The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and the National Unity Government’s (NUG) Ministry of Education issued a joint statement expressing support for the Mon national schools to use a mother tongue-based education system. The joint statement focused on the International Mother Language Day, which falls on February 21.
The NUGs Ministry of Education said they will prepare for the future by studying and identifying mother tongue-based education systems, including conducting research, developing implementation strategies, and encouraging and supporting regional policy development activities.
Both the NUCC and the NUG committed to work together with ethnic education departments, literary and cultural organizations, policy experts, NGOs, civil society organizations, faith based groups and inter-governmental agencies to advance mother tongue education.
Decades of military rule has left the rights and development of ethnic languages neglected. Ethnic literature and curriculum representing mother tongues and cultures has generally not been taught in the Myanmar school system.
Myanmar’s Federal Democracy enshrines the importance of ethnic language and culture, specifically Charter Part 1, Article (38) of social rights, Article (43) of cultural rights, both provides for indigenous languages and mother tongue educational instruction.
According to a draft Federal Democracy Education Policy prepared by the NUG, federal units will provide education services, within a mother tongue-based, multilingual education system, (known as MTB-MLE) delivered at the local level.
The joint statement encouraged MTB-MLE programs as a means to ensure survival of languages, and to help students develop their mother tongue competencies, and to aid students learning regional, national, and international languages. The statement also noted that promoting all the mother tongues of ethnic communities contributes to social cohesion. Additional MTB-MLE programs will help the country’s economic, legal, and administrative development.
