Than Oo

Than Oo (Burmese: သန်းဦး) is a prominent Burmese educator and Ministry of Education (MOE) official.[1]

Than Oo
သန်းဦး
Director-General of the Department of Basic Education
Assumed office
1977
Assistant Education Research Officer of the Burma Education Research Bureau
In office
1965–1977
Personal details
Born1928 (1928) (age 95)
Chaungnadan village, Pyay Township, Pegu Province, British Burma
Alma materRangoon University
OccupationEducator

He was born in Chaungnadan village in Pyay Township, Pegu Province (now Bago Region), located 170 miles (270 km) north of Rangoon (now Yangon) in 1928.[2] His mother was mentally ill, while his father and elder brother died when Than Oo was young. Than Oo studied at Rangoon University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in education.[2] He continued his study at the University of Hawaiʻi, through a scholarship with the East-West Center, and obtained a Master of Education in 1963.[2]

Than Oo subsequently returned to Burma. He was appointed Assistant Administration Officer of Schools at the Directorate of Education, and went on to become a Principal of the Bassein Teacher Training School.[2] In 1965, he was appointed as the Assistant Education Research Officer under the Ministry of Education's Burma Education Research Bureau.[2] There, he began a nationwide mass literacy movement that increased Burma's literacy rate to 78.6% by 1988, and reformed the Burmese language pedagogy.[2]

In 1977, he was appointed to Director-General of the MOE's Department of Basic Education, becoming an influential education advisor.[2]

Current projects

Than Oo is the chairman of the Myanmar Academy of Arts and Science.[3] He also currently serves on the academic advisory board of the Myanmar Education Promotion Implementation Committee.[4][5] He also serves as the chairman for the Myanmar Literacy Resource Centre.[6]

Honorary recognition

In 2013, the University of Yangon awarded Than Oo an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by for his professional accomplishments.[7] On 16 May 2015, the University of Hawaiʻi awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.[4][7]

References
  1. "COE Alumnus is Named Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters". College of Education. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. Dasenbrock, Reed (27 March 2015). "Award of the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree for U Than Oo and Henk Rogers" (PDF). Office of the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. University of Hawaii, Manoa. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  3. Yan Paing (27 August 2013). "Ne Win Manipulated Educational Affairs". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  4. "Myanmar educationist U Than Oo to receive Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Hawaii University". Ministry of Information. Government of Myanmar. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  5. Ei Thae Thae Naing (18 November 2013). "Education policy in planning stages". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  6. "Myanmar Literacy Resource Centre". Local Resource Centre Myanmar. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  7. "MYANMAR ALUM U THAN OO RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM UH". THE EAST-WEST CENTER ASSOCIATION BLOG. East-West Center Association. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
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