“We would like to increase [teachers’] salaries, but the budget is not enough [to do so]. At [a] recent [MNEC] meeting, we could not make the decision for the pay-raise yet,” said a MNEC member Nai Aie Kon.
Nai Aie Kon continued that the committee is working hard to find a way to provide 50,000 Kyat, by September, for the Mon school teachers’ salaries; salaries are increasing [by] 30,000 Kyat from original 20,000 Kyat salaries.
Some MNEC-member Mon Buddhist monks, who deliver Dharma talks abroad and receive donations, have offered to donate to the education fund.
On August 22nd, Mon people who have resettled in Australia provided 3 million Kyat to the education fund.
“We teachers receive 20,000 Kyat per month from [the Mon] education department, and two tin’s of rice from the village. But, now the price of rice has increased, so we do not receive the rice anymore. With only 20,000 Kyat, we cannot depend on it [for a living],” said a Mon national primary school teacher in Ye Township.
The Mon National School started with a primary school in 1972. At first, the school provided a grade-by-grade instruction of Mon language; then, a small central education delegation for Mon national education was founded in 1984/1985.
There are more than 800 Mon teachers teaching at 156 Mon National Schools, including three high schools, under administration of the Mon National Education Department (MNED).
The Mon National Education Committee was founded in 1993. According to MNED records, there are currently 15,000 students attending Mon National Schools, as well as more than 20,000 students studying Mon language or Mon curriculum at state [government] schools.
