For hundreds of years, monks have provided a valuable service to Myanmar's poor, with the country's monastic education schools granting those from underprivileged families of all religions an education they would normally be unable to afford.
However observers are concerned that a new school opened by a firebrand group of nationalist monks may be used to encourage hatred of other religions, such as Islam, rather than a straightforward adherence to Buddhism.
Talking to a local newspaper last week, nationalist monk Wirathu -- a prominent member of the Organization for Protection of Race and Religion (Ma Ba Tha) -- underlined that all monastic schools (commonly known as Ba Ka schools) and government schools should not just emphasize the teachings of the country's majority religion, but also seek to protect them. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
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