Karen Literature and Culture Committees (KLCC) officials in Yangon region townships said that they are facing difficulties teaching Karen literature in the Yangon region.
They discussed those difficulties at a meeting of the Yangon Region KLCC held at Mayarnarthar Hall in Insein Township on 23 February.
The KLCC have been trying to teach Karen literature in schools where there are a majority of Karen students, but they have been facing many difficulties. These include being unable to receive official permission to teach Karen literature, a lack of communication between regional and township KLCC branches and students not being interested in studying the subject if it is taught after school hours.
Yangon Region KLCC Meeting
Saw Htay Htay Tun, secretary of Hmawbi Township KLCC said: “There are 29 Karen schools in Hmawbi Township. The Township Committee met with officials from the schools and made a list of the Karen students. Then, it [the list] was sent to the Karen Affairs Minister and a copy was [also] sent to No. 3 Basic Education on 14 December 2014. But, whenever we asked the township education officer, the officer kept saying that it [permission to teach Karen literature] has not been given yet. We felt depressed so we didn’t do anything else.”
He said that KLCC had already trained 82 teachers to teach Karen literature and had made copies of Karen textbooks in preparation to start teaching, but that No. 3 Basic Education Department had not given them permission to start teaching because they had not paid any bribes to senior staff there.
Similarly, Htantabin Township KLCC had run teacher-training classes and had connected with other township KLCC’s, but the teachers were still unable to teach because they had not received permission from the necessary authorities, according to Saw Maung Tuu the chairman of Htantabin Township KLCC.
Saw Kaw Khuu Gay, the secretary of Hlegu Township KLCC said that his committee had been working towards teaching Karen literature but had stopped doing so because it had not received any instructions from the Yangon Region KLCC.
At present, it is only permitted to teach Karen literature after school hours. This means young children are not interested in attending and older children cannot attend because they have to help their parents after school. To counter these problems KLCC officials have demanded that Karen literature should be taught during school hours.
Saw Tun Aung Myint, chairman of the Yangon Region KLCC and the Karen Affairs Minister said that the committee would record the problems bought up by the township KLCC branches at the Yangon region KLCC meeting and that they will hold another meeting next month to work on the issue.
About 200 people attended the half-day meeting. They included teachers from the S’gaw and Pwo Karen Baptist League’s Literature and Culture Department, KLCC officials from Kawhmu, Kungyangon, Taikkyi, Hmawbi, Htantabin, Hlaingtharyar, Shwepyithar, and Hlegu townships, the Yangon Region KLCC chairman, the Karen Affairs Minister Saw Tun Aung Myint and central committee members.
The Yangon Region KLCC was founded in 2014 and the Karen Affairs Minister serves as its chairman while Saw Hla Tun and Mann Phoe Saw are vice chairman and secretary respectively.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark inkey for BNI
