Burma's secret schools of dissent
Monks teach children critical thinking and human rights, to groom the next generation of activists. Part 3 of three.
from the September 22, 2008 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
"In the secret schools in Burma, students tell their friends in government schools about political rights and challenge their preconceived notions of what the rest of the world is like," Shwe says. "In this way we hope that more people within Burma will learn about the true political situation of the country and one day act to change it."
While Burma once had a strong education system, years of military rule and corruption have eroded its schools. Education through secondary school is technically free, but hidden fees make it inaccessible for many. Learning is almost entirely by rote – teachers deliver perfunctory lectures that require students to repeat phrases in unison, without any explanation of underlying concepts.
Such learning often leaves students unprepared for exams, and those who want to succeed are forced to pay for private tutoring with the teacher. "Usually the teacher will only pass those students who come for tutoring," says Thaw Htun, a former university student and opposition sympathizer.
Such corruption extends to higher education, leading to a generational of professionals with suspect skills. "I am very underconfident in my abilities," says a surgeon outside Rangoon. "I paid to earn my degree but now I am very scared that I will harm my patients because I don't have adequate training."
With government schools prohibitively expensive for many, poor families often turn to monastery education centers. Here Buddhist monks educate children free of charge in subjects such as math and English as well as Buddhism. While these centers provide relief for many poor children, they too are steeped in outdated practices such as rote memorization, says Ashin Zawta, a Rangoon-based monk.
Mr. Zawta, who is associated with the All Burma Monks Alliance, an underground network of political monks, says he is now copying the methods of the activists who run secret schools. "Education is vital if we are to overturn this regime," he says.
In a small, poorly lit monastery on the outskirts of Rangoon, a dozen children – mainly orphans – gather to hear Zawta lecture about Burmese history. They learn of things they may never hear about in a government school, from the details of Burma's experiment with democracy in the 1950s (which was overturned by a military coup) to the Saffron Revolution.
Zawta and other monks have initiated such lessons in monasteries across the city. In Mandalay, a group of prominent monks is trying to foster critical thinking by establishing a school with textbooks from the West. "After last September, many monks realized that we need to introduce politics to the next generation, and the only way we can do that is by getting them to think critically," Zawta says.
But the networks of secret schools faces many obstacles. Some rely on remittances from relatives abroad or donations from Burmese political groups. But most are volunteer efforts. In one jungle school, three teenagers teach a handful of orphans for no pay, just a bowl of rice.
"We have to persist despite the difficulties," Shwe says. "We hope to create the next generation of leaders."
• Parts 1 and 2 ran last Thursday and Friday, respectively.
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
