Monks in training

Myanmar's monasteries provide schooling to those who need it most

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A novice Buddhist monk helps a younger novice to wear his robe at Bahan Thone Htat monastic school in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Image credit: The Associated Press)
A monk stands in for a teacher as children and monks study together at a school run by a monastery in Bago, Myanmar.
(Image credit: (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)But the country is at a turning point. Democratic reforms have unshackled the economy, galvanized the workforce, and forced the government to institute an across)

A novice Buddhist monk helps a younger novice wear his robe at Bahan Thone Htat monastic school in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Novice Buddhist monks, nuns, children, and teachers sing Myanmar's national anthem during an assembly at the beginning of a school day at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

A novice Buddhist monk at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

A novice Buddhist nun is given a vaccination for Hepatitis-B at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Buddhist nuns play during break time at Phaung Daw Oo monastic school in Mandalay, Myanmar. (HEIN HTET/epa/Corbis)

A novice Buddhist monk washes his robes at Bahan Thone Htat monastic school in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Novice Buddhist monks and village children write in their textbooks at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Novice Buddhist monks play with rubber-bands before lunch at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Buddhist nuns walk up in the stairs at the beginning of a school day at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Students of a Buddhist monastic school meditate before the start of class in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Novice Buddhist monks play a game similar to soccer during a break at Bahan Thone Htat.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe))

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.