Mon literature and culture summer schools struggle to keep classrooms open

Loa Htaw, IMNA
13, May 2010

Mon literature and culture summer schools must rely solely on Mon donors for funding, Mon National Literature and Culture Committee (MNLCC) Joint Secretary Nai Hong Dein informed IMNA today. Schools and students alike are suffering as a result.

Nai Hong Dein informed IMNA that funding from a foreign NGO* was cut two year ago, after the organization had provided the MNLCC with financial support for 10 years. This year, the MNLCC has only received aid from Mon individuals and organizations based abroad.

“This year, we have cut down expenditures on the school activities based on the funds we received from our people. We received 600, 0000 kyat for books and 400,0000 kyat for state-level examinations and providing [top students] awards in the closing ceremonies,” he explained. “Normally, it [the Mon summer school project] costs at least 120,00000 kyat per year [to run]”.

“We are not sure where we will get the funds and how we are going to survive for next year. But we will keep running the schools anyway,” he added.

The Mon summer school program was founded by Mon monks in 1941 and has been run by the MNLCC ever since. Traditionally, the Mon community both within Burma and abroad has met most of the needs of the schools, with the aid of some additional funding provided by NGOs based inside Burma.

The summer schools are organized by the MNLCC to give young Mon students the opportunity to study their own ethnic group's literature and culture, subjects which are barred from inclusion in the state-controlled government school curriculum, taught in Mon State during the regular school year.

According to MNLCC statistics, in 2006 the summer school program enrolled a total of 63,320 students and had 1,900 volunteer teachers. The schools operate in almost every township in Mon State, as well as in some villages in Pegu District and Karen State.

Mon literature and culture classes are usually held during Burma's summer season, lasting from March through May, when schoolchildren in Burma are on summer break from government school.

*Editors Note: Name withheld for legal reasons