Rohingya Students to be Segregated in University Entrance Exam

RB News

March 3, 2018

Maungdaw, Arakan State -- The Rohingya students will be racially segregated from others in the upcoming 2018 University Entrance Examination in Myanmar, say reliable sources.

The University Entrance Examination is to be held nationwide starting on March 7 and the Exam Roll numbers (Admission Numbers) of the students sitting for the exam were announced last week. 

In Maungdaw Examination Centres, the roll numbers of the Rohingya Muslim students have been separated from those of other groups such as Buddhist groups such as Rakhine, Bama, Mro, Dainet and Khami; and (Rohingya) Hindus. The Rohingya Muslim students will have sit for the exam at the BEHS (2) Examination Centre and other ethnic and religious groups (mentioned above) at the BEHS (1) Examination Centre.

"Since they have segregated examination centres for our students, we fear of maltreatments of them by the Rakhine Buddhist teachers during the exams", said a student's parent.

He continued "never before has any University Entrance Examination been held segregately on the basis of ethnicity and religion. This is happening for the first time and that, too, under the (so-called) Civilian Government of Aung San Suu Kyi."

The locals are criticizing this move as a deliberate attempt by the Myanmar authorities to further polarize the societies in the region.

The number of Rohingya Muslim students sitting for the University Entrance Examination used to exceed 1,000 and but the number has significantly decreased down to only around 200 this year.

[Report by Rohingya Eye, edited by M.S. Anwar]

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