Dropout due to poor MNEC Secondary Education coverage in Thanbyuzayat and Mudon Townships, says education chairwoman

June 16, 2015

A township-level education chairwoman has expressed concerns over Mon National Education Committee (MNEC) Secondary Education coverage in Thanbyuzayat and Mudon Townships, both located in Mon State.

Since the 1970s MNEC has operated a non-state education system, which today contains over 140 Mon National Schools. However, the vast majority of these schools extend only to the end of Primary School, with few MNEC Middle or High Schools in operation. According to Mi Seik Pone, education chairwoman for Thanbyuzayat Township, although there are over fifty Secondary-level MNEC students in Thanbyuzayat and Mudon townships together, neither township contains a MNEC Middle or High School. While she clarified that some MNEC Primary Schools in these townships do teach students past the end of Primary level on an informal basis, this is dependent on individual teachers and does not rely on any formal arrangement.

Mi Seik Pone expressed concern that poor MNEC Secondary Education coverage in these areas leads many students to leave education after completing Primary School. According to Mi Seik Pone, unless further education can be arranged in the village Primary School, students who wish to continue past Primary level are faced with the choice of either moving to another township to attend an MNEC Middle or High School, or leaving the MNEC school system altogether to transfer to a Burmese government Basic Education School closer to home. While Mi Seik Pone said that the latter option was more common in Mudon Township, she noted that in Thanbyuzayat Township many parents would rather see their children drop out from school than enroll them in their local government school

Mi Seik Pone explained, “We encourage [children] to continue to [MNEC] Middle School or High School in Wan Ka Poe Village [Kyainnseikyi Township] or An Din Village [Ye Township] […] But the schools are far and their parents don’t allow them to go because they worry about their child. We heard that some students join government Middle Schools, but mostly they drop out”.

While villagers in Thanbyuzayat and Mudon Township have expressed desires to open up Secondary Education coverage in their areas, with MNEC broadly supportive of these plans, Mi Seik Pone noted that lacking funds for teachers’ salaries has thus far precluded new schools from being established. “We planned to open Mon National Post-Primary and Middle Schools in [Thanbyuzayat] Township”, she explained. “We discussed this with the monks and they accepted it. But when we discussed teachers’ salaries no one wanted to take responsibility […] In my view, it is difficult to open [Secondary Schools] in our Township due to salary problems.”

Illustrating this trend, requests for a Middle School from residents of A Nin Village, Thanbyuzayat Township and Ka Mar Wat Town, Mudon Township have both so far been met with silence from MNEC.

However, Mi Seik Pone highlighted how existing efforts to encourage children to continue in education would likely be unsuccessful unless the issue of poor MNEC secondary school coverage could be addressed in these townships. She noted, “We encourage [parents] a lot, but they do not let their children continue in school. Even though we encourage them we can’t set up Post-Primary or Middle Schools, so we can’t help the children to continue their education”.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News