MON EDUCATION RESEARCH AIMS AT CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Preliminary report of Mon Educational Research Project:  March 3, 2000

SANGKHLABURI -- Political tensions at the Thai-Burma border in the Three
Pagodas pass area have delayed a study of the Mon language teaching program
of the Education Committee of the New Mon State Party.

The study is aimed at discovering how instruction in an ethnic language
could "underpin" the resolution of the conflictive nationalistic ideologies
which provide the backdrop to the educational policies of Burma's military
regime and the ethnically based New Mon State Party.  The researcher, Thein
Lwin, is a recent graduate in educational studies of the University of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, which is jointly sponsoring the study along
with Naresuan University in Thailand.

According to a preliminary report of the project released this week, there
are approximately 343 schools in parts of Myeik (Mergui), Mawlamyaing and
Thaton districts where Mon is the majority language.  Of these, the vast
majority, 327, are primary schools; there are 15 middle schools and 1 high
school.  190 of the schools are under the control of the central
government; the remainder comes under the supervision of the Educational
Committee of the New Mon State Party.

The study indicates that in the NMSP national schools Mon is used as the
medium of instruction in the primary schools, and Mon history is taught as
a separate subject in the Mon language in the middle schools.  At the high
school level all instruction is in Burmese and, indeed, Burmese is taught
as a subject at all levels.  In areas where the schools are under the
control of the central government evening and weekend classes are organized
at Mon monasteries in the school districts.

Even where permission is granted to the NMSP to operate schools, it can be
suddenly and arbitrarily withdrawn.  In 1998, 120 Mon schools attended by
six thousand students were closed by orders of district commanders during
the school year.  They were allowed to reopen only when the NMSP agreed
that the teaching of the Mon language and literature would not take place
during school hours.

The work of the Mon Education Committee is financially supported by
organizations such as the Norway-Burma Council, Swiss Aid, the Burma Border
Consortium and the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation).  Local
communities are responsible for school buildings and housing for the
teachers.

Since the Mon language program was initiated in 1992 in-service teacher
training programs have been provided to over 700 teachers.

It is expected that the study of the classroom practice of the Mon language
teaching program will be taken up, just as soon as border tensions calm to
the point where the study can be safely and effectively carried out.