MON FORCED OUT OF THEIR SCHOOLS

 (Kao Wao: May 15, 2004) 

A Mon school was forced to shut down after the State Peace and Development Council authorities confiscated land to build a government office, according to a source from Ye, Mon State. 

 “Colonel Myint Aung accused the Mon national school of competing with the SPDC’s School,” said Mi Norn, a woman leader from Lamine community. About 425 children from the Mon primary school are now out of class for an indefinite period even though the school is still standing and has yet to be demolished. 

The SPDC, she said, has confiscated land in Lamine, northern Ye township since April 2004. 

The local source reported the reason for the confiscation was to build a new office after the village was promoted up to the town level earlier in the year. 

The villagers built the Mon school with an area of 200 by 130 feet after the NMSP reached a cease-fire agreement with the military regime over eight years ago. The villagers hired Mon teachers to teach according to a Mon national education curriculum supported by the community. 

When Lamine, the biggest village in northern Ye, Mon State, was reclassified as a town, a religious site was taken over to build government offices.

Located on the Moulmein-Ye railroad, Lamine has over 4,000 households and is famous for the Kyaik Kelasa pagoda where several pilgrims from all over Mon State in the springtime season come during the 12th lunar month of the Mon calendar.