Dagon (2) High School

Myoma National High School အ.ထ.က. (၂) ဒဂုံ
Basic Education High School No. 2 Dagon
Address
353 Myoma Kyaung Lane, Dagon Yangon, Yangon Region Myanmar
Information
Type	Public
Mottoes	Excellence for all
Established	Founded in 1920 (built in 1929)
Founder	Ba Lwin
School number	2
Principal	Sai Ko Lay
Faculty	100
Grades	K–10
Number of students	4200

Basic Education High School No. 2 Dagon (Burmese: အခြေခံ ပညာ အထက်တန်း ကျောင်း အမှတ် (၂) ဒဂုံ; formerly, Myoma National High School, မြို့မကျောင်း) is a public high school located a few miles north of downtown Yangon, Myanmar. The former nationalist high school founded for the children of the common folk, now educates mostly the children of well-to-do Burmese families from Dagon and vicinity. It was one of the first "nationalist schools" opened after the First National Strike against the British rule in Burma.

The Myoma school was first founded at Bahan township in December 1920. The school was founded as the Myoma National High School by Ba Lwin in 1920 and the current building was built in 1929 as part of a nationwide movement by the nationalist Burmese to counter what they perceived as drawbacks of the British colonial education system: lack of access, and a heavily biased curriculum.

The colonial education system relied heavily on a small number of private (mostly parochial) schools like St. Paul's English High School that were out of reach for most Burmese. Even the wealthy Burmese who could afford the schools were unsatisfied with the heavy Anglo-centric nature of the curriculum. (This led to the First Yangon University Strike in December 1920. The event is still celebrated annually as National Day.) Throughout the 1920s, the nationalist Burmese set up a parallel education system of national schools throughout the country. In 1929, Ba Lwin founded the school in Yangon. He would go on to guide the school until 1953. The school is regarded as the second nationalist school opened in Burma after the Shin Maha Buddhaghosa National School established in 1899.

The school was nationalized in April 1965, and eventually renamed as Basic Education High School No. 2 Dagon. Today, commonly known as Dagon 2, it is still a nationally prominent school due to its heritage. Ironically, the very access touted in the school's founding has dissipated. Dagon 2 today draws its student body overwhelmingly from well-to-do families who can pay a large "donation" every year.