Mon Language Axed from State Schools in Thaton

By LAWI WENG

State-run schools in Thaton District in Mon State will no longer conduct Mon language classes, according to the Mon National Education Department.

The decision will directly affect some 3,000 primary and secondary school students at 30 schools in Thaton District.

A senior member of the Mon National Education Department, which is under the control of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), told The Irrawaddy on Monday: “Most students were not interested in attending classes when they had to attend outside the regular school times. That was why we decided to stop running this curriculum.”

The Mon language curriculum—which was taught to Mon students between 7 and 8 a.m. on school days—was ceased in June due to a lack of participants, said the official.

“The reason students did not attend the classes was because the schools’ authorities introduced extracurricular tuition, making the students too busy to attend other classes,” the source said.
“We asked the school authorities many times to allow us to run our Mon curriculum,” she said. “However, they said that the decision was passed down from higher authorities.”

Mi Hong Sar, a teacher in Thanbyuzayaut Township near the Mon capital Moulmein, said that many Mon teachers were worried that other schools would be ordered to cut Mon classes.

According to statistics from the Mon National Education Department, there are currently 157 schools teaching in Mon language in Mon State, while 114 schools offer a mixed curriculum of Burmese and Mon-language lessons.

Since the NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese junta in 1995, an informal understanding between all parties has allowed for Mon language to be taught in state-run schools in Mon State, said the source at the Mon National Education Department.

In 2002, Mon classes became an integral part of school curricula in Mon State, a move seen by many Mon people as a benefit of the ceasefire agreement.

However, relations soured in 2003 when the NMSP attended a national constitutional convention held by the regime, but left after a proposal to federalize Burma was rejected. Later the party simply sent observers to the convention.

The NMSP released a statement rejecting the junta’s referendum in early March 2008, citing fears that the process would strengthen the regime by giving it the veneer of democracy without resulting in any actual changes.

In April, The Irrawaddy reported that Mon cultural activities were being banned or deliberately assimilated by Burmese and Thai policies. In Burma, the name of the Mon National Museum was changed to the “National Museum,” and members of the Mon Literature and Culture Association were replaced by junta associates.

In February, organizers of Mon National Day in Thailand were told not to play Mon songs or encourage traditional Mon dancing at the one-day festival. Officials also urged the Thai public not to support the event.

Nai Santhorn, the chairman of the Mon Unity League, told The Irrawaddy on Monday he believed the Burmese authorities were not genuine. “What they say and what they do are different things,” he said. “They parade ethnic people on TV saying they are promoting ethnic culture and literature. Indeed, what they are doing is dominating our literature and culture.”

"The language policy applied by successive [Burmese] military regimes has been to ‘Burmanize’ at the expense of the language and culture of indigenous nationalities," said Dr Thein Lwin, a Burmese education scholar.

Derived from ancient Indian Brahmin script, Mon is one of the oldest and most influential languages in the region, its alphabet forming the foundation for Burmese, Thai, Khmer and Laotian scripts. However, there are now estimated to be less than 750,000 Mon speakers in Thailand and Burma.