168 Brooke Zobrist and Patrick McCormick
between the central government and various armed Mon groups, whose
goals have been greater autonomy if not some kind of independence. Within
Mon State, there were until recently a number of so-called “brown” areas,
those under partial government control, and “black” areas, which were
not under government control. Mon State is fairly prosperous, with high
levels of emigration to neighboring Thailand. A number of international
organizations, such as UNICEF, the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative
(MPSI), and Norwegian People’s Aid, have funded education programmes
there. In Yangon Region we conducted interviews with the Ministry of
Education officials. Yangon Region has the country’s largest city and a
great diversity of socio-economic backgrounds among its population.
BACKGROUND
Government in Burma/Myanmar
After the elections of October 2010 and the subsequent change to a quasi-
civilian government, President Thein Sein announced plans to change
the structure and practices of the government.^4 The national houses of
the hluttaw (parliament) convened regularly, for the first time in decades.
Substantive parliamentary debate is part of the political process and the
hluttaws had proposed new legislation, although not all of this have been
implemented. The central government also stated that they would hand
down some responsibilities to the state-level hluttaws and below.
When discussing “the government” in Myanmar, it is important to
keep in mind that, despite its internationally recognized borders, the
central government is not necessarily sovereign throughout its entire
geographical area, nor does the power of the central government extend
with the same force everywhere. Large areas of the “border” are out of de
facto government control. Here the reach of central government services is
poor. Local non-state actors may provide some such services, or citizens
avail themselves of the services of nearby countries. However, the central
government and most non-state armed groups have signed ceasefire
agreements.^5 This process is bringing many areas that were formerly outside
the control of the central government under its purview, or at least into
closer association with it.
These are radical changes for Myanmar. Beginning with independence
from the British in 1948, but especially since the first military coup in