History should be written for peace not war

History should be written for peace not war, says Thai educator

Most history books in existence do not augur well for peaceful co-existence in the region and should be revised, counselled a well known non-conformist educator at a seminar on education in Burma. 

Piphop Thongchai, founder of Moobaan Dek, (Children's Village School) in Kanjanaburi, told the 55 participants at the Seminar on Children's Opportunity to Learn, "Thai history has been biased against the Burmese. So has Burmese history against Thais. Both are written for war not peace. What we need now is a history that shall foster mutual understanding and friendship." 

The 56 year old teacher criticized typical Thai history textbooks as too fawning of the western civilizations while too contemptuous of its neighbors.

A participant, subscribing to Piphop's reason, said, " We discovered that whereas most Burmese regarded kings Bayinnaung (1551-1581) and Alaungpaya (1752-60) as heroes and unifiers of Burma, many Mons considered them as arch villains." 

The seminar is organized by National Health and Education Committee, an independent agency "formed to work for the development of health and education activities of the ethnic organizations and democratic forces," according to Saw Wingate, its current chairperson. It is supported by Danish Burma Committee and the Open Society Institute. 

"The rationale behind this seminar is to find ways how to give opportunities for children who are not in school," reported Thein Lwin, academic co-ordinator to the NHEC and co-organizer of the seminar. 

Other presenters included Mary Wooten, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and Dr. C.P. Prabhakar (Maw Thiri) of Oxford Senior Secondary School, Delhi. 

According to a report by the UNICEF, only 27% of the children in Burma finished basic education.