Yangon’s No. 1 elite school
- Basic Education High School No. 6 Botataung
- Not open to the public
Yangon’s No.1 school
Like the Secretariat, the St. Paul’s compound occupies a whole block. The site is home to the St. Paul’s school and the Dutch-designed gothic revival St Mary’s Church, Yangon’s main cathedral. St. Paul’s was founded in 1860 by French Bishop Bigandet, who asked the respected La Salle brothers from Calcutta to build a school as part of the ‘Order of Christian Schools’, a Roman Catholic Order solely devoted to education, living by the motto “Labor omnia vincit”, or hard work will overcome everything.
From shack to prestigious institute
Originally a wooden shack, the school quickly outgrew its premises and went on to become one of Myanmar’s most prestigious schools. Today the school is known as Botatuang 6 High School.
Anti-colonial legacy
Dr Thant Myint-U describes St Paul as one of the key sites where a modern Myanmar was born: “This was a place where the new generation connected with the world and imagined a new future for the nation.”
St. Paul’s alumni
Many rich and famous graduated from St. Paul’s: Deedok U Ba Cho, a newspaper publisher and one of the MP’s assassinated with General Aung San in The Secretariat, legendary wealthy Chinese business man Lim Chin Tsong and author Colin McPhedran who wrote ‘White Butterflies’.