Saint Paul’s English High School is a Roman Catholic parochial school located in Yangon, Myanmar. It is located in the Downtown Area of Yangon. During British colonial times in Myanmar, the children of the elite attended this school. Prior to 1965, English was the language of instruction. Ever since then, classes at Saint Paul’s have been taught in both Burmese and English.
Saint Paul’s High School was founded in 1860 by the De La Salle Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious order. Eight years prior, the British conquered Yangon (then known as Rangoon) and made it part of British India. Thus, providing proper education to children was a priority for the newly-conquered region of Burma. The current three-story red brick school was built between 1900 and 1908. Today, it is a protected landmark and can never be demolished.
Initially, Saint Paul’s was a boys-only school. Despite being called a high school, Saint Paul’s has students between kindergarten and twelfth grade who attend. During the era of British Burma, the children of British army officers and wealth Burmese families attended this school.
In 1965, Ne Win, the president of Myanmar from 1962 to 1981, passed several laws that devasted the prestige of Saint Paul’s English High School. Firstly, Burmese replaced English as the primary language of instruction. Also, a new law that required students to attend the nearest school caused Saint Paul’s to loose a lot of students. Nowadays, most children from wealthy families attend the rival Methodist High School instead of Saint Paul’s. The current elite also tends to send their kids to other English language private schools within Yangon.
Despite the decline of Saint Paul’s High School, it still attracts many kids from middle class families within Downtown Yangon. It is also still considered one of Myanmar’s leading high schools.