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“I wanted to be an educated person. I wondered what my future would be like if I was not educated?” Mi Kya lun Htaw, Mon educator

Today, Mi Kya Lun Htaw is a teacher with the Mon education department in Yay Chaung Phyar, in the northern Yay River area, in Mon State. She enjoys passing on the benefits of education to Mon children and young people.

But, her own journey to becoming an educated person was almost cut short when the Burmese military government closed all its schools after the 1988 uprising, when students organized and participated in demonstrations against the regime.

She was born and grew up in Taranar Village in, Kyeik Mayaw township, Mon State. At the time of the school closure, she was studying in sixth grade (six standard) in Mon national school, which was associated with the government's middle school.

"When I thought that I could not continue my studies, I was depressed," Mi Kya Lun Htaw recalled.

"I wanted to be an educated person. I wondered what my future would be like if I was not educated? Therefore, I strongly requested that my parents allow me to continue my studies. That’s when I went to Kyeik Ka Bin village to study," she said enthusiastically.

In 1993, an education department, under the New Mon State Party (NMSP), opened at the temple in Kyeik Ka Bin village, Kaw Ka Reik township, Karen State.

There were over 40 families in the village. But, the Burmese Army and Mon ethnic armed groups often exchanged gunfire there.

The village was very difficult to get to. It was a half day’s journey by boat.

"We were afraid during the journey because we had to look out for the Burmese Army," she said. “To help us avoid them, a platoon from Mon armed group escorted us.”

Before Mon armed groups and the military regime signed a ceasefire agreement in 1995, military authorities strictly banned learning Mon literature in Mon schools, opened by NMSP's education department in Mon State.

The military authorities tried to prevent students FROM being taught Mon literature by sometimes arresting and detaining teachers.

She recalled that students and teachers had to hide school books and run away because the Burmese Army received information about students learning Mon literature, in Kyeik Ka Bin village and then entered the village to investigate.

"Even the cooks had to run away. We could not eat rice. I slept when I was hiding," she said.

She faced a lot of difficulties in her studies because of the army's raids on the village and always had to be ready to run when army troops heard about their class.

"When we heard the army entering the village, we had to stop eating or learning and had to hide separately in the village," Mi Kya Lun Htaw recalled.

Even though she faced many difficult challenges as a Mon student, she successfully finished her studies for her bachelor’s degree at a government university.

The NMSP's central education department started to teach Mon literature in 1971. It established a branch of its education department under the central education department in 1984-85.

Now there are 142 primary schools, 12 middle schools and 3 high schools functioning under the central education department. .

Mon national schools are free, which provides a good opportunity for poor students seeking an education.

Until now, about fifteen thousand students have studied in Mon national schools. Over twenty thousand students have been studying in the schools associated with government schools. Both teach Mon literature.

There are 114 schools associated with government schools teaching Mon literature.

"In the associated schools teachers have to teach Mon literature before and after the normal school hours," Mi Kya Lun Htaw said.

At Mon national schools, students have to learn not only Mon literature but also other subjects which the government has approved for the school curriculum. Mon language is taught at primary level.

Mi Kya Lun Htaw said studying Mon literature instills a sense of patriotism and cultural pride in the students

Mon national schools inside Burma have not faced strong restrictions since the 1995 ceasefire

However, other ethnic groups cannot teach and learn their own language and literature in government schools Mi Kya Lun Htaw said.

"I will never forget what I have faced in my school life. Like me, a Mon student studying in a Mon national school who faced many difficulties, I think other ethnic students may face a lot of difficulties in learning their own language and literature," she said.