Police Briefly Block Myanmar Student March to Prevent 'Instability'

Myanmar police briefly blocked the path of a major student protest march in a remote central region Tuesday as the government said it wanted to prevent "instability".

The procession of some 300 people -- comprised of students, monks and other activists -- was eventually allowed to proceed after a tense stand-off with police trying to halt the unauthorized cross-country march calling for education reforms.

"We are trying to stop them to avoid further tension and instability," government spokesman Ye Htut told AFP, adding the strength of the security response would be down to local authorities.

Student activism is a potent political force in former junta-run Myanmar, with young activists at the forefront of several major uprisings, including a mass 1988 demonstration that ended in a bloody military assault on demonstrators.

The group was intercepted in a remote rural area in the Mandalay region, around seven miles (11 kilometers) from the nearest village, and local police told AFP they had been asked to send personnel to reinforce the roadblock.

They added that the group had been allowed to pass in the early evening, but did not give a reason.

Activists earlier said that the situation was tense but calm.

"If we cannot continue we will sit and continue our protest," Paing Ye Thu, a student in contact with the protesters, told AFP.

Myanmar's government had initially appeared wary of acting against the rallies for education reform, which erupted briefly in November and started again last week when students began a planned 14-day march from the second city of Mandalay to the commercial hub Yangon.

But Ye Htut said authorities moved in response to continuing protests despite a statement from the president last week calling for parliament to rethink aspects of a controversial new education bill -- a move protesters said fell short of their demands.

State-backed media Tuesday reported that some students were wanted in connection with an incident at nearby Myingyan Degree College, where activists removed the national flag and replaced it with that of the student protest group.

The students say the new law curbs academic freedom and want it altered to include free and compulsory education until children reach their early teens, permission to form student and teacher unions, and teaching in ethnic minority languages.