• Burmese
Saturday, May 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Mother-Tongue Instruction Pushed for Burma’s Schools

Yen Saning by Yen Saning
February 4, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Mother-Tongue Instruction Pushed for Burma’s Schools

A teacher marks the paper of a student at a school in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

7.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — A seminar on multilingual education has called for the use of ethnic minorities’ mother tongue as their language of instruction, in combination with allowing local education authorities to draft ethnic language curricula for primary school students who do not belong to Burma’s ethnic Burman majority.

“The attendees agree that children’s mother tongue should be used as the medium of instruction in order for ethnic children to be effective in their studies and balance the teaching of national and international language skills,” the National Network for Education Reform (NNER) said in a statement released following the seminar on Saturday.

The two-day seminar was attended by a variety of groups representing ethnic literature and culture preservationists, mother tongue-focused education academics, religious organizations, the government’s Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR) committee, international NGOs, teachers and students. Participants discussed topics on multilingual education that included challenges faced by ethnic minority children under the current education system, language instruction’s links to social cohesion and regional multilingual practices.

RelatedPosts

‘Children Torn in Two’: Witness Describes Myanmar Junta’s School Massacre

‘Children Torn in Two’: Witness Describes Myanmar Junta’s School Massacre

May 15, 2025
781
Quake Fails to Quell Russian Nuclear Romance; Naypyitaw Truth Concealed; and More

Quake Fails to Quell Russian Nuclear Romance; Naypyitaw Truth Concealed; and More

April 26, 2025
1.4k
Dams Promise Leaves Public in Dark; Dictator’s Global Illusions; and More

Dams Promise Leaves Public in Dark; Dictator’s Global Illusions; and More

January 11, 2025
2.4k

“It’s found to be more effective using students’ mother tongue as the language of instruction when teaching the Burmese language in its spoken and written forms,” said Naw Khu Shee, summarizing the findings of her research on teaching of the Burmese language using the Sgaw Karen subgroup’s language among primary school children. “If it’s found to be effective using the mother tongue only as the language of instruction, I’d like to recommend that it would be more effective if the mother tongue is included in the curriculum and exams.”

Currently, Burmese is the language of instruction at schools across the country. Since political reforms that began nearly three years ago, and amid ongoing national reconciliation efforts, a growing call to reinstate ethnic minority languages into classrooms has been met with modest success.

The central government in 2012 allowed the teaching of ethnic minority languages, but only outside of school hours. Those who want language instruction in their mother tongue are also forced to rely on teachers’ volunteerism or other means, with no additional state funding allocated for after-hours instruction.

Critics of the current educational paradigm say it is symptomatic of wider attempts by the country’s Burman majority to suppress the rights and cultural identities of Burma’s ethnic minorities.

Under the democratically elected U Nu government of the 1950s, all schools in Burma’s ethnic areas were permitted to teach ethnic literature in its native tongue to students. However, school curricula were centralized after Gen. Ne Win’s military coup in 1962, and regulations were passed stipulating that all subjects be taught in only one national language—Burmese.

The current government’s ongoing CESR is expected to once again allow a greater degree of autonomy for local education authorities, though what that means for the status of ethnic language instruction remains to be seen.

In presenting his research on language barriers encountered by ethnic children in Burma, Htin Zaw, a social science researcher from the Shalom Foundation, pointed out that children have difficulties understanding unfamiliar topics when the same textbooks are used across Burma’s seven states and seven divisions.

“Texts in Yangon [Rangoon] are the same as texts in Myitkyina and Chin State, where local content is not included,” he told The Irrawaddy.

Min Thein Win, an education liaison officer for World Education, said mother-tongue instruction had an added cultural benefit.

“It can also prevent the extinction of languages,” Min Thein Win told The Irrawaddy. “Children also improve bridging skills in words because of languages. One of the reasons for ethnics’ rebellion is a lack of opportunities to learn their own language well.”

Maw Ko Myar, secretary of a Karrenni committee on that ethnic group’s literature and culture, said “children run away and are afraid of Burmese teachers in rural areas of Karenni State. They are more familiar with teachers who can speak their mother tongue.

“Allowing the teaching of ethnic languages outside of school hours is not enough,” she said, adding that the random assignment of licensed teachers by the Ministry of Education was a “waste of human resources,” as a Karen-speaking teacher might be sent to teach at a school in Kachin State, or a Mon-speaking instructor dispatched to Arakan State.

The use of Burmese as the official language of instruction for schools across Burma was essentially an example of ethnic chauvinism in the education system, according to Thein Lwin of the NNER. “We have to reduce the influence of [Burmese] language and [the ethnic Burman] group to allow the growth of ethnic [minority] languages,” he said.

The NNER has proposed a mother tongue-based, trilingual teaching system with a child’s mother-tongue as first language, Burmese as the second language and English as a third language.

“Mother tongue-based multilingual education can build a bridge between the mother tongue and minority culture, and the government culture and government language,” said Kimmo Kosonen, a lecturer and researcher at Payap University in Thailand.

“The amount of mother tongue instruction that children receive predicts their success in education and learning,” said Kimmo, who is also a senior consultant in multilingual education for SIL International, a US-based NGO that studies languages globally.

Echoing others’ concerns about the local relevance of nationwide curricula, a high school teacher from Chin State said his students struggled to solve math problems where the questions involved ships and trains. The reason for this difficulty? Land-locked and underdeveloped Chin State has neither ships nor trains.

“When children have never seen a train, they don’t know how to calculate the length of a train as asked in the question.”

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Education
Yen Saning

Yen Saning

Similar Picks:

Parents Pull Children From Schools in Yangon as Myanmar Junta Troops Move In
Burma

Parents Pull Children From Schools in Yangon as Myanmar Junta Troops Move In

by The Irrawaddy
November 24, 2023
16.4k

Regime’s decision to station troops at schools in Myanmar’s commercial capital and rumors of forced conscriptions puts city residents on...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back
Commentary

Myanmar’s Youth Flee—and They Aren’t Looking Back

by Aung Zaw
February 23, 2024
8.3k

In Thailand and farther afield, they join the wealthy and the educated who have already put down roots and invested...

Read moreDetails
Flag Saluting, Anthem Singing Now Mandatory at International Schools in Myanmar
Burma

Flag Saluting, Anthem Singing Now Mandatory at International Schools in Myanmar

by Maung Kavi
February 23, 2024
3.6k

Junta boss tells nationalist group that the patriotic mandate is intended to counter subversion by young people, says race and...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: New Honors to Flatter Foreign Allies; Playing the Blame Game (Again); and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: New Honors to Flatter Foreign Allies; Playing the Blame Game (Again); and More

by The Irrawaddy
March 23, 2024
2.7k

Also this week, the regime orchestrated Rohingya protests, lost the builder of its capital, and praised Putin after not-so-free election. 

Read moreDetails
Conscript-Hungry Myanmar Junta Turns Sights on Students
Burma

Conscript-Hungry Myanmar Junta Turns Sights on Students

by The Irrawaddy
January 10, 2025
2.5k

Parents are alarmed as local administrations demand student lists from private schools and universities, with details such as whether youngsters...

Read moreDetails
Thai Ministry Shuts Down Six Schools for Burmese Students
Asia

Thai Ministry Shuts Down Six Schools for Burmese Students

by Bangkok Post
September 9, 2024
2.5k

The Education Ministry has ordered local authorities to investigate if there are more illegal Burmese-language learning centers after it found...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Ruling Party MP Investigated for Defaming Police

Ruling Party MP Investigated for Defaming Police

Sri Lanka Refuses Visa for US State Dept Official After War Crimes Accusations

Sri Lanka Refuses Visa for US State Dept Official After War Crimes Accusations

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

5 days ago
2.4k
‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

2 days ago
2k

Most Read

  • Adidas Shoe Factory Agrees to Striking Workers’ Demands

    Adidas Shoe Factory Agrees to Striking Workers’ Demands

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Are the Possible Scenarios for the Junta’s Election Plan?

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AA’s Political Wing Imposes Rakhine Travel Ban

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.