The military junta in Mon State has launched a teacher training program to deliver propaganda under the guise of “legal awareness education,” according to local sources.
The training program, held at Basic Education High School No. 8 in Mawlamyine Township, runs from November 4 to November 15, targeting 98 teachers, including high school teachers and some principals. An education department source explained that the training instructs teachers to promote the actions of the military junta to students, teaching methods for disseminating this information within the school system.
“This training involves high school teachers and some principals. It is designed to prepare them to convey what the junta is doing in the name of ‘national activities’ to students, aiming to spread these ideas within the school system,” the source said.
The junta plans to introduce subjects like constitutional law, military law, and “anti-terrorism” laws into basic education, starting with Grades 11 and 12, with the intent to legitimize its authority and counter resistance forces, according to the Burma Affairs & Conflict Study (BACS) group. The initiative reportedly aligns with the junta’s agenda to control educational content in Mon State and other junta-controlled areas, including Yangon, Magway, and southern Shan State.
At the November 4 opening ceremony of the training program, Mon State Chief Minister U Aung Kyi Thein, appointed by the military junta, stated that legal knowledge would be taught as a subject in high school, with basic concepts of law to be introduced for Grades 11 and 12, similar to legal education at universities.
The BACS group has reported that the military junta is using educational institutions, including basic schools and universities, to spread propaganda and influence students through “legal awareness” programs.
One Mawlamyine resident said, “this is one of their recruitment tactics. They present only positive developments like national progress, educational reforms, and economic growth, covering up their violent actions. The teachers and principals instruct these young students to follow whatever is taught without question.”
Critics, including political activists, argue that integrating legal studies into the high school curriculum is ineffective and diverges from traditional education systems, where legal studies are taught as a specialized subject only at the university level.
