Admittingly speaking, Christianity and Formal Education may be ascribed as the parents that have emancipated the people of the Chin Hills from the thraldom of ignorance and brought forth to modernization as they usually do to many others everywhere. Reflecting upon the old records about the Chins in the early 1900s we can muse with fond delight on how soon those two become the source of inspiration and the aid of aspiration regarding the changes that took place among the Chins in so short a period of time or less than 100 years.

Rev.E.H.East, M.D. was the first medical missionary among the Chin Hills (1902-1910) and was next to the Carsons. He recorded the plight of the Chins then in his diary called BURMA MANUSCRIPT as follows. "The Chins have wandered far from the Father's House, and were prodigal indeed, and so man would even refuse to call them human. Not that they did not look like human beings, but because they had become what men call wild, uncouth and bent on doing wrongs continuously and their hands were always turned against their brothers."

B.S Carey and H.N.Tuck, the first Assistant Commissioners and political officers of the Chin Hills exhaustively recorded in the Chin Hills gazette(1932) and briefly enumerated the common general Chin characteristics as they say in the 1890s."The low speech, the serious manner, the respect for birth and the knowledge of pedigrees, the duty of revenge, the taste for and the treacherous method of warfare, the curse of drink, the virtue of hospitality, the clannish feeling, the vice of avarice, the filthy state of the body, mutual distrust, impatience under control, the want of power of combination and of continued efforts, arrogance in victory, speedy discouragement and panic in defeat are common traits throughout the hills."

Both books revealed that the great and universal vice amongst the Chins is drunkenness and indulge in the use of tobacco- the use of pure nicotine and quid without exception and without moderation. A Chin would rather have the reputation of being the heaviest drinker than any other reputation on earth. He knows no greater joy than to be drunk, day and night.

On the other brighter side, they also discovered the good traditions, manners and customs that had highly developed. Tuck and Carey enlisted in detail the marriage customs, naming of children, burial customs, erecting of memorial tablets, oath of friendship used, beliefs in a Supreme being, sacrifices in sickness and in death, respect for birth, the rule of chieftainships, tithes and tributes offered, settlement of private wrongs, justice practise with regards to murder, rape, adultery, thefts and divorces rules of inheritance, great feast of social elevation, succor and help in distress or in calamity increated in them as it is found everywhere and among all peoples in entire world. To quote again a few lines, Carey and Tuck mentioned that,

"The Chin is often described as a devil worshiper. This is incorrect for he worships neither god nor evil. The Chins admit that there is a Supreme God or "Kozing" to whom they sacrifice, they do not worship him and never look to him for any grace or mercy, except that of withholding the plagues and misfortunes which he is incapable of invoking on any in this world who offend him....But they firmly believe in life beyond death..."

E.H.East also admitted that, "I found much joy in uncovering long buried traditions containing the fundamental principles of Scriptural truths considered unknown to the peoples of the Chin Hills...There are many fundamental truths hidden in their tradition that have come down from their fathers and so it is with and among all races and peoples."

The above quotations substantiated enough the genuine position of the Chins before true religion and formal education touched them. For, the Chins remained being ignored, uncared for and unreached by any outside culture for so long. The Chins were then analogous to the mere unpolished diamonds.

The Chin Hills was annexed by the British in 1890. It is amusing to note here that even the imperialist Britishers were not motivated by ambitious colonial expansionism but rather as a protective measure against constant and plundering of the Chins on the British subjects in the plains of Burma and Chittagoung did the British annexed the Chin Hills. Indeed along time elapsed while the whole Chin Hills lay dormant in a state of what the British themselves called the "Unadministerd Area."

The American Baptist Mission sent Rev.A.E.Carson in 1899 AD from Thayetmyo missionary areaa to the Chins living in the hills. After a strenuous hard work among the unlovely people for 5 years, their work was crowned with the first converts in May 1904, one chief by the name Thuam Hang and his wife Dim Khaw Ciang. This was followed suit by the second chief Pau Suan and his wife Kham Ciang in july the same year.

This was made possible after they educate the people first by opening mission schools for formal education. Traditions alleged that the Chin people lost their writings when a hungry dog ate up the only existing volume of leather book during the early years of settling in the Chin Hills. Leaving aside this rather crude etymology as regards its plausibility we are still facing the fact that the Chin people have had no proprietary literature for many generations past.

Prior to the coming of the English into the Chin Hills the Burmese did not share the Buddhism among the Chins. Buddhism had flourished in Myanmar since the first kingdom of Bagan founded by the famous first king Anawratha in 1044 AD. Had Buddhism got the upperhand the Chins may perchance have been converted into Buddhism and probably had their language reduced to writings in Myanmar scripts.

The Carsons secured a land for the mission in Hakha and erected a school house in 1900-01. Rev.Carson started a school and that experience was enough to try the souls of men. It is very interesting to see the difficulties the Carsons encounter when they started a school which was totally unknown and new to the Chin people. East noted that in a fancy way.

"Being nature's children, the boys prefered to roam the forests with their bows and arrows, and so they came to school one day and hunted in the woods two days! These children have been cooped up in a school, nor did their fathers before them. Now that is the beginning of education in the Chin Hills."

The mission schools planted in the early 1900s that opened the eyes of the Chins were as follow:

         1901          Hakha          Saya San Win
         1902          Tiddim         Saya Po Ku
         1903          Khuasak        Saya Shew Zan
         1904          Tonzang        Saya  Po ku
         1905          Zokhua         Saya Maung Gya
         1906          Lumbang        Saya Po E
         1908          Thantlang      Saya Mg Kya
         ?             Laizo          Saya Mg Kum

As Burmese was the Court language, the Government of Burma required Burmese to be taught. Owing to the fact that the Mission had to engage men from lower country and so they used Karen Teacher Preachers. These Karen men did good work and were excellent men that they would have their names forever mentioned in the Christian records of Burma and in the minds of the Chin people. Thus, the first learned men among the Chins could speak and write Burmese well.

Marked opposition on the part of the people, and in some cases inspired by official underlings, caused to close some of the schools and planted in another villages. Things of this sort are only incidents in the life of Christian Mission. In the mean time, evengelism was going on well.

Years later, the Chin language was permitted to be reduced to writings and to be taught in the schools. Rev. and Mrs. Carson then began to create an alphabet in Romanized writing, publishing a small hymn book and some Bible verses etc. Later, Rev. J.H.Cope formalized the Chin scripts in the three dialects of the northern Chin Hills, Hakha, Laizo and Tiddim, and adopted to be taught in the then called Vernacular schools of its locality since 1925. By then, the Rev.Herbert J.Cope D.DD;D.Litt. a missionary at Tiddim was also appointed the Honorary Inspector of Schools for the whole Chin Hills, and he had by then printed textbooks of all prescribed subjects in three dialects.

By that time the Government had regularized all the Mission schools as Government schools and more and more schools were opened. The town schools, Tedim, Falam and Hakha were raised at the same 7th Standard level and were named "Government Anglo-Vernacular Middle School," meaning that English was the medium of instruction in all subjects in the Middle level started from 4th to 7th standard. The primary classes were held at different school buildings and from 1st to 4th standard. For those school children of Indian Gurkha and Chinese and Burmese in Falam, a "Non-Chin School" was opened on exception.

By all the rules of simple common sense, the narrative should be shortened by saying "ever since then schools flourished and prospered and Christianity spread like wild fire" with the ensuing progress table shown as below.

     Year     Primary    Middle    High   College    Students
     1901        1         -        -        -       7 (all boys)
     1910        5         -        -        -       211 (20 girls)
     1920        6         -        -        -       160 (15 girls)
     1925        15        3        -        -           ?
     1935        65        2        1        -           ?
     1948        129       ?        4        -           ?
     1962        309       22       8        -        32820 (6706 girls)
     1988        1023      79       18       -        79640  ?
     1998        1054      84       23       1        89526 (43229 girls)

It may be appropriate and of much interest to mention here the education of the Chins with regard to Higher Education. The First matriculated among the Chins in the Chin Hills was in 1930 and the first graduated with B.A degree was in 1938. There were 21 graduates in 1952, 234 in 1968, 1319 in 1981 and 7529 in 1998. Among them 9 Ph.Ds and 162 Masters.

Similarly, many of the Chins pursue Theology and Christian Education and Missiology today in addition to their first degree. About 30 Chins attained doctoral level such as Ph.D.; STD; D.Min; D.Miss.; Th.D.; D.D etc. and alot in M.Div and B.th. degrees offered by the numerous Theological Schools and Seminary opened today.

Change is the nature's permanent rule of law. Tremendous change took place in a marvellous way within a short span of one hundred years among the Chins in their way of thinking and mode of living. Administratively, the Chin Hills in 1890s was changed into Chin Special Division in 1948 after gaining Myanmar's independence and then now to Chin State since 1974.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2Cor.5:17). Hatred has turned to friendship. The former headhunters turned into heart-hunters is especailly true for the Chins. The former unlovely people has become the lovely chins in Christ through the loving of the unlovely first rendered by the Carsons. The former universal vice that down-trodden the Chins is almost anihilated. Christianity has transformed the Chins from uncivilized to the civilized, from the uncouth to the polished diamonds. 90-95% Christians hailed in the north and 30-35% in the south of Chinland. The belief in one Supreme Being in their heathen system has turned into the belief of one Supreme God. Life after death has been assured by the salvation of Christ. Jesus is being crowned King in the hearts of men now.

In no less degree, Education has enlightened the Chins, fires their imagination, feeds the flames of their thoughts. From out of the deep shadows of the past, education came wearing the scars of struggles and the stripes of toil but bearing the triumphant wisdom of ages. Education could banish ignorance, discourage vice of the past. Education has become the hope of youth, the pride of adolescence and the joy of aged. It forge the key that open the door to opportunity in the future.