7 February 2024
Chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that the armed conflict in the country is leading to the destruction of the country and the suffering of all the people, therefore, all stakeholders necessary to protect the country with patriotism and the spirit of the union in the message of 77th Anniversary of Shan State Day.
All ethnic people in the entire nation, including Shan ethnics, fought against the oppression of colonialists with the sacrifice of life, blood and sweat with patriotic spirit and regained independence. However, it is noticeable that the evil legacy of the divide-and-rule policy has been triggering the disintegration of the national unity in the Union, causing internal armed conflicts till today.
Especially attempts to cause armed conflicts, clashes, unrest, and violent attacks in ethnic areas, including Shan State, bring plights to local ethnic people. Moreover, everybody needs to accept and review that such conflicts can deteriorate local peace and stability as well as the development process in addition to harming the State.
As terrorists not only focus on their interests but commit deterioration of local peace and stability and destroy pagodas, stupas, as well as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and buildings, residents are experiencing myriad hardships. Hence, now is the time for all stakeholders and ethnic people to deeply consider the prevalence of peace and stability and forging durable peace. I would like to urge everyone that if they do so late, they will face greater disadvantages, and the country will face danger.
All ethnic people, including youths, have knowledge, technology, and the capacity for critical thinking to build a Union based on democracy and federalism. The government is implementing a comprehensive education system to turn out human resources necessary for nation-building tasks. As education is a basic foundation for the development of the nation, efforts are being made to create learning opportunities for all school-age children to pursue education and to complete the KG+9 scheme of at least middle school education and acquire vocational education such as industrial, agriculture and livestock farming tasks at the middle school level.
