Inquisitive monks pose for a photograph on the top of Sagaing Hill.

SAGAING Hill, on the western bank of the Ayeyarwady River, is a centre of Myanmar Buddhism, refuge and religious practice. It’s also a tourist destination, with beautiful views of the plains of upper Myanmar, the twin bridges across the Ayeyarwady and the mountains in the distance. It’s also a place where foreign visitors can observe monks and nuns going about their days.

This was the second time I had been to Soon U Ponya Shin Phaya and this time I was with two companions – one from Australia and another from England. No sooner had they snapped a photo of a group of young novices who had gathered on a concrete bench, when a novice greeted my companions in English: “How are you?”

Sensing interest, the novice followed with: “Where do you come from?” and then launched into a series of questions that he’d learned at school while studying English.

Other young novices followed with similar questions and listened carefully to the English responses. All of them seemed delighted to have the opportunity to speak with foreigners. It was also the main reason they were at the pagoda.

The monk accompanying the novices explained that the group comes to Soon U Ponya Shin Phaya before lunch each day to wait for tourists with whom they can practice their English-language skills.

“I want to expose my students to English by getting them to speak with foreigners. Conversing with foreigners makes them more confident and drives away their shyness. So I accompany them to this place to practice,” said Sayadaw U Pyinnyatharya, a lecturer at the Buddhist Education Centre (BEC) in Sagaing.

The novices gathered here are all students at the centre, which was established in 2007 by a group of monks who had graduated from Thidagu International Buddhist Academy. That academy was established in 1994 by the prominent monk Thidagu Sayadaw Ashinnanissara to provide an international-standard education in Buddhist teaching. Annually, about 200 monks and nuns study the Buddha’s teachings, in English, at Thidagu. The lessons are conducted by monks who have gained degrees and doctorates from India and Sri Lanka, said Sayadaw U Thawbita, the founder of BEC.

“We have studied at the academy [Thidagu International Buddha Academy] and been awarded a bachelor’s degree and we are encouraged to do social work in the community after completing the degree,” he said.

In the past two years there has been substantial growth in the number of non-profit schools in the Sagaing area that aim to help poor children and younger novices improve their education and lives. There are now more than 20 such schools, which provide a formal education and teach English as well as computer skills.

“All schools are established by graduates from the [Thidagu Buddhist university,”]explained Sayadaw U Thawbita.

“Sagaing Hill is a holy place that gives refuge to many orphans, so the establishment of non-profit schools is a way to support the education of those orphans,” he said, adding that the students cannot afford to attend the government schools because their families’ incomes are too low.

“Many young, poor people in the area attend monastic schools and we want them to be well educated. We encourage them to improve their English-language skills as well as their computer knowledge,” said Sayadaw U Khaymainda, a teacher at a non-profit computer centre on Sagaing Hill established two years ago.

I asked an 11-year-old novice in the group about his dreams for the future; he already had a clear vision that he would one day be a teacher. He replied confidently that if he could speak English and had good computer skills, he would study at the Thidagu Buddhist University, just like his teachers.

Every weekend, Sayadaw U Pyinnyatharya leads the novice group to Sagaing Hill for their English practice with tourists.

We said our goodbyes to the group and left them waiting for more tourists. As we headed back to Mandalay I pointed out to my companions the Buddhist Education Centre at the foot of Sagaing Hill. It was an interesting juxtaposition: The new university building among the ancient pagodas of the former capital. And bridging that ever-widening gap between the past and the present, were the teachers.