6 June
THE 15th-day meeting of the twelfth regular session of the Second Pyithu Hluttaw was held yesterday.
First, U Kyaw Min, MP for Letpadan constituency, raised a question on whether the 2.199 acres of Zeepyugon station hos-pital’s compound will be relin-quished by the Department of Agriculture.
U Hla Kyaw, the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Live-stock and Irrigation, replied that the department will relin-quish the confiscated land so that the hospital may expand its facilities and better benefit the public.
No decrease planned for import car tariffs
U Ohn Khin, MP for Palaw constituency, asked whether there were plans to reduce the tariffs for car imports to more suitable rates, whether parking fees, overnight parking fees and other related fees car owners have to pay on the road will be increased, and whether effec-tive action will be taken against vehicle owners for breaking the law.
U Kyaw Myo, Deputy Min-ister for Transport and Com-munications, replied that there are currently no plans to reduce fees for vehicle license registra-tion of foreign imports or over-due damage fees.
He explained that the Min-istry of Commerce handles the permits for car imports and whether to increase or reduce restrictions.
He said the Customs Department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance tax-es car imports depending on their category but the value is always within 3 to 40 per cent of the vehicle’s real value. These rates are in compliance with the ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature 2017 that was implemented on 1 October of the same year, said the Deputy Minister.
He said the Road Transport Administration Department un-der his ministry collects licence plate registration according to rates confirmed by the Union Government. He said they col-lect tax to acquire the neces-sary contribution to the national budget and exempts tax for cer-tain vehicles after careful legal scrutiny.
Local graduates to be prioritized in subnational teacher appointments
MPs then debated a motion tabled by U Nyein Hein, MP for Thanbyuzayat constituency. The motion urges the Union Gov-ernment to implement a policy that prioritizes the appointment of local ethnic graduates in the teacher selection process of their respective regional school.
Tatmadaw representative Lt-Col Moe Kyaw Oo said the new KG+12 education system is quite different from the former system and will be challenging for a teacher who has not com-pleted all required courses to teach in those classes. He said if those teachers were to take leave due to various health or personal reasons, then it would compromise the students’ learning schedule. He suggest-ed forming township observa-tion groups to quickly provide substitute teachers should the need arise. He also said the ethnic graduates would have finished school during the pre-vious education system and sug-gested providing them special courses to become acquaint-ed with the new KG+12 sys-tem before being appointed as teachers.
The motion was further discussed by U Saw Kyaw Win Maung, MP for Kyaikmaraw constituency, U Kun Than Htoo, MP for Hsihseng constituency, U Kyaw Swe Win, MP for Ka-whmu constituency, U Saw Vic-tor Clyde, MP for Thandaunggyi constituency, U Ar Moe Si, MP for Khaunglanphu constituency, and U Nyunt Win, MP for Kan-petlet constituency.
Next, Deputy Minister for Education U Win Maw Tun discussed the motion. He said the Department of Higher Ed-ucation suggests matriculation graduates to apply for the Di-ploma in Teacher Education (D.T.Ed) course and assigns them to the relevant subnational education college depending on their grades.
He said the department also suggests the Pre Primary Teacher Training (PPTT) for college graduates as preparation for entering the workplace.
The Deputy Minister said supporting local graduates to ap-ply for teaching positions within their region decreases the costs and challenges that come with assigning teachers to states/regions they are foreign to and promotes student attendance in those respective regions. He said the ministry is actively working towards prioritizing appoint-ment of local ethnic teachers who fulfil all the specified crite-ria and asked for the Hluttaw to approve the motion.
The Speaker then asked for the opinion of the MP tabling the motion, who replied his approval. After calling for the deliberation of the Hluttaw, the Speaker an-nounced the motion has been approved as no one voiced any objection. (Translated by Zaw Htet Oo)
