the plans to open schools and universities after the COVID-19 crisis were delayed for months, and students had to lag off their education. Also, the dreams of Myanmar students who were ready to fulfill before the coup were shut down and some students lost not only their dreams but also their lives resisting the Dictatorship during the coup. Moreover, the military destroyed the infrastructure of the school and reduced the access to educational opportunities for Myanmar students.
How were the dreams of Myanmar students before the coup?
Before the military Coup happened, each of the young people in Myanmar had a dedicated dream to fulfill till they reached their target mark but those dreams were smashed by the coup. According to the Jurist Staff interview series with Myanmar students, one of the students studying law major in her final year whose dream to be a judge after her graduation had been destroyed by the coup. Before the coup, she was spending her academic year to fulfill her dream of working as an assistant at a local firm. But she chose to stop her academic studies instead of learning under an unjust Myanmar Dictatorship (Jurist Staff, 2023). Similarly, a young girl who was a student from Yangon’s National Management Degree College was trying hard to apply her journalism dream before the coup. When the coup took place, she participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) instead of following the Dictatorship’s educational system (Nora, 2023). In addition, a final-year medical student had a dream to become a doctor who would like to contribute to society with his abilities. However, he chose to change his career rather than become a doctor under an unjust group’s regime (Nora, 2023). In this coup, young students who will have to apply their educational pathway along their dreams revolted against the Dictatorship letting go of their dreams, and participated in the CDM movement. Those kinds of young people, who were ready to achieve their future goals were interrupted to miss their educational pathway by the Myanmar military coup.
How Myanmar students had to sacrifice their lives and dreams
During the coup, young students who wanted justice and democracy in the country had to sacrifice not only their dreams but also their lives to resist the dictatorship. Among those students, one who participated in the Spring Revolution protests was killed by the military (Myo,2021). He had a dream to become a network engineer but he never could achieve his dream. Similarly, the next Engineering student who got the highest mark in University was shot during the protest not only his right arm but also his civil engineer dream. He said “In my imagination, I still think ‘my hand is there’. I think that I can curl up my fingers, but they’re not there anymore, Sometimes when I go to sleep at night I feel so sad: ‘Oh, my hand is gone” (Myo,2021, para. 11). The military devoured not only the dreams of Myanmar young students but also their lives. As the nature of young students hate unjust oppressions, Ko Phyo Wai Soe and his senior Ko Myat Thu who were Technological University students before the coup decided to resist the Military regime and joined military training in 2021 (Zan,2022). Those kinds of young students who will be in the classroom advocating their personal development skills had to arm the guns instead of the pens. A commander of Yaw Defense Force deputy, Ko Phyo Wai Soe sacrificed his life in “a front-line guerilla operation in Gangaw” fighting the dictatorship ( Zan, 2022, para. 1). Who could say if those young students were not demolished by the military coup, they would be the successful people in their lives. But the futures of young and brave students were broken in time to be unable to continue their dreams.
Attacks on the infrastructure of the school
Not only did the military destroy the dreams of Myanmar students but also they demolished the educational buildings as their weapon and terrorized the security of the students and teachers (GCPEA, 2022). Although some of the teachers and students returned to military government school because of financial problems and various situations since the middle of 2021, they were also threatened by the military to sign not to join the CDM movement in the future (GCPEA, 2022). According to the UN data, there were 320 cases of using schools and universities as their weapons and 260 attacks on educational buildings using explosive weapons. Those kinds of attacks and suspending the schools as their weapon decreased the rate of attendance of the students in the schools and made the barriers to continuing their education (GCPEA, 2022). The military exploded bombs and targeted schools especially in the areas of the People Defense Force (PDF) army largely influenced such as Sagaing, Magway, and Kareni State (Htun,2023). Among them, the school in Kani’s Shu Khin Thar village in Sagaing Region was attacked by the military Helicopters and they threatened the civilians not to send their children to anti-junta schools. Similarly, they exploded bombs with fighter jets at the school buildings in San Pha Lar village in Kayin state’s Kawkareik on June 6, 2023 (Htun,2023). Because of those violent actions, young students in their targeted area could not apply their educational pathways losing their student rights and delaying their academic growth. The Myanmar military destroyed and interrupted the dreams of the Myanmar students in various ways. According to the UN-reported data, the lack of education access increased the rate of mental disorders among Myanmar students and deteriorated not only the development of the country but also the economy. In addition, the insufficient quantity of instructors and low-quality education system in the military government schools forced the students far away from higher education(GCPEA, 2022). The young students who would be good leaders of the country through higher education had to face many barriers to reach their goals when the military crushed both the education system and infrastructure.
As the Myanmar military coups in history destroyed the dreams of the youths, the military coup on February 1, 2021, also demolished the dreams of Myanmar students threatening their further education. The young people who were excited to fulfill their dreams and would be good leaders to contribute to the country had to give up their dreams revolting against the military dictatorship. Moreover, the Myanmar military shut down the learning opportunities terrorizing the schools and security of the students. The Myanmar military demolished in different ways not only the dreams of young students but also their lives. In this coup, some could not go back to their home, some could not get back to their good lives before the coup and some could not stay in their home. How could we contribute to the Myanmar students whose dreams have been destroyed by the military coup missing their ways to recover from that situation and go straight their way?
Reference
Graphs of arrest and death data as of October 31, 2023 collected and compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) since the February 1, 2021 military coup. (2023, November 1). Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. https://aappb.org/?p=26621
Htun, W. (2023, June 7). Myanmar military is stepping up attacks on schools ahead of school year. Radio Free Asia.
Myanmar Coup interview series: ‘The fact is, I cannot bear to live under oppression’. (2023, September 27). Jurist Staff Legal News & Commentary. https://www.jurist.org/features/2023/09/27/myanmar-coup-interview-series-the-fact-is-i-cannot-bear-to-live-under-oppression/
Myo, J. (2021, May 28). Myanmar’s Youth Lose Their Dreams for the Future Amid Junta Crackdowns. Radio Free Asia. Asia.https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/dreams-05282021180944.html
Nora. (2023, February 10). The Crisis in Education Under Myanmar’s Military Rulers. The Irrawaddy.https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/the-crisis-in-education-under-myanmars-military-rulers.html
The Impacts of Attacks on Education and Military Use in Myanmar. (2022, September). Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kqG41lX-orY-RWMNP974CViNDxu51TvC/view?usp=sharing
Zan, H. (2022, October 20). Young but Determined, Myanmar Anti-Regime Fighter Motivates Others in Sacrificing His Life. The Irrawaddy. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/young-but-determined-myanmar-anti-regime-fighter-motivates-others-in-sacrificing-his-life.html
