A sitting lawmaker in the Yangon Region legislature isn’t getting a free pass on final exams due to his position, the Department of Higher Education has confirmed, while acknowledging that all government employees enrolled in tertiary study are entitled to certain concessions – within reason.
U Naing Ngan Lin, an National League for Democracy MP elected last year to represent Thaketa township’s constituency No 1, is a student at the Yangon University of Distance Education, where he specialises in mathematics.
A minor social media storm erupted last week after it was revealed that he had missed final exams as he was on an excursion to South Africa with a delegation of ethnic representatives involved in Myanmar’s peace process. But being out of town as a representative of parliament does not mean U Naing Ngan Lin will be able to dodge his academic obligations.
“If government servants have duties and their respective responsibilities [to attend to] during the exam schedule, we give them the opportunity [to sit the exam at another date],” said U Thein Win, director general of the Department of Higher Education.
“It is not just for MPs – it is for all government servants such as athletes and soldiers.”
There are two different distance education exam sittings per academic year, with the main round of tests held in October and November.
Substitute exams are held in January or February for those students who are able to prove extenuating circumstances – such as obligations related to a parliamentary role.
U Naing Ngan Lin rose to prominence in the waning days of last year’s campaign period for the November general election, when he was attacked by a machete-wielding assailant on the campaign trail. He was hospitalised in the incident.
Source: Myanmar Times
