Junta-controlled schools in Mawlamyine City, the Mon State capital, are illicitly collecting fees from students enrolling in school despite the junta’s pledge to provide free education.

The junta has said that all children should be able to continue their education without interruption and it designated 22 May to 1 June 2025 as nationwide school enrolment week. It also announced that no fees would be charged during school enrollment, including any fees for classrooms, sports, clubs and organisations, learning materials, and library use.

But, the father of a student said that this is nothing but junta rhetoric and that schools in Mawlamyine City are demanding money under various pretexts when children enrol at school or when they issue permission for a child to transfer to another school.

He said to Than Lwin Times: “Free education sounds good, but it’s not true in reality. When I went to get my child’s transfer certificate, it wasn’t free at all. The school said I had to pay for donations and other fees. They told me I needed to meet the headmistress to complete the process, and for occasions like that, parents had to put 200,000 or 250,000 MMK in an envelope and hand it over. I had to make the same payment too.”

A teacher who refused to work for the junta and joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) said that because the junta does not pay teachers adequately they have to find ways to supplement their meagre incomes, such as by taking money from parents during enrolment.

He said: “The junta claims to provide free education, but in reality, teachers aren’t earning enough to get by. That’s why some of them turn to these kinds of practices to make extra money, even though they know it’s not the right thing to do. On the other hand, there are parents who are already struggling financially but still try to send their kids to school. Having to pay additional fees just adds to their burden.

He warned that if the junta continues to overlook these illicit payments demanded by education officials, poor families may choose not to enrol their children in school, which could result in declining enrolment rates and more children being excluded from education.

Some families chose not to complain or speak out about teachers demanding fees because they worried that doing so might harm the educational prospects of their children.

The junta has promised to provide not only free education but also free books, textbooks, pencils, pens, and other school supplies to encourage children to attend school.

Including government, private and monastic schools there are about 200 schools in Mawlamyine City, according to the Township General Administration Office.