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| In this photo taken on Jan. 8, 2011, Kachin women dance during Manaw festival to celebrate their new year in Myitkyina, the capital of the Kachin State. (Photo: AP) |
The meeting involved representatives from the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMDP), the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the Chin National Party and the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party.
The representatives also discussed the ongoing conflict in their respective areas.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Naing Ngwe Thein, the chairman of the AMDP, said they will move to propose a resolution recommending ethnic languages at the next session of parliament.
Currently, Burma's Ministry of Education dictates that all subjects be taught in Burmese. The ethnic MPs aim to propose that ethnic languages are offered as additional and optional to students in each ethnic state.
In addition, the ethnic parties wish to propose that ethnic literature is made optional at state schools in each respective region.
Burma is home to more than 135 ethnic minorities, with at least 108 different ethno-linguistic groups. There are an estimated 3.3 million speakers of Shan Language; three million speakers of Karen; 850,000 Mon; 900,000 Kachin; and 400,000 Chin.
Under the democratically elected U Nu government of the 1950s, all schools in ethnic areas were permitted to teach ethnic literature in its native tongue to students. However, school curricula were centralized after Gen Ne Win's military coup in 1962, and regulations were passed that all subjects be taught in only one national language—Burmese.
Burmese education expert Thein Lwin said that curricula should be adopted in people's own language.
“By learning in their own language, ethnic minority children also have the opportunity to learn their culture and traditions,” he said.
“However, it will take some time to transform each curriculum into different languages,” said Kyaw Thein, the chairman of Arakan Literature and Culture Association.
In many of Burma's ethnic regions, the native language and literature is only taught in monasteries, churches, and Literature and Culture Associations.
At the first session of the People's Parliament in March, former Education Minister Chan Nyein said that to set respective curricula in the language of each national race is impossible as there are so many ethnic groups in Burma, according to a report in The New Light of Myanmar.
“The learning of the languages of national races outside of school will be supported,” said Chan Nyein.
However, an official from the Mon Literature and Culture Association, said that it is impossible for the government to set ethnic language on the school curricula because the 2008 constitution does not mention the inclusion of ethnic literature at school.
Government didn't put ethnic minorities literature in the curriculum of school for a long time make most youth in the ethnic region neglect to learn their own literature.
A member of the Kachin Literature and Culture Association based in Myitkyina said that it is increasingly rare to find lesson sin Kachin Literature because so many young people have no interest in literature.
“Finance and location are the two biggest problems in learning Kachin literature,” she said. “If young people want to learn literature, they would probably be best going to church.”
Hkawng Seng Pan, a graduate student from Myitkyina, said that if the government respects minority rights, it must allow not only Kachin language to be taught at schools, but other minority languages as well.
A member of the Shan Literature and Culture Association in Taunggyi, said the role of Shan literature is fading day by day because young people in the cities are not interested in learning Shan literature.
Source:http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21414
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