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Students negotiate safe passage into Taungtha

Students have been allowed to enter the town of Taungtha in Mandalay Division after a police roadblock was removed, following negotiations between student leaders and officials.

The more than 300 students and their supporters were able to continue making their way into the town once barricades were removed by police at around 5pm, after holding talks with senior education officials.

The protesting students were joined by Buddhist monks.

Paing Ye Thu, one of the protest leaders, told DVB that the students, following a standoff with the police and local Swan Arr Shin members at the roadblock, were met by officials including the director general of the Upper Burma Department of Higher Education, Ko Ko Myint.

“Officials from the Ministry of Education offered a channel for negotiation for our demands – to hold talks with them in Naypyidaw at 9am on Wednesday morning,” said Paing Ye Thu.

“We responded that [student representatives] would attend the meeting if we were allowed safe passage into Taungtha. They then removed the roadblocks.”

It is currently unknown which government officials will attend the proposed meeting tomorrow.

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Protestor Min Min Zaw said that the column of students were around six kilometres outside of the town as of 6pm on Tuesday.

“We told the officials that if we find the results of the meeting satisfactory, we will stop the demonstration. Otherwise we will not.”

On Tuesday, the union parliament’s Joint Bill Committee Chairperson Chan Nyein, Education Minister Khin San Yi, and the parliament’s Deputy Chair Nanda Kyaw Swa held a meeting in Naypyidaw to discuss possible amendments to the National Education Law.

DVB understands that in the meeting, Khin San Yi highlighted controversial points in the law that have been the subject of dispute with the students.

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