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________________ THE BURMANET NEWS _________________ 
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________________ www.burmanet.org _________________


March 23, 2000 
Issue # 1493

This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:

http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$252


_______________________________________________________ 
NOTED IN PASSING: 


"We want to be a good neighbour and want Burma to respond in kind.
But this has not happened yet"

A Thai army general quoted by The Bangkok Post on why Thailand's
military believes it blundered by supporting ASEAN membership and
constructive engagement for Burma.  (See BANGKOK POST: TOP BRASS
TURNS AGAINST JUNTA)

_______________________________________________________ 


*Inside Burma


NLM: SECRETARY-1 RECEIVES VICE-CHAIRMAN OF UNOCAL CORPORATION

UNITED NATIONS: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR--EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

AP: EXPATS FORCE BURMA TO SUSPEND SALARY RULE

DPA: BURMA ACTS AGAINST PROCURERS


*International

UNWIRE: MYANMAR--UN ENVOY APPOINTMENT COMING SOON?

BANGKOK POST: TOP BRASS TURNS AGAINST JUNTA

BANGKOK POST: BURMA IS BIGGEST TEST TO DATE

AFP: SUU KYI SUPPORTER FACES DEPORTATION

THE CANBERRA TIMES: BURMA SHOWS ITS STRENGTH [IN CHESS]


*Other


REPORT: THE TEACHING OF ETHNIC LANGUAGE AND THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN
THE CONTEXT OF MON ETHNIC NATIONALITY IN BURMA




___________________ INSIDE BURMA ______________________ 


NLM: SECRETARY-1 RECEIVES VICE-CHAIRMAN OF UNOCAL CORPORATION 

New Light of Myanmar

March 21, 2000

			
YANGON, 21 March - Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development
Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt received Vice-Chairman of Unocal
Corporation Mr John Imle and party at the guest house of Ministry of
Defence at 5 pm today.

_______________________________________________________ 


  
UNITED NATIONS: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR--EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah, submitted in
accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/17
UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-sixth session
Item 9 of the provisional agenda

**
Editor's note--
This report is available on the web in MS Word format at:

http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/ce1a
bcf0fa86d72f802568a20060e3ae/Body/0.2d70?
**

Executive summary

Political repression and the lack of real engagement in a political
dialogue with opposition groups continue to be the main sources of
measures adversely affecting democratic governance in Myanmar. The
policy of large-scale displacement of certain ethnic groups, the
continued practice of forced labour for military camp work and
portering, and related human rights violations remain the main cause
of refugee movements.

The Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations
indicated at the General Assembly last November that the authorities
in Myanmar were giving serious consideration to a visit by the
Special Rapporteur. To date no concrete steps have materialized.

Myanmar's ethnic and religious minorities, such as the Karen,
Karenni, Shan and Rohingyas, continue to suffer severe abuses,
including arbitrary arrest, killings, forced labour in the army and
trafficking of women.

The administration of justice continues to operate under the
effective control of a military regime where the exercise of the
basic freedoms of expression, association, assembly and movement are
criminalized under the law itself. Vaguely worded laws, such as the
1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1975 State Protection Law,
continue to be used to arrest and sentence persons for their peaceful
political activities. It is estimated that in 1998 there were
approximately 800 political prisoners in Myanmar.

According to reliable studies of the economic and social situation in
Myanmar, the country is riddled with abject poverty. Child mortality
rates are relatively high for a country with Myanmar's level of gross
domestic product per capita. Poverty rates are approximately the same
in urban and rural areas, but most of the poor (71 per cent) live in
rural areas. Flawed policies and inefficient mechanisms for rice
procurement are largely responsible for the high level of
malnutrition and infant and maternal mortality. Government budgetary
priorities that in effect limit expenditure on social services have
exacerbated the current situation.

The adoption by the Government of Myanmar of military solutions to
political problems, while seeking military and financial inputs from
outside the country to impose its order on the people, continues to
generate a pattern of gross and systematic human rights violations. 

Unless the regime moves away from military solutions and engages
instead in an all-inclusive political dialogue with the political
opposition, including representatives of the ethnic groups, and
addresses the concerns of the international community, the pattern of
human rights violations which has characterized the last decade in
Myanmar will continue and no significant progress can be expected
towards realizing the country's economic potential and achieving the
levels of human welfare and prosperity enjoyed by the rest of
South-East Asia. 



_______________________________________________________ 



AP: EXPATS FORCE BURMA TO SUSPEND SALARY RULE

March 23, 2000

Associated Press

RANGOON - Cash-strapped Burma has suspended a regulation requiring
its nationals working overseas to send home half of their salaries,
after the rule caused  outrage among Burmese expatriates, officials
said yesterday.

The labour department regulation issued on February 24 was suspended
last week after complaints flooded Burmese embassies. Workers abroad
were angry at the prospect of having to get by on a fraction of their
wages.

Under the rule, Burmese citizens working abroad were ordered to
deposit 50 per cent of their monthly income to accounts at the
state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank in Rangoon.

They already have to pay 10 per cent tax on their earnings to Burmese
embassies in the countries where they work.

Burma officials said the rule, apparently designed to replenish
dwindling state foreign exchange coffers, also caused confusion.

The country is suffering a lingering economic malaise, which critics
of the military regime blame on mismanagement of the economy and lack
of transparency, since the economy was opened up after 26 years of
socialism in 1989.

Kyaw Khaing, a Burmese engineer who lives with his family in
Singapore, described the regulation as "daylight robbery".

"How could I support my family? I would rather take up foreign
citizenship and pay tax to one government only," he said.

The Nation (March 23, 2000)



_______________________________________________________ 




DPA: BURMA ACTS AGAINST PROCURERS

RANGOON - Burmese authorities have taken "severe action" against two
men who allegedly lured three women to go to Macau where they were
forced to work as prostitutes, news reports said on Tuesday.

Sai Ywet Saw and Ma Nang Hwe, who ran the Thaiyai Restaurant in
Rangoon, have been charged with luring three Burmese women to go to
Macau where they were reportedly forced into prostitution, the New
Light of Myanmar reported.

"Severe action is being taken against Sai Ywet Saw and Ma Nang Hwe
according to the law," said the state-run newspaper.

The three women they had lured to work in Macau recently returned to
Burma. They had contacted the Burmese Consulate in Hong Kong which
alerted Macau authorities to their fate. -Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

The Nation (March 23, 2000)



_______________________________________________________ 


UNWIRE: MYANMAR--UN ENVOY APPOINTMENT COMING SOON?

March 22, 2000
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is likely to appoint a new envoy to
Myanmar, also known as Burma, within the next couple of weeks,
according to an official of the country's government-in-exile. 
Annan said last month he would appoint a new representative to
replace Alvaro de Soto, who is reportedly frustrated by the lack of
progress toward democracy in the south Asian country. 
Thaung Htun, the UN representative of the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma, told UN Wire last week the
appointment is likely to come within two weeks. The coalition is made
up of members of parliament elected in 1990 and has served as a
Washington-based government-in-exile since 1991. 

Although he could not provide names of likely candidates, Thaung Htun
suggested Annan would appoint someone from outside the UN system who
could fully devote himself to Myanmar issues, perhaps a retired
diplomat. 

He also said most governments would favor an Asian candidate, who
would be more acceptable to the Yangon government and leaders of the
Association of South East Asian Nations. 
Names said to be circulating include former Japanese Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto; Singapore's former ambassador to the UN and the
United States Tommy Koh; former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Musa
Hitam; and that country's former UN Ambassador, Razaleigh Hamzah
(Steve Hirsch, UN Wire, 22 Mar). 




     
___________________ INTERNATIONAL _____________________ 


BANGKOK POST: TOP BRASS TURNS AGAINST JUNTA


March 23, 2000



Asean policy toward Rangoon 'a blunder'
Wassana Nanuam
Military and national security leaders feel Thailand made a mistake
in pushing for Burma's membership of Asean under a policy of
constructive engagement.
Top brass and National Security Council officials agreed at a seminar
that Rangoon's policy toward Thailand was "two-faced", sources said.
They felt the junta has been insincere and unco-operative in tackling
the issues of drug trafficking and repatriation of Burmese refugees.
Both the military and security agencies want the government to review
its foreign policy towards Burma, the sources said.
Mistrust of the junta in Burma, especially among the brass, has
intensified as the inflow of methamphetamines increases, the sources
said. Thai youth is being "poisoned", with Rangoon doing nothing to
stem the influx of drugs produced in territory controlled by the
United Wa State Army.

The sources said several top military officers suspect that Rangoon
might be trying to undermine Thailand.
It is estimated that the illegal laboratories in Wa territory can
churn out 600 million tablets of speed this year, the bulk of them
intended for the Thai market.

The drug problem has deterioriated to the extent top suppression
officers say they are fighting a losing battle.
Drug offenders, mostly small-time pushers, now make up the majority
of jail inmates, overcrowding prisons throughout the country.
The military pointed to development at Mong Yawn, the Wa capital in
Shan state, and questioned the source of the funding, believed to be
the drug trade.

It was estimated income from drugs amounted to several billion baht a
year, enabling the Wa to develop Mong Yawn and equip their army.
Also raised was the forced relocation of 90,000 ethnic Wa from
Burma's opium-growing areas to Mong Yawn, boosting the population to
120,000.

"These people used to grow opium. If there are no jobs in Mong Yawn,
they'll go back to opium," said one general. If Rangoon genuinely
intended to end opium cultivation, it should introduce a crop
substitution programme instead of moving them to the border.
The general disputed Rangoon's argument it could not control the Wa.
He pointed to a visit by Maj-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary-1 of the State
Peace and Development Council, to Mong Yawn in the company of Wa
troops.
On the refugee problem, the sources said Rangoon agreed to take back
only those with Burmese ID cards.

"How could the refugees obtain ID cards? This is just an excuse to
block repatriation," said a senior officer.
The military also cited Rangoon's decision to shut the border, but
keep open points leading to casinos in Burma, whenever there is a
dispute.

The sources said Thailand had years ago stopped supporting minority
groups opposing Rangoon.


"We want to be a good neighbour and want Burma to respond in kind.
But this has not happened yet," said the officer.
China, meanwhile, is facing an increasing problem of drug addiction,
especially heroin and methamphetamine. The number of addicts in China
increased by 14% last year to 681,000, officials said at a national
meeting to draw up ways to block trafficking. The official Legal
Daily reported the number of addicts, noting the figure was based on
incomplete statistics. It also said police had 64,000 drug-related
cases, arrested 57,000 people on suspicion of drug crimes and
confiscated 5.3 tonnes of heroin and 16 tonnes of "ice", or
methamphetamine, last year.

Ice will be China's top target for drug suppression, Yang Fengrui,
director of the Ministry of Public Security's anti-drugs bureau, said
at the meeting on Tuesday, according to AP.

Confiscation of ice was up 10 times over the previous year, Mr Yang
said, Xinhua News Agency reported.
China is the world's largest producer of natural ephedrine, from
which ice is extracted.

Mr Yang said police also have been alarmed by increasing
manufacturing and trafficking of drugs across the border, especially
into southwestern China from the Golden Triangle, where the frontiers
of Laos, Burma and northern Thailand meet.


_______________________________________________________ 



BANGKOK POST: BURMA IS BIGGEST TEST TO DATE

March 23, 2000



Thailand has been haven to refugees from all its neighbours but
eventually arrangements have been made to return them home-except
with Burma. This is for all sorts of reasons, some not at all easy to
overcome.

Saritdet Marukatat

Thailand cannot expect any early repatriation of Burmese refugees
after Rangoon stalled on the request from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees for a monitoring role.
Burmese authorities agreed that help from the UN agency would be
useful, but last week gave a clear indication to Soren
Jessen-Petersen, the assistant high commissioner for refugees, that
they were not yet ready to discuss the destiny of over 100,000
Burmese refugees living in about 10 camps along the Thai-Burmese
border.
The response might have been disappointing for Thai officials
responsible for camps from Mae Hong Son in the North down to
Chumphon, but not so much for the UNHCR, which still has concerns
about the safety on the Burmese side of the border.

In a different way, the ruling State Peace and Development Council in
Rangoon seems unsure about its armed forces' ability to wrest control
of Karen-held border areas. Immediately adopting a Thai proposal for
the repatriation of refugees, most of which are ethnic Karens-while
the Karen National Union, the strongest armed rebel force, has yet to
lay down its weapons-would bring no benefit to the military regime.
Talks on the issue can only move forward after both sides seal a
peace deal. But the Burmese government has not responded to an
attempt by the new KNU leader Saw Ba Thin to convene talks after
decades of fighting. The silence is seen as a tactical bid to test
the strength of its foes in the wake of the KNU leadership change.
A call by the new Karen leader for Asean to press Rangoon for
discussions last month was ignored by member states because nobody
wants to get involved in Burma's internal affairs.

Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are the other Asean member states.
While security concerns seem to dominate, Burma, for real or tactical
reasons, is also balking at a legal question over the citizenship of
refugees now living on Thai soil. Though they crossed the border from
Burma, most do not have Burmese citizenship, said Pornpimon Trichot,
a Burma specialist at Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Asian
Studies.

Until the two governments can sort out this issue, Burma will remain
reluctant to take back those whose citizenship cannot be proved, and
that could leave a burden for Thailand.
"The way the Thai government bluntly proposes repatriation without
mentioning this issue, which is the key problem, shows some
ignorance," Ms Pornpimon said.

Another way for Thailand to speed up the repatriation effort is to
rally international support, as Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand
Paribatra tried to do by taking the diplomatic corps on a tour of
border camps in Mae Hong Son and Tak at about the same time as the
UNHCR mission was in Rangoon holding talks with Burmese authorities.
The UNHCR-assisted repatriation of some 300,000 Cambodian refugees in
time for a UN-supervised election in mid-1993 shows the importance of
an international role in the process. Thailand seems to be hoping
that everything will go as smoothly and quickly with the Burmese
caseload after the Thai and Burmese governments, plus the UNHCR, sit
down to map out steps for repatriation.

But the Burmese mission is unlikely to go as smoothly. A key factor
of the success in Cambodia was the strong desire of Cambodian
refugees to return home to vote in the election. Added to this was
the presence of the UN all over the country and in administrative
functions to ensure the safety of their return.
The Burmese case looks more likely to follow the time-consuming
example of negotiations on the repatriation of refugees from Laos.
Thai, Laotian and UNHCR authorities took over a decade to complete
that repatriation effort.

The reluctance of the Laotians, especially the Hmongs, to return to a
nation they fled shortly before it fell into the hands of the current
regime in 1975, and the Laotian government's suspicions about them.
delayed the process. On a number of occasions, Thai authorities had
to threaten to take legal action against the refugees in order to
pressure them into a quicker decision to return home.
The three sides took many years to move the process forward to the
final stage, when the UN agency and donor countries provided
financial and safety guarantees to stimulate the return. There now
are only about 100 Laotians still encamped in Nakhon Phanom pending
acceptance by third countries.

With Burma's poor record on human rights, democracy and especially
the use of forced labour by the military regime, the chance of
securing international support for the repatriation of the Burmese
from refugee camps seems slim.

Only assured safety in border areas and guarantees from Rangoon on
its people's rights will create the momentum for a repatriation
effort.


_______________________________________________________ 


AFP: SUU KYI SUPPORTER FACES DEPORTATION

SEOUL, March 23 (AFP) - A supporter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi faces deportation for leading protests here against
Myanmar's military rules, human rights groups said Thursday. The
dissident has been in a detention center in the western city of
Inchon since South Korean immigration authorities arrested him on
March 9, INE a South Korean human rights group, said.

"He has received a deporation order for staying illegally in South
Korea," INE spokesman Kim Jong-Hyunt old AFP.

"The order has not been executed but immigration foicials have
rejected our repeated requests that he should be granted the status
of refugee." South Korea's justice ministry declined to comment on
the 29-year-old dissident who entered Seoul in 1994 and formed a
chapter of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in
April last year. The dissident uses the pseudonym of Sharin. His
group has "dozens of 
members" who have staged a series of protests outside the Burmese
embassy here, Kim said.

"We believe his deporation order has been orchestrated by the Burmese
embassy. If Sharin goes back to Myanmar, he will be arrested
immediately." Myanmar's junt ais accused of gross human rights abuses
and of suppressing the pro-democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi
which won elections in 1990 but 
has never been recognized by the military government.

_______________________________________________________ 



THE CANBERRA TIMES: BURMA SHOWS ITS STRENGTH [IN CHESS]
January 23, 2000, Sunday Edition 




WHILE Garry Kasparov struggles to overcome his peers at the ongoing
super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, the biggest threat
to the Russian's No 1 ranking may come from an unexpected direction -
Burma. 

By exploiting defects in the FIDE world ranking system, the Burmese
Chess Federation has created an enormous pool of world ranked
players, many of whom are extremely weak players. Through scoring
heavily against their weaker compatriots, the best Burmese players
have steadily moved up the world rankings, provoking astonishment in
early 1999 when it was discovered that Burma had as many high-rated
players as England. (Two years earlier Burma could claim only a
handful of world-ranked players, none of master strength.) The World
Chess Federation, FIDE, temporarily suspended the ratings of the
Burmese players. However, the players were reinstated on the January
2000 ranking list, with six Burmese appearing in the top 100 and the
top ranked Burmese player, Zaw Win Lay, moving up to No 44 in the
world. 

FIDE also removed the 100-point rating rise limit which had been used
to delay the rise of the Burmese, which should give Zaw a chance to
overtake Kasparov on the July 2000 rating list by winning a few more
tournaments in Burma. FIDE explained that the suspension of Burma was
lifted because there was no evidence of foul play by the Burmese
competitors and suggested that the problem could be solved if the top
Burmese played in a few more international tournaments. 

The absurdity of this suggestion was demonstrated in February 1999
when Burma hosted an international tournament. Because the average
rating of the field was so inflated, many of the foreign visitors and
some of the Burmese scored International Master and Grand Master
results and some of these players have subsequently been awarded an
international title by FIDE thanks to their Rangoon result. 

If FIDE encourages more of the overrated Burmese to play outside
their home pool of players, the inflationary influence of the FIDE
ratings and titles sys tem could become irreparable. Yet this may be
FIDE's aim. Receiving payments from federations for each rated
player, and considerable sums for each international title awarded,
the cash-strapped world body may see the rise of the Burmese as a
lifeline to financial survival. That the " world-class" Burmese
players could never dream of playing a game such as the following, is
apparently of no concern. Wijk aan Zee 2000 White: G. Kasparov Black:
L. Van Wely Opening: Sicilian Defence. 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4
h6 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Bb7 11.h4 b4 12.Na4!? In 1999 Kasparov won a
couple of games with the Black pieces after 12.Nb1d5 13.Bh5 g5!?. Van
Wely tries to use Kasparov's plan against him but against 12.Na4 the
whole concept is defective. 

12. . . d5 13.Bh3 g5? 13. . . Qa5 must be better, although White's
results after 14.b3 have been impressive. 

14.Bg2 gxh4 15.Rxh4 dxe4. 

15. . . Nxe4 walks into a vicious attack after 16.fxe4 Qxh4 17.exd5
exd5 18. Bxd5 Bxd5 19.Nf5 Qf6 20.Qxd5. 

16.g5 Nd5 17.Rxe4 hxg5 18.Bxg5 Qa5 (Diagram) 19.f4! The prelude to a
crushing series of blows. If Black now takes the knight on a4 then
20.Nxe6! fxe6 21.Rxe6+ Kf7 22.Bxd5 wins. 

19. . . Rh2 20.Nxe6! fxe6 21.Rxe6+ Kf7 22.Qd3! Bg7 22. . . Kxe6
23.Bxd5+ Bxd5 24.Qg6+ is also fatal. 

23.Qf5+ Kg8 24.Rxd5 Qxa4 25.Re7 1-0 





_______________________ OTHER _________________________
          



REPORT: THE TEACHING OF ETHNIC LANGUAGE AND THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN
THE CONTEXT OF MON ETHNIC NATIONALITY IN BURMA


Initial Report of the First Phase of the Study on the Thai-Burma
Border

(November 1999 - February 2000)

by Thein Lwin

Abstract: The study initially found that there are two contradictory
education policies between the Burmese Government and the Mon
Education
Committee of the New Mon State Party. The government policy leads to
Burmanisation at the expense of other indigenous nationalities (see
Education in Burma 1945-1999)1 while Mon education policy raises a
strong
nationalism, which can lead to xenophobia. The study has investigated
the
curricula and primary school syllabuses for Mon schools. Interviews
with an
official of the Mon Education Committee, two teachers and some exiled
Burmese who stayed in the Mon area were conducted. However, due to the
present political tensions on the Thai-Burma border, the researcher
has not
been able to investigate classroom practice regarding the
above-mentioned
policies.

1. Background

The study was launched in October 1999 for the 1999-2000 academic
year to
answer the following research questions:

1.What is the situation concerning education in the Mon area and the
teaching of Mon language in particular?

2.How do education and the teaching of ethnic language underpin a
conflict
resolution between the Burmese Government and the Mon ethnic
nationality?

The study is funded by the Department for International Development
(DFID),
London - the award is administered by the British Council on behalf
of the
DFID. The research is conducted under the supervision of the
University of
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and Naresuan University, Thailand. The
location of
the research is in the ethnic Mon area near the Thai-Burma border.

2. First Phase of the Study

The researcher was based at Naresuan University in Thailand during the
first phase of the study (November 1999 - February 2000). He travelled
along the Thai-Burma border and met some Mon educators. He collected
education policy documents, school syllabuses and conducted
interviews.
More specifically, the researcher interviewed an official of the Mon
Education Committee for three days - two hours each day. Two teachers
were
also interviewed - one is a two-hour interview and the other one is
half an
hour long. The interviews were tape-recorded. The researcher met some
Burmese exiles who used to stay in the Mon area and asked them about
the
situation of schools and children there.


2.1 Historical Evolution Regarding the Teaching of the Mon Language

Lower Burma was once a Mon Kingdom under the name of Hong Sawatoi also
known as Ramannadesa. Ramannadesa was ethnically, culturally and
linguistically well developed since the 9th century. Mon literature
was
established in Buddhist monasteries since the ruling era of Mon kings.
Although sovereign independence of the Mon was lost to the Burmese
kings,
the Mon monasteries served as the only centre of Mon language and
literature teaching. Under the British colony (1885-1948), the
education
system changed from a Buddhist monastery education to various
vernacular
schools. The Mon language was allowed to be taught in schools in the
Mon
areas under the British administration. After the independence, the
democratically elected government appointed skilful teachers to teach
Mon
literature in the Mon territory. However, the military government,
which
got power in 1962 ordered the teachers of Mon literature to step down
from
their position. Many teachers had to resign. As a consequence, the Mon
language was no longer taught in 1965-1966. But villagers who
treasured Mon
language and literature hired at their own expense Mon teachers to
teach
their children. It would be difficult for the Mon language and
literature
to survive without official recognition by the government.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP), amongst other ethnic groups, has
joined the
armed insurgency since the independence of Burma in 1948. The NMSP
formed
an Education Department in 1972 and opened Mon National Schools in
areas
under their control - Tha-Ton, Moulmein and Tavoy. There are two
committees
in the Education Department: the Mon National Education Committee
(MNEC)
and the Textbook Committee. MNEC opened primary and secondary level
Mon
National Schools. There are 150 Mon National Schools. The medium of
instruction in Primary Schools is the Mon language. In Junior
Secondary
Schools (Middle Schools), Mon History is taught in the Mon language
and the
other subjects are in Burmese. In the Senior Secondary Schools (High
Schools), the medium of instruction is Burmese. Burmese is taught as a
subject in all schools. In the Mon area (the three districts of
Tha-Ton,
Moulmein and Tavoy), there are altogether 340 schools (see the
following
table). Some 190 schools are under the control of the Burmese
Government.
MNEC organises evening and weekend classes at monasteries to teach
the Mon
language to pupils attending government-controlled schools.


 Number of Schools, Students and Teachers (1999-2000)

District 	Township  			Primary School				
						School,	   Students,    Teacher
			Taik Bu			21		2580		36	
Tavoy,	Ye (South)		21		3757		66
			Ye (North)		47 		5662 	    125
			Bee Ree		10          961 		30

		 	Tanbyuzayat 	45 		3568 		95
Moulmein,	Mudon 			29 		2119 		69
			Hlarda Kot		40 		8038	    113

 			Moulmein 		25 		5003 		46
Tha-Ton	Kaw Ka Rate 	43 		4094 		69
			Kyaik Ma Raw	46 		7033 		99

District 	Township  		Middle School				
						School,	   Students,    Teacher
			Taik Bu			1 		150			  6
Tavoy,	Ye (South)		2		214			11 
			Ye (North)		3		408			19
			Bee Ree		1		  25			  3

 			Moulmein 		2 		910 		14	
Tha-Ton	Kaw Ka Rate 	4 	    1120 		12
			Kyaik Ma Raw	2 		404 		  6

		 					High School
Moulmein,	 Hlarda Kot		1		156			7
	
Total						Sch	Students	Teachers
Primary Sch ool			327		42815		748
Middle School 			 15		  3231		  71
High School	  			   1		   156		   7

Total						343		46202		826

[Source: Mon National Education Committee]

However, teachers of the Mon language and literature run the risk to
be
punished by the government authorities. Some teachers have been
arrested.
In 1994, some 30 schools were ordered to close because of the
teaching of
the Mon language. Again in 1998, 120 Mon schools attended by six
thousand
students were ordered to close by the government. Negotiations
between the
New Mon State Party and the Burmese Government meant that these
schools
could reopen, but the teaching of the Mon language and literature was
not
officially allowed.

2.2 Curriculum and Syllabuses

Mon, Burmese, English and Maths are taught in the Junior Primary level
(Year 0, Year 1 and Year 2). Mon, Burmese, English, Maths, Geography
and
Mon History are taught in the Senior Primary level (Year 3 and 4).
Mon,
Burmese, English, Maths, Geography, Mon History and Science are
taught in
the Junior Secondary level (Year 5, 6, 7 and 8). Mon History is
taught in
the Mon language while the other subjects are in Burmese. As in
government
schools, Burmese, English, Maths, Science (Physics, Chemistry and
Biology)
and Social Studies (History, Geography and Economics) are taught in
the
Senior Secondary level (Year 9 and 10). These subjects are taught in
Burmese. Schools also use textbooks prescribed by the Burmese
Government.
Mon language is not taught in the Senior Secondary level. At the end
of
this level, students enter the government national examination.


All Primary Schools subjects and Mon History textbooks for the Junior
Secondary level are written in Mon language as prescribed by the
Textbook
Committee of the Mon Education Department. The study found, regarding
especially in Mon History, that the children were taught about the
Mon-Khamar route entering Burma, the kingdoms of Hong Sawatoi, Pegu,
Thu-Wun-Na-Boun-Mi Tha-Ton, etc. However, the textbooks omit the
history of
the Burmans and the Burmese kingdoms. In particular, in the Year 3
Geography textbook, it is written that "the Burmans came to Burma
lately.
Therefore they could only stay in the central part of Burma rather
than the
coastal areas". The history of Burmans may be interpreted here as
downgraded.

According to a teacher, children were happy in the classroom because
they
could learn in their mother tongue - but they are weak in Burmese.

2.3 Teachers' Situation

There are about 820 teachers in the Mon area. Teachers are recruited
by the
NMSP on a voluntary basis. NMSP provides teachers 50 buckets of rice
in the
husk a year, soap, toothpaste, candles, etc. They have no initial
teacher
training. The NMSP has organised in-service teacher training at its
Head
Quarters since 1992. From 1992 to 1994, there was a six-week training
once
a year. In 1995, there was no training because of the repatriation
after
the cease-fire agreement with the military regime. From 1996 to 1999,
there
was also a six-week training four times a year. According to the data
provided by the Mon Education Committee, about 700 teachers were
trained.

2.4 Funding for Mon Schools

The Mon Education Committee is financially supported for their
schools by
international NGOs such as Norway-Burma Council, Swiss Aid, Burma
Border
Consortium, Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation), etc. The local
community also supports for school buildings and housing for teachers.

3. Further Research

The study will continue school observations, interviews with teachers
and
pupils in the second phase of the study (May-June 2000) to understand
more
about schools' situations and classroom practices as well as the
situations
of teachers and pupils. The study hopes that the second research
question
"How do education and the teaching of ethnic language underpin a
conflict
resolution between the Burmese Government and Mon ethnic
nationality?" will
be answered at the end of the second phase of the study. The final
report
will be submitted at the end of the study in October 2000.

Note:
1. Education in Burma (1945-1999) written by the researcher is
available on
the web site: http://www.students.ncl.ac.uk/thein.lwin/

 3rd March 2000



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