Myanmar Times, 13 Sep 2016
Education Minister U Myo Thein Gyi told lawmakers in the Amyotha Hluttaw yesterday that educational development in ethnic minority areas is directly linked to the success or failure of Myanmar’s peace process. Efforts to expand ethnic language instruction, boost literacy rates and improve higher education opportunities in the country’s long-neglected frontier regions would hinge on the forging of a durable peace nationwide, he said. The Union minister was speaking in response to a proposal put forward by former Amyotha Hluttaw Speaker U Khin Aung Myint (USDP; Mandalay 8) urging the government to enact a special plan to combat illiteracy among ethnic minorities and advance study of these groups’ literature. Regarding curricula tailored toward minorities, U Myo Thein Gyi said the Ministry of Education plans to print and distribute learning materials in 54 ethnic languages for 540,289 students from grades 1, 2 and 3 across 187 townships. His ministry earmarked more than K5.5 billion (US$4.53 million) for the salaries of 18,300 ethnic language instructors in the 2016-17 academic year. A less ambitious program spanning the 2013-14 to 2015-16 academic years saw 28 ethnic languages taught at a cost of about K6 billion for teacher salaries and instruction materials.