TEACHERS JOIN DEFENSE TRAINING

(Kao Wao: October 4, 2003)

Public schools in Thanbyu Zayat had to change their teaching schedule after all civil servants were ordered to attend the "State Defense Force" training in town.

All schoolteachers and government employees must attend the training; their normal school time has shifted to adjust to a training time according to IMNA news.

Schools are open from 8 am to 1 pm in October. Civil servants in Thanbyu Zayat are divided into groups and ordered to attend the training in the Burma Army compound located about 5 miles from the city. The teachers are ordered to join the training after school hours in the afternoon.

A trader who recently arrived to the Thai border reported the civil servants in Mudon Township are also to attend similar training at the Infantry Battalion No. 209 of BA.

"In Mudon the training is from 10 am to 12 pm in the morning and 1 to 3 in the afternoon. The training is done in shifts, leaving one half to teach in the schools," he said.

The source from Ye reported that government employees in Ye also are to attend the training at the Infantry Battalion No. 61.

"When it's raining, we learn only in the class. It's a waste of time and money and we lose our time at work", said a trainee from southern Ye Township.

The authorities also collect money from the civilians to cover the expenses of the training and trainees must buy a uniform with their own money.

The BA instructs trainees on how to use small arm weapons and employ propaganda mechanisms to defend the State against foreign invasion and other destructive elements as defined by the SPDC authorities.