A critique of state-centric multilingual education policy proposals in Myanmar

Abstract

Myanmar is home to a huge variety of languages and yet they have largely been absent from the state school system. Non-state and para-state organisations have initiated their own education systems with unique calibrations of language in education. In the 2010s, a space for policy reform was created and the UNESCO-supported MTB-MLE program became a policy that gained some support as an alleged workable compromise for speakers of non-state languages in regards to education. MTB-MLE was never fully implemented in Myanmar, yet many of its claims remain problematic as it presumes a monolingual state not amenable to change. This paper argues that MTB-MLE is often built on problematic assumptions about the dominance of state languages and the instrumental use of minority languages. This paper also argues that effective language policy must take into account the need for the state to be more flexible in its approach to multiculturalism.

Keywords

• language
• development
• myanmar
• ethnicity