Government primary schools in Mon State will teach about ethnic Mon, Karen, Pa-O and Bamar cultures in the 2020-2021 academic year.

The state’s ethnic affairs ministry offered assistance in drawing up a curriculum related to the different ethnic groups in Mon State in 2018.

“The curriculum mainly writes about different ethnic groups living in this region. Teachers will teach children about our state using pictures," Saw Aung Myint Khine, the Karen Ethnic Affairs minister for Mon State, told NMG.

According to minister Saw Aung Myint Khine, the curriculum touches in traditions, customs and literature of different ethnic peoples. Also included are important places, natural resources and vocations among these communities.

The Mon regional curriculum, as it is being called, will only be taught to Grade 1 students this year, three times per week. Teachers are expected to introduce the curriculum to Grades 2 and 3 students next year.

The new curriculum is described by education officials as student-centered and built on discussion.

“The teacher and students will discuss with each other in class. They will do question-and-answer in the class,” head of Mon State’s education department Dr. Cho Cho Myat Aung told NMG.