She was born and grew up in Taranar Village in Kyeik Mayaw Township, Mon State. At the time of the school closure, she was studying in the sixth grade (six standard) in a Mon national school, which was associated with the government's middle school.

"When I realized that I could not continue my studies, I became depressed," Mi Kya Lun Htaw recalled. "I wanted to be an educated person. I wondered what my future would be like if I was not educated? Therefore, I begged my parents to allow me to continue my studies. That’s when I went to Kyeik Ka Bin village to study," she said enthusiastically.

In 1993, an education department under the New Mon State Party (NMSP) opened at the temple in Kyeik Ka Bin village, Kaw Ka Reik Township, Karen State. There were over 40 families in the village. But the Burmese Army and Mon ethnic armed groups often exchanged gunfire there.

The village was very difficult to get to. It was a half day’s journey by boat. "We were afraid during the journey because we had to look out for the Burmese Army," she said. “To help us avoid them, a Mon armed group platoon escorted us.”

Before the Mon armed groups and the military regime signed a ceasefire agreement in 1995, the military authorities strictly banned the Mon from teaching their own literature in the Mon schools opened by the NMSP's education department in Mon State. The military authorities tried to prevent students from being taught Mon literature by sometimes arresting and detaining teachers.

She recalled that students and teachers had to hide school books and run away because the Burmese Army received information about students learning Mon literature in Kyeik Ka Bin village and then entered the village to investigate.

"Even the cooks had to run away. We could not eat rice. I slept when I was hiding," she said. She faced a lot of difficulties in her studies because of the army's raids on the village and always had to be ready to run when army troops heard about their class.

"When we heard the army entering the village, we had to stop eating or learning and had to hide separately in the village," Mi Kya Lun Htaw recalled. Even though she faced many difficult challenges as a Mon student, she successfully finished her studies for her bachelor’s degree at a government university.

The NMSP's central education department started to teach Mon literature in 1971. It established an education branch under the central education department in 1984-85. Now there are 142 primary schools, 12 middle schools, and 3 high schools functioning under the central education department.

Mon national schools are now free which provides a good opportunity for poor students seeking an education. Up until now about fifteen thousand students have studied in Mon national schools. Over twenty thousand students have been studying in the schools associated with government schools and both teach Mon literature.

There are 114 schools associated with the government schools teaching Mon literature. "In the associated schools teachers have to teach Mon literature before and after the normal school hours," Mi Kya Lun Htaw said.

At the Mon national schools students have to learn not only Mon literature but other subjects that the government has approved for the school curriculum with the Mon language being taught at primary level. Mi Kya Lun Htaw said studying the Mon literature instills a sense of patriotism and cultural pride in the students. The Mon national schools inside Burma have not faced strong restrictions since the 1995 ceasefire. However, other ethnic groups cannot teach and learn their own language and literature in government schools Mi Kya Lun Htaw said.

"I will never forget what I have faced in my school life. Like me, a Mon student studying in a Mon national school faced many difficulties, but I think the other ethnic students are facing the same difficulties in learning their own language and literature," she said.

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