University of Yangon

IPA: [j tk]

Latin: Vniversitatem Yangon

Former
names

Motto

Rangoon College
(1878)

Government College
(1906)

University College
(early 1920)

Rangoon Arts and

Sciences University
(1964)

(Pali: nitthi sama vijj
mittha)
There's no friend like
wisdom
Public
1878
Dr. Pho Kaung

Motto
in English
Type
Established
Rector
Academic
1023
staf
Undergradu
2,000
ates
Postgraduat
3,000
es

Location
Campus
Affiliations
Website

Kamayut 11041, Yangon,

Yangon Region, Myanmar
Urban
ASEAN University Network
(AUN), ASAIHL
uy.edu.mm

University of Yangon (also the Yangon University; Burmese:

, pronounced: [j tk]; formerly Rangoon College,
Rangoon University and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University),
located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern
education system and most well-known university in Myanmar since then.
The university now offers mainly undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
(Bachelor's, Master's, Post-graduate Diploma, and Doctorate) programmes in
liberal arts, sciences and law. Full-time bachelor's degree had not been
offered at the university's main campus since the student protests of 1996.
Yet,the university reoffered the excellent students throughout the country,
akin to the most excellent students of a year, the bachelor's degrees right
from 2014 academic year. Now even including Political Science for
Undergraduate students and other Postgraduate diplomas like social works
and geology have been offered there.
Yangon University is the progenitor of most major universities in the country.
Until 1958 when Mandalay University became an independent university, all
institutions of higher education in Myanmar were under Yangon University.
After the University Education Act of 1964, all professional colleges and
institutes of the university such as the Institute of Medicine 1, Rangoon
Institute of Technology and Yangon Institute of Economics all became
independent universities, leaving the university with liberal arts, sciences
and law.
From the beginning, Yangon University has been at the centre of civil
discontent throughout its history. All three nationwide strikes against the
British (1920, 1936 and 1938) began at then Rangoon University. Anticolonial movement's leaders such as General Aung San, U Nu, Ne Win and U
Thant were some notable alumni of the university. The tradition of student
protested at the university continued in the post-colonial erain 1962, 1974,
1988 and most recently in 1996.[1]

History

Rangoon College in the early 1900s, before the merger with Judson College.
Established in 1878 as an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta, the
Rangoon College was operated and managed by the Education Syndicate
set up by the British colonial administration.[2] The college was renamed
Government College in 1904, and University College in 1920. Rangoon
University was founded in 1920, when University College (secular) and
Judson College (Baptist-affiliated) were merged. The American Baptist
Mission decided to recognise Judson College (formerly Baptist College) as a
separate institution within Rangoon University.[2] Rangoon University
modelled itself after University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.[3] All
subsequent institutions of higher learning founded by the British were placed
under Rangoon University's administration: Mandalay College in Mandalay in
1925, Teachers Training College and Medical College in Yangon in 1930, and
Agriculture College in Mandalay in 1938.[4]
Although it was attended only by the elites of the day, the university
nonetheless was at the centre of anti-colonial movement. All three
nationwide strikes against the British colonial government (1920, 1936 and
1938) began at the university. By the 1930s, the university was the hotbed of
Burmese nationalism, producing a number of future senior Burmese
politicians, including General Aung San, U Nu, Ba Maw, Kyaw Nyein, Ba Swe,
U Thant and Thein Pe Myint, etc.

Rangoon University suffered damage during World War II.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Rangoon University was the most
prestigious university in Southeast Asia and one of the top universities in
Asia, attracting students from across the region.[3][5][6]
After the military coup of 1962 under Gen. Ne Win and the Burmese Way to
Socialism, Rangoon University was put directly under the control of the
Directorate of Higher Education, a central government agency, whereas
previously it was run by a council of professors, scholars and government
officials.[3] In addition, the medium of instruction was changed to Burmese, a
radical departure from English, which had been the University's medium of
instruction since its founding. Educational standards began to decline
markedly and international bodies stopped recognising degrees issued or
obtained at the University.[3] The university was also renamed the Rangoon
Arts and Sciences University (abbreviated RASU), after certain departments
and faculties (medicine, economics, education, etc.) were separated from the
University in 1964.
Rangoon University students staged a peaceful demonstration and protest on
campus against 'unjust university rules' on 7 July 1962. Ne Win sent his
troops to disperse the students which led to dozens of students being shot
dead and the historic Rangoon University Student Union (RUSU) building
being dynamited to rubble the next morning.
In November 1974 the former UN Secretary General U Thant died, and on the
day of his funeral on 5 December 1974, Rangoon University students
snatched his coffin on display at the Kyaikkasan Race Course, and erected a
makeshift mausoleum on the grounds of the RUSU in protest against the
government for not honouring their famous countryman with a state funeral.
The military stormed the campus on 11 December killing some of the

students, recovered the coffin, and buried U Thant at the foot of the
Shwedagon Pagoda.
In 1989, after the military junta had changed place names throughout
Myanmar, the University was renamed Yangon University. The University was
closed for most of the 1990s, because of fears of a repeat of the 8888
Uprising, to prevent student activists from assembling. To this day, the
university is shut down at irregular intervals by the government. To prevent
students from congregating, the government has dispersed the existing
institutions and departments that make up Yangon University into separate
learning institutions scattered throughout the city. Today, only graduate
studies, certain professional courses, and a few diploma courses are
conducted at the University's main campus. Newer universities such as
Dagon University, University of East Yangon and University of West Yangon
are designated for undergraduates.
Yangon University celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in a week-long celebration,
which began on 1 December 1995. The Jubilee marked the school's formal
establishment of 75 years. For its commemoration, the government built the
Diamond Jubilee Hall, a four-storied building in the University's grounds,
which cost K 630,000,000, and a new set of postage stamps was also
produced.[7] Once-affiliated institutes and departments (e.g., the Institute of
Economics, Yangon which began life as a department at Yangon University),
which had already separated, also celebrated.
Campus

Judson Church at sunrise

Judson Tower in 2012

Universities' Dhamma Hall

Yadanar Hall

Yangon University is located in Yangon, along the southwestern bank of Inya

Lake, the largest lake in the city. It is on the corner of Pyay Road and
University Avenue Road in Kamayut Township, north of downtown Yangon.
The modern campus of Yangon University completed construction in 1920.
There are two campuses, namely Main Campus and Hlaing Campus, the
former being the most well-known. Judson Church, inside the main campus of
the University, is a Baptist church, and like Judson College, named after
Adoniram Judson, a 19th-century American missionary who compiled the first
Burmese-English dictionary. The main campus also contains a convocation
hall.
Housing
The accommodation in Burma is not mixed and the availability is limited.
Women's halls have many limited rules whilst men's a few.

Amara Hall
(Department of
Philosophy and
Library and
Information Studies)

Bago Hall(men')

Bagan Hall(women's)

Dagon Hall(men')

Inwa Hall

Inya Hall (women's)

Marlar Hall
(women's)

Nawaday Hall
(women's)

Pinya Hall(men')

Pyay Hall (women's)

Ramanya
Hall( Departments of
Law,Psychology and
Anthropology)

Sagaing Hall(men')

Shwebo Hall

Taungoo Hall
(Departments of
Myanmar and English)

Visali Hall
( Departments of
History, Archeology
and International
relations )

Tagaung Hall
(women's)

Thahtone
Hall(men')

Thiri Hall
(women's)

Yadanar Hall
(women's)