Yangon

Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia,^[7] and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact.^[8] The colonial-era commercial core is centered around the Sule Pagoda, which is reputed to be over 2,000 years old.^[9] The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda – Myanmar's most sacred and famous Buddhist pagoda.


Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia, such as Jakarta, Bangkok or Hanoi. Though many historic residential and commercial buildings have been renovated throughout central Yangon, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be profoundly impoverished and lack basic infrastructure.^[10]

Etymology and pronunciation[edit]

The name Yangon (ရန်ကုန်) is derived from the combination of the Burmese words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean 'enemies' and 'run out of', respectively. This word combination can be translated as 'End of Strife'.


The name is pronounced /ˌjæŋˈɡɒn/ yang-GON in British English and /ˌjɑːnˈɡoʊn/ yahn-GOHN in American English.^[11]


The former romanization, Rangoon, was based on the Rakhine dialect,^[12] and pronounced /ræŋˈɡuːn/ rang-GOON in English.^[13]

Yangon educational facilities has a very high number of qualified teachers but the state spending on education is among the lowest of the world.^[117] Around 2007 estimate by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies puts the spending for education at 0.5% of the national budget.^[118] The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. With little or no state support forthcoming, schools have to rely on forced "donations" and fees from parents for nearly everything – school maintenance to teachers' salaries,^[119] forcing many poor students to drop out.


While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts such as Dagon 1, Sanchaung 2, Kamayut 2, Bahan 2, Latha 2, and TTC provide the majority of students admitted to the most selective universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country.^[120] The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education.^[121] In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year.^[122]


There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly a graduate school, deprived of undergraduate studies. Following the 1988 nationwide uprising, the military government has repeatedly closed universities, and has dispersed most of the undergraduate student population to new universities in the suburbs such as Dagon University, the University of East Yangon and the University of West Yangon. Nonetheless, many of the country's most selective universities are still in Yangon. Students from around the country still have to come to study in Yangon as some subjects are offered only at its universities. The University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, University of Computer Studies and Myanmar Maritime University are the most selective in the country.^[123]


Schools for foreign expatriates include: