25th years ago Phaung Daw Oo monastic education school was established by the two brothers, Ven Nayaka and Ven Jotika. During eight years times the school has been developed from primary to high school level: In 1993 Primary, In 1998 Secondary, In 2000 High School.
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Ven. U Nayaka is a Buddhist monk. He was deeplyconcerned that his country would never be able to sustain democracybecause a large section of the population lacked access to basiceducation. So, in 1993, he set up a monastic school to educate poorchildren, monks, and nuns regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, andreligion, thus breaking the tradition that monastic schools normallyserve only monks and male students.
U Nayaka aims to reform religious education to producewell-qualified teachers and educated students who can become leaders.At the same time, he is a leading advocate for change from traditionalrote memorization teaching to a child-centered approach, not just inmonastic schools but across the entire education system. His goal isto provide well-trained teachers who will bring his approach,especially to poor rural areas and the many conflict zones of Myanmar. With support from international donors, he has built Phaung Daw OoSchool in Mandalay which has an enrolment of over 8,000 studentsyearly as well as a network of cooperating monastic schools across thecountry which are serving several thousand more students. The schoolsare staffed with young teachers trained in modern child-centeredmethods that encourage active learning and critical thinking, and aspecial focus is put on health and hygiene. In addition to standardacademic and Buddhist studies, students are given the opportunity tolearn English and develop professional skills in carpentry, tailoring,IT, culinary arts, and journalism.
U Nayaka’s work has been acknowledged by severalawards, including the Order of the Republic of the Union of MyanmarPresident’s State Excellence Award in 2013. In 2003 he was invited bythe US Department of State to consult on Education in Burma. In 2008he also was invited to consult at the United Nations in New York. Hewas also awarded the highest honorary name of Agga mahasaddhammajotika Dhaja by the government of Myanmar and also presentedCitizen of Burma.
In 2013 the Founder President and his colleagues were invited from Australian Education Institutions, primary schools, and universities. There, he took the chance to affiliate with Australian Catholic University (ACU). 15 students from Phaung Daw Oo High School were sent to study in ACU for an education in Diploma. In 2014 well-wishers donated 450 acres of land near Mandalay to establish a university which is now called Phuang Daw Oo International University (PIU). Meanwhile, the Phaung Daw Oo School tries to link with some Western Universities like American University (AU), Menandar University, Hamsted University, Victoria University, and the University of Melbourne. Students were sent to these universities to study MA programs, BA programs, and Intensive courses. In 2017-2018 the Eastern Universities also came and joined the school to work on education matters together: Fo Guang Shan University from Taiwan and International Buddhist College (IBC) from Thailand. On January 25, 2019, the PIU signed a higher academic cooperation agreement with IBC in Mandalay.
