Matriculation exams underway in Myanmar; Muslims in Mandalay unable to rebuild mosques post-quake

Matriculation exams underway in Myanmar

A source close to the regime’s education department in Yangon told DVB that stricter regulations have been introduced for the 2025–26 academic year’s nationwide matriculation exams, which began on Wednesday and end on March 17. The examinations determine whether students can graduate from high school and enter university in Myanmar.

A source told DVB that students who bring mobile phones or other electronic devices into the exam room will be sent home and barred from retaking the exam for one year. Those caught cheating during the exam face a two-year ban. Damaging answer sheets, verbally abusing exam proctors, or writing obscene content on answer papers, could result in a three-year ban, the source added.

The regime’s Ministry of Education claimed that over 265,000 students are registered for the 2025-26 matriculation exams at 890 examination centers – an increase from over 120,000 in the 2024-25 academic year. Shuttle buses and private vehicles transporting students to examination centers are exempt from the fuel rationing measures enforced by the regime since March 7.Read more

Twelve civilians killed by airstrikes in Sagaing Region

A total of 12 civilians, including three children, were killed and at least 27 others were injured by airstrikes and artillery attacks carried out by regime forces on Sagaing Region’s Wetlet and Tigyaing townships March 8-10, residents told DVB. Wetlet and Tigyaing, located 50-187 miles (80-300 km) east and southwest of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, are partially controlled by the National Unity Government (NUG).

“There were four attacks in three days,” a charity worker in Tigyaing told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A member of NUG People’s Administration Team (PAT) in Tigyaing called airstrikes targeting civilians as “serious war crimes.” Any attack carried out intentionally by regime forces against civilians could be considered a war crime under international humanitarian law.

A total of nine civilians, including two Buddhist novices under age 15, were killed and at least 15 others were critically injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Sagaing’s Kanni Township on March 7, residents told DVB. Kanni, located 40 miles (64 km) north of Monywa, was seized by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and came under NUG administration in 2023.

Muslims in Mandalay unable to rebuild mosques post-quake

The regime’s Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC) has not allowed the Muslim community to begin rebuilding mosques over the last 12 months since 152 were either damaged or destroyed by the March 28 earthquake. The MCDC told the community that it will only recognise those located on “religious grounds” registered with the regime’s General Administration Department (GAD).

“We’ve completed demolition of 33 damaged mosques with the mayor’s approval,” an imam in Mandalay told DVB on the condition of anonymity. He added that another 15 mosques in Naypyidaw, eight in Bago Region, six in Sagaing Region, and two in southern Shan State, were either damaged or destroyed during the quake on March 28.

Permission to rebuild any mosque in Burma must come from the regime’s MCDC, the GAD, as well as the Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. The renovation of mosques has been prohibited since 1958, according to the Muslim