The junta has announced that two teachers from each school in Hpa-An Township, Karen State, must assist in carrying out the population census, starting on 1 October 2024.

The junta-appointed Central Census Commission has drawn up a list of the teachers it wants to help with administering the census and sent their names to their respective schools, according to school staff in Hpa-An.

"Every school in Hpa-An got a list with two teachers assigned to work on the census, and two teachers from our school are on it. They really don’t want to be involved and are quite worried. Given the current situation, helping the junta with the census is a major security concern. They even mentioned wanting to run away if they could,” said a teacher who did not want to be named.

The junta instructions to the selected teachers also said that they must attend training. District-level census training has already begun and township-level training is scheduled from 17 to 29 September.

The Central Census Commission has announced that the 2024 Population and Housing Census will take place from 1 to 15 October 2024.

Additionally, the junta is pressuring community administrators to establish village-level security teams to safeguard people carrying out the census in Hpa-An Township villages, according to locals.