Mon national schools under the Mon National Education Committee are facing increasing difficulties in teaching due to a shortage of teachers, according to school teachers.
Mon national schools are mother-tongue-based institutions, with over 133 schools, including four high schools, operating across Mon State and nearby regions.
Teachers said that because of limited financial support for teaching staff, many have resigned or left for other jobs each year, and vacant positions remain unfilled.
“The situation is getting worse every year. For example, a school with Grade 8 classes now has fewer than five teachers, making it very difficult to teach all subjects. Sometimes, we have no choice but to let students go without lessons. We can’t find replacements for the vacant positions. Most teachers work for a year or two and then leave, and when new ones are hired, the same problem repeats,” said a Mon school teacher.
Due to this ongoing shortage, university-level students who have passed the matriculation exam are given short teacher training courses and then assigned to teach children in villages under community funding, according to local teachers.
“The Mon National Education Committee can no longer manage to fill vacant teaching posts. So, local Mon monks coordinate with university graduates, give them brief training, and send them to teach as volunteers. In some villages where coordination with monks is weak, students go the whole year without any teachers. As a result, the overall academic performance in Mon national schools has been declining year after year,” another Mon teacher said.
Currently, most Mon national school teachers earn only about 160,000 kyats per month as a base salary. In some areas, additional support of around 100,000 kyats per month comes from village community funds led by Mon monks.
Although the number of students transferring from government schools has increased since the military coup, Mon national schools still lack sufficient classrooms and continue to struggle to fill vacant teaching positions.
Mon national schools operate mainly in Mon State, Karen State, and Tanintharyi Region, where Mon communities are concentrated.
