The Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government, the civilian administration established by the Arakan Army (AA), has replaced the Myanmar language with the Rakhine language (also called Arakanese) as a subject of study across Grade 12 in schools under its control.
The administration’s National Educational Department has already distributed Rakhine-language textbooks to students for the 2026-2027 academic year that began earlier this month, sources told Myanmar Now.
While Rakhine has been the language of instruction in Rakhine schools for some time, students will now study the language as a subject in itself, replacing Myanmar.
The curriculum covers phonetics, essay writing, and the study of the Naradhipati stone inscription, a revered 18th century artifact of the former Arakan Kingdom.
The move is significant, as successive military regimes in Myanmar have excluded ethnic languages from the country’s formal education system since the 1960s.
Government schools in ethnic areas. . .
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