Data Collection Survey On Education Sector in Myanmar
Data Collection Survey On Education Sector in Myanmar
Data Collection Survey On Education Sector in Myanmar
on Education Sector
in Myanmar
Final Report
February 2013
February 2013
Contents
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
3. Critical Issues and Recommendations for the Education Sector in Myanmar .............. 10
3.1 Issues and Recommendations in education sector ................................................... 10
3.2 Recommendations for the Education Reform in Myanmar ...................................... 12
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
(1) Collect information and data on the education sector, including basic education, technical
vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education (HE)
(2) Analyze and identify priority issues
(3) Design an effective approach to solve the priority issues
The Study Team conducted fieldwork three times in Myanmar from September 2012 to January
2013 and visited various educational stakeholders including government agencies, CESR
working group members, development partners, universities and schools, private companies,
and so forth. Additionally, as part of JICA’s technical contribution to CESR in the fields of
curriculum development and teacher education, the Study Team members supported CESR
working group members as international consultants as well as providing collected information
and analysis in higher education. The collected information has been analyzed and reported
according to each subsector; (i) Education policy, administration, finance and legal system; (ii)
Basic education including inclusive education and non-formal education; (iii) Teacher education
and Curriculum; (iv) TVET, (v) Higher education; (vi) Demand-supply gap in industrial labor
force and (vii) CESR analysis and aid-coordination.
It should be noted that the findings of this survey, notwithstanding the above objectives, do not
constitute any indication of commitment by the Government of Japan regarding future financial
assistance, which is subject to discussion between the two governments.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
Multi-donor Education Fund (MDEF) which several DPs3 are funding starts Quality Basic
Education Programme Phase 2 (QBEP 2: 2012-2015) 4 following QBEP 1 (2006-2011) and
UNICEF continues to be the lead implementation agency.
1
As of January 2013
2
The Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness (2012) Myanmar Donor Profiles
3
AusAID、Denmark、DFID、EU、Norway
4
UNICEF Myanmar and Myanmar Multi-donor Education Fund (2012) Myanmar Quality Basic Education
Programme: Programme Design Document
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
Furthermore, as for coordination among DPs, many DPs who joined/showed interest in CESR
formed the “Education Development Partner Coordination Group (DPCG),” a regular
coordination meeting as well as established communication/coordination tools among DPs by
mailing list. On the other hand, the Joint Education Sector Working Group (JESWG) was
officially formed as policy dialogue among government counterparts and DPs.
Major education policies in Myanmar have been implemented according to the 30-Year
Long-Term Education Development Plan and the five-year medium-term plans that are
formulated according to the Long-Term Plan. In November 2012, however, the MoE newly
drafted National Education Promotion 20 Year Long Term Plan for 2011/12-2030/31, which
corresponds to the Comprehensive National Development Plan for 2011/12-2030/31 formulated
by Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. Hereafter, this 20-year Long
Term Plan will supersede the existing 30-year plan and the four new five-year plans will be
prepared nationally and by each sector.
Higher Education:
(1) Organization of Faculty at the Universities under the Ministry of Education
(2) Development of Quality Assurance System and extension of cooperation with International
Universities and Educational Organization
(3) Revision of University Entrance System
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
(4) Extension of Technical Vocational Education Trainings (TVET) through Human Resource
Development Programme (HRD) in order to be able to produce medium skilled technicians
and workers necessary for development of the Economic and Industrial sectors of the
country within a short period of time
(5) Strengthening capacity of the University Management officers, teachers and laboratory
technicians
(6) Strengthening capacity of the students
(7) Prescribing respective laws for the participation of private sector in education services
(8) Promotion of education to the international level
(9) Development of Good University Education Atmosphere
(10) Strengthening network with International Universities
(11) Upgrading English teaching
(12) Promotion of teaching International Relations, Laws and Economics
(13) Production of outstanding intellectuals in respective subjects through awarding local
scholarships
The ratios of the unit cost among primary, lower secondary, upper secondary and university
education is approximately 1.0:0.8:3.9:7.5. The upper secondary unit cost is around four times
of that for primary education.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
This section provides necessary information of CESR Teacher Education Working Group
after their format and analyzed according to management, access and quality. Major
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findings are: (i) Teacher education systems in many ASEAN countries have been upgraded to
4 year degree programs for the teachers of all levels, but Myanmar provides a 1 year program
for primary teachers, 2 years for Junior secondary teachers and 5 years for High school teachers;
(ii) There is an absence of “Teacher Education Policy” in Myanmar; (iii) Lack of “Professional
Standards” makes long-term goals of teachers unclear, which makes it difficult to figure out
framework of continuing professional development (CPD); (iv) Head teacher’s responsibility is
limited and TEO/ATEO manage primary/lower secondary schools and no leadership trainings
are provided; (v) Teacher support mechanisms are not adequate from the current education
system in Myanmar; (vi) Guidance from the educational administration side is limited, because
indicators used for regular school inspection by education offices are seldom related to class
improvement; (vii) Teachers’ evaluation system is not yet well established in terms of
effectiveness of classroom teacher (e.g. Child Centered Approach, etc.); (viii) Not all states has
EC and find it difficult to attend an EC after matriculation; (ix) INSET is organized on an
ad-hoc basis and has not been institutionalized and (x) Myanmar language as medium of
instruction might exclude the scope of participation of ethnic minorities in teacher education. It
is only in UDNR that these minorities get the chance to become certified teachers.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
the policy to provide TVET to both rural and urban areas. TUs were established in all regions
and states except Chin state. Areas which do not have TUs do have GTCs or GTIs, and TVET
institutions are located in all region and states. Furthermore, there is a large scale gap of
institutions between the border and central areas. TVET institutions receive almost their entire
budget from their respective ministries and are not left with much discretion. The expenditure
has gradually increased but it does not reach to replace out of dated equipment.
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The allocation or rotation of teaching staff amongst HEIs is determined by the Ministry that
administers the HEIs. Teaching staff are periodically rotated nationwide among the same kinds
of HEIs under the Ministry. For example, teaching staff of TUs rotate among TUs and teaching
staff of Arts and Sciences Universities rotate among Arts and Sciences Universities.
Evaluation of teaching staff is mainly determined by two factors, length of service and academic
degrees held. Research achievements are basically not included as an evaluation criterion.
Compared to the private sector, salary and additional allowance of teaching staff is not very
high, especially in the science and technology related fields. Hence, it has been difficult to keep
a sufficient number of well-qualified and experienced teaching staff in Technological
Universities, since they can obtain relevant jobs in the private sector with better salary more
easily than teaching staff in the Arts and Sciences Universities.
Research under HEIs has not been actively conducted. According to interviews as well as site
observations at several HEIs, the Study Team presumes some of the reasons: 1) the lack of
research experience because most Ph.D. holders have graduated from HEIs in Myanmar that
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
have not provided enough research opportunities and experience; 2) the lack of a research
environment, such as sufficient research funding, equipment, research societies and journals; 3)
the lack of motivation of teaching staff for research because research achievements are not
considered as an evaluation criterion.
Finally, the growing demand for workers who have management skills both in manufacturing
and nonmanufacturing industries has brought labor supply shortage issues to the fore. There are
few human resources who can meet the needs for this area, which include a high level of
English communication skills, sufficient knowledge of marketing, as well as wide experience in
foreign markets. Because of this, it is urgent to increase the training opportunities for obtaining
these skills in Myanmar. Furthermore, there is an increasing call for the expansion of the
opportunity to receive foreign language education because the demand for people who have the
ability to speak English as a business language is also high, particularly in the tourist industry.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
Critical Issues and Recommendation in each sub-sector is summarized in Table 3.1. The
following set of constraints is also found as common to all subsectors.
Issues concerning quality : School curricula and teachers competencies have not been
adequately upgraded to respond to the changing needs of the labor market.
Issues concerning management:1) The relevant ministries, administrative bodies and schools
are not fully serving their intended functions without appropriate coordination and demarcation
of roles to serve for a unified and coordinated purpose; and 2) The existing laws and policies
have become outdated and do not reflect the realities of the education sector today.
The main causes which are identified from common issues can be narrowed down to the
following five points:
1. The existing education laws (e.g. Basic Education Law of 1973, Agriculture, Technical
and Vocational Education Law of 1983, and the University Education Law of 1973) have
become outdated and do not reflect the realities of education today and do not adequately
serve as a basis for policy decisions.
2. The past directives and measures implemented in the education sector are fragmented
and uncoordinated (not based on a unified principle with linkages to different subsector
issues).
3. The past educational policy decisions have not been based on evidence or analysis due to
the lack of reliable and comprehensive statistics.
4. The current education system does not have a mechanism to continuously upgrade itself
to respond to the needs of the world of work.
5. The relevant ministries, administrative bodies and schools are not fully serving their
intended functions without appropriate coordination and demarcation of roles to
contribute to a unified purpose.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (Summary)
Table 3.1: An Overview of Critical Issues for the Education Sector in Myanmar
The current MoE’s organizational structure is not conducive to accelerating the education reform and improvement.
Education Unclear demarcation of roles among different government bodies and schools is leading to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in education administration.
Administration The existing education administration structure does not allow each locality to respond to their local needs.
and Finance The existing education budget structure makes it difficult to clearly identify how much is actually spent and how much is needed for improvement at each level of education.
Budget and financial resources to achieve long/mid-term educational policies are not clear.
1 2 3 4 5
Educational policy decisions Current education system does Relevant ministries, administrative
The past directives/measures bodies and schools are not fully
have not been based on not have a mechanism to
The existing education laws implemented in the education serving their intended functions
Core Issues evidence or analysis due to the continuously upgrade itself to
have become outdated. sector have been fragmented without appropriate coordination
lack of reliable and respond to the needs of the and demarcation of roles to
and uncoordinated.
comprehensive statistics. world of work. contribute to a unified purpose.
Overall
Recommendation To formulate evidence-based policy decisions while ensuring coherence in major reform agenda
for Education (including a school system reform, a curriculum reform as well as decentralization).
Reform in Myanmar
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In summary, for Myanmar to overcome current challenges and to proceed with the education
reform, the important key is to formulate evidence-based policy decisions while ensuring
coherence in major reform agenda (including a school system reform, a curriculum reform as
well as decentralization).
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Data Collection Survey
on Education Sector
in Myanmar
Final Report
February 2013
Contents
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of the Study..........................................................................................1
1.2 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................1
1.3 Fieldwork Schedule .................................................................................................1
1.4 The Study Team .......................................................................................................5
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
8. Critical Issues and Recommendations for the Education Sector in Myanmar ............ 140
8.1 Critical Issues and Recommendations by Subsector ............................................. 140
8.1.1 Education Administration and Finance ......................................................... 140
8.1.2 Basic Education ........................................................................................... 143
8.1.3 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ............................ 150
8.1.4 Higher Education ......................................................................................... 154
8.2 Common Issues across All Subsectors .................................................................. 160
8.3 Core Issues to be addressed in the Education Sector of Myanmar ......................... 160
8.4 Recommendations for the Education Reform in Myanmar.................................... 160
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List of Figures
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List of Tables
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Table 4-4: Number of Students in Each Study Field and Institution (2011/2012) ...................... 91
Table 4-5: Number and Completion Rate of Students in Each Grade (2010/2011) .................... 92
Table 4-6: Number of Teachers in TVET Institutions under DTVE (2011/2012) ...................... 92
Table 4-7: Number of Teachers in Each Qualification (2011/2012) .......................................... 93
Table 5-1: Number of HEIs under Each Ministry ................................................................... 105
Table 5-2: The Number of HEIs at Each State or Region ....................................................... 105
Table 5-3: Number of HEIs under DHEU and DHEL of MoE by Field of Study .................... 107
Table 5-4: Number of HEIs Offering Engineering Related Courses under MoST by
Degrees Offered................................................................................................. 108
Table 5-5: Number of University of Computer Studies by Degrees Offered ........................... 108
Table 5-6: STR of Selected HEIs and Some of Its Average among the Same Category of
HEIs under MoST in AY2011/2012 .................................................................... 118
Table 5-7: Highest and Lowest STR by Department of the Selected HEIs in
AY2011/2012..................................................................................................... 118
Table 5-8: Trend of Research/Current/Capital Expenditure of DHEU and DHEL of MoE ... 119
Table 6-1: FDI Inflows by Sector (US$ million) .................................................................... 126
Table 6-2: Student Enrollment by Major in the Educational and Training Institutions.......... 128
Table 7-1: DP’s Support to CESR (Phase 1) .......................................................................... 131
Table 7-2: Support to the Education Sector by Major DPs 1 (By Subsector)........................... 132
Table 7-3: Support to the Education Sector by Major DPs 2 (By Agency) .............................. 134
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Map of Myanmar
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Education in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Myanmar) has been undergoing a drastic
transition period. The Government of Maynmar (GoM) has placed more emphasis on education
as a result of the urgent need to develop educational administration, governance and outcomes,
especially in the context of the transition to a market economy and ASEAN integration.
Given this background, this survey aims to provide baseline knowledge for Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) to capture the sector-wide situation and identify an “effective
approach” to the education sector in Myanmar, while CESR is being undertaken. The survey
intends to supplement and support CESR within the broader framework of partnership between
the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Development Partners (DPs) for successful completion of
CESR.
(1) Collect information and data on the education sector, including basic education, technical
vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education (HE)
(2) Analyze and identify priority issues
(3) Design an effective approach to address the priority issues
It should be noted that the findings of this survey, notwithstanding the above objectives, do not
constitute any indication of commitment by the Government of Japan regarding future financial
assistance, which is subject to discussions between the two governments.
The Study Team visited various educational stakeholders including government agencies, the
CESR Working Group members, DPs, universities and schools, private companies, and so forth
as shown in the table below. Additionally, as part of JICA’s technical contribution to CESR in
the fields of curriculum development and teacher education, the Study Team members
supported the CESR Working Group members as international consultants as well as providing
collected information and analysis in higher education.
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While the pace of the reforms being initiated by the GoM has been accelerating, proper care
needs to be taken to ensure that the process of establishing DPs' support frameworks based on
careful sector planning would not be left behind. Moreover, the movement to democratization
and marketization in expectation of the 2015 ASEAN integration, coupled with an expected
rush of foreign investors, is expected to bring about a structural change in demand for human
resources.
Owing to the above context, education in Myanmar has become a dynamic policy area, and the
analyses of education administration and finance need to be understood in such a context.
The obligations of the Union are set forth in Clauses 22 and 28:
(a) to develop language, literature, fine arts and culture of the National races;
(b) to promote socio-economic development including education, health, economy,
transport and communication, so forth, of less-developed National races.
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The constitution of 2008 declares the general rights of Myanmar citizens in Clause 21:
21. a) Every citizen shall enjoy the right of equality, the right of liberty and the right of justice,
as prescribed in this Constitution;
366. Every citizen, in accord with the educational policy laid down by the Union:
As for the national common language, the constitution of 1974 stated that the common language
was Burmese, the language of the most dominant ethnic group. This has been changed to
“Myanmar” as the country’s official language (Clause 450).
(a) To enable every citizen of the Union of Burma to become a physical and mental worker
well equipped with basic education, good health and moral character;
(b) To procreate citizens of the Union of Burma fully capable of building and safeguarding
Burmese socialist society with full understanding and strong conviction in the ideology of
the Burmese Way to Socialism;
(c) To lay foundations necessary for branching off at an appropriate stage to appropriate
vocational education and training for the purpose of establishing and maintaining Burmese
socialist society;
1
In the unauthorized English text, basic education shall be graded as primary level, secondary level and higher level
(Clause 4 (a)). It states that schools having primary level standards shall be called primary schools; schools having
secondary level standards with or without primary level standards shall be called middle schools; and schools having
secondary and higher level standards with or without primary level standards shall be called high schools. This
complication of school definitions requires caution when interpreting the education statics. The terms used for middle
schools and high schools are not in conformity to the reality.
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(d) To give precedence to the teaching of science capable of strengthening and developing
productive forces;
(e) To give precedence to the teaching of arts capable of preservation and development of
cultures, fine arts and literature of the State; and
(f) To build a firm educational base for the pursuance of university education.
(a) To engender able individuals imbued with outlook and morality commensurate with
socialist ideology for the construction of a Burmese socialist society;
(b) To engender individuals capable of developing socialist economy, public administration and
social undertakings;
(c) To give education and training with precedence to the teaching of arts and sciences equated
with livelihood;
(d) To undertake research necessary for the success of socialist construction;
(e) To foster a sense of dignity in labor;
(f) To work for a continuous development of the knowledge and proficiency of the working
people engaged in the construction of a Burmese socialist society.
2
Based on the information from the website of Burma Lawyers Council: http://www.blc-burma.org/html/Myanmar%
20Law/Indexs/lr_law_ml_azindex.html#u
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medium-term plans will be prepared nationally and by each sector. In addition, the Guidance of
the Head of State: 10 Points Education Policy, presented by the Head of State, President U
Thein Sein at the first regular session of the Parliament in March 2011, provides an overall
direction of educational development and it was used as a main reference in formulating the 20-
Year Long-Term Plan and a new first five-year plan. Furthermore, the cost estimate for the
education sector plan will be established as an output of CESR, which is supported by DPs, and
will not be available until after 2014 or later. Attention needs to be paid to the interaction
between the government-led exercise and the planning work supported by DPs.
Program 1. Creating an education system for modernization and development of the country
Program 2. Basic education for all
Program 3. Improving the quality of basic education
Program 4. Providing access to pre-vocational education and vocational education at different
basic education levels
Program 5. Improving access to teaching, learning and communication technology leading
towards e-Education
Program 6. Producing well-rounded, developed citizens
Program 7. Capacity building for educational management
Program 8. Carrying out basic education activities in collaboration with community
Program 9. Improving non-formal education activities
Program 10. Improving educational research
For each of the above programs, titles of several sub-items are mentioned but no details are
provided. Based on the 30-Year Long-Term Plan, a series of five-year medium-term plans is to
elaborate on the detailed implementation. The 30-Year Long-Term Plan aims at achieving
universal primary education by the end of the first five-year plan (2001/02-2005/06), universal
lower secondary education by the end of the third five-year plan (2011/12-2015/16), and
universal basic education by the end of the 30-year period.
The 30-Year Long-Term Plan for Higher Education will be discussed in Chapter 5.
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promotion of professional grades for basic education teachers, (f) arrangement to apply CCA at
the primary level, (g) allowing private schools to open, and (h) holding discussions on education
development.
While the 30-Year Long-Term Plan contained programs that were to be implemented solely by
the government resources, the new 20-Year Long-Term Plan includes activities that are
expected to be jointly funded by DPs during the first 5 years. Especially, for the 3 years from
2013/14 to 2015/16, the support from DPs is sought in the areas of (a) Compulsory Primary
Education Plan, (b) school retention of lower and upper secondary education, (c) upgrading
curriculum and syllabus, (d) teacher education development, (e) development of education
management and information, (f) early childhood development, and (g) non-formal education.
The 20-Year Long-Term Plan will be discussed at the Parliament after consultation with DPs.
The 10 Points Education Policy is regarded as a primary source of reference that provides a
general orientation of Myanmar’s education development, as reflected in the process of
formulating the new 20-Year Long-Term Plan.
2.2.4 Actions being taken in the Education Sector for the Next National
Development Plan
The GoM is currently formulating the next Fifth National Plan (FY2011/2012-FY2015/2016)
that is under the parliamentary discussions (as of January 2013). The plan has been drafted “in
accord with the policies that encourage (a) to more develop agriculture sector, (b) to translate
the nation into an industrialized one ensuring all-round development, (c) to bring about
equitable development to regions and states and socio-economic development for the entire
people, and (d) accuracy and precision of statistics 3. The entire picture of the new plan has not
yet been made available, but the important position taken by the education sector can be
observed from the significant increase in the education budget over the last few years.
In parallel, the Comprehensive National Development Plan for Myanmar 2011-2031 will be
delivered in early 2013. It will comprise four five-year programs setting targets for each
3
Based on the speech by Dr. Kan Zaw, Union Minister for National Planning and Economic Development at the
Parliament on January 10, 2013. http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html retrieved on January 12, 2013.
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program, and will be linked to the roadmap for poverty reduction set in 2011, 4 which will be
discussed in the later section. The GoM has prepared a draft of Framework for Economic and
Social Reforms: Policy Priorities for 2012-2015 towards the Long-Term Goals of the National
Comprehensive Development Plan (draft FESR) in November 2012, which was made public on
the occasion of the First Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum held on January 19-20,
2013. The draft FESR draws on the Fifth Five-Year Plan and the guidelines set by the President.
It states that “Education is a top government priority” and affirms the GoM position saying that
it “has already increased public expenditure on education significantly and will increase
expenditure further in the coming years” and giving focus on formulating overarching education
sector reform policy and strategy, promoting decentralization of education management,
extending the basic education from 11 to 12 years, and on child-centered teaching
methodologies, upgrading teacher training, curriculum reform, and system for education quality
assessment, among others. In August 2012, the President issued an instruction to all ministries
to prepare “A National Development Plan” and to each State and Region to prepare its own
development plan. The MoE conducted internal discussions on priority issues for the period
between 2012 and 2015, and departmental heads and staff members of Basic Education, Higher
Education and Educational Planning and Training gathered in Naypyidaw during September
17-19, 2012, to consolidate the results of internal discussions. Only local staff members of DPs
were admitted to participate as observers. After the opening speech by the Union Minister for
Education, U Mya Aye, two deputy ministers U Aye Kyu and Dr. Myo Myint made
presentations for the development of basic education and higher education respectively, which
gives evidence that the highest ranked officials of the MoE were present at the meeting. The
gathering discussed the following 12 items:
These 12 points were presented as the “priority projects” in the basic education subsector
development plan at the consultation meeting with DPs held immediately after the internal
discussions on September 28, 2012. The sequential number of each point represents the priority
order. These 12 points are included in the first 5 years of the 20-Year Long-Term Plan as the
priority action plans. At this consultation meeting, the policy measures that are currently being
implemented were explained. These were: (i) Provision of textbooks and exercise books free of
4
From a newspaper interview with Union Minister for National Planning and Economic Development.
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/3500-national-development-plan-for-2013-release.html accessed on
January 2013.
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charge starting from AY2011/2012, (ii) Provision of scholarships and stipends, (iii)
Promulgation of private school registration laws and opening of private schools, (iv) Upgrading
and reforming of State Education Offices, Regional Education Offices, Township Education
offices and establishment of District Education Offices including appointment of IT staff, (v)
Opening pre-school classes in basic education schools, (vi) Offering in-service and per-service
training including for nation-wide implementation of CCA, and (vii) Provision of education for
out-of-school children and adults.
Meanwhile, regarding higher education, the following 13 activities were the discussed as focus
areas within the MoE:
At the end of the internal discussions, the order of these activities was sequenced according to
their priority levels, as shown in the above.
(a) Ensuring that significant progress is achieved so that basic education of good quality is
compulsory and completely free for all school-age children by 2015;
(b) Improving all aspects of the quality of basic education: teachers, education personnel and
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curriculum;
(c) Achieving significant improvement in the levels of functional literacy and continuing
education by 2015;
(d) Ensuring that the learning needs of young people and adults are met through non-formal
education, life-skills training and preventive education;
(e) Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education; and
(f) Strengthening Education Management Information System
One of the progress reports (as of 2005) features examples of Child-Friendly Schools supported
by UNICEF, Community Learning Centers (CLC), other non-formal education examples, and
inclusive education initiatives.
This document describes activities planned to achieve the general objectives of rural
development and poverty alleviation. They include: necessary provisions to achieve successful
implementation of free, compulsory primary education for all school-age children; construction
of buildings for boarding students; establishment of trust funds to reduce educational waste in
primary and lower secondary levels; undertaking a program to ensure access to higher education
for all students who pass the matriculation examination; undertaking activities for improving
quality of teachers; and encouraging private sector participation and contribution in education
services, among others.
In the area of non-formal education, the plan includes activities to implement a basic literacy
program to increase adult literacy; implement continuing education which consists of post
literacy, income generation and quality of life programs; open and expand Community Learning
Centers; and collaborate with UN agencies, as well as international and local NGOs.
5
In November 2011, the “Framework Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (2011-2015)” was
adopted at the ASEAN ministers meeting on rural development and poverty eradication.
http://www.myanmargeneva.org/11nlm/jun/n110621.htm, http://www.aseansec.org/26706.htm (Retrieved on 15
November 2012)
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Ministry of Education
Region and State Minister
for Social Affairs
Basic Education
Council
Source: Zaw Htay (2012) Education System in Myanmar, PowerPoint presentation, partly
modified by the Study Team
Figure 2-1: Basic Education Subsector Administration Structure
The National Education Committee is the primary body in advising the formulation of education
policies, coordinating at the national level, advising the policy implementation, and monitoring
and analyzing the education practices. This committee is composed of the Minster for Education
as President, the Minister for Science and Technology as Vice President and 14 members at the
deputy minister level (according to the revision made in April 2011).
The MoE has three departments for basic education. Department of Basic Education (DBE) 1
covers 7 States and Regions of Kayin, Tanintheryi, Bago (East), Bago (West), Mon, Rakhine,
and Ayeyarwady. DBE 2 covers 9 States and Regions of Kachin, Rakhine, Chin, Sagaing,
Magway, Mandalay, Shan (South), Shan (North), and Shan (East). DBE3 supervises the Yangon
Region. Department of Educational Planning and Training (DEPT) is responsible for 20
Education Colleges. Department of Myanmar Education Research Bureau and Myanmar
Examination Board are also at the department level bodies. Under each DBE, there are State
Education Offices (SEOs) or Regional Education Offices (REOs), each of which coordinate
with and supervise Township Education Offices (TEOs). Since last year, District Education
Offices (DEOs) are being created between SEOs/REOs and TEOs 6 . It is expected that
establishment of DEOs will ease responsibilities of TEOs, which used to be involved in
district-level administration, and will enable TEOs to concentrate on education administration at
the township level. Also at the state and regional level, State or Regional Minister for Social
6
When the Study Team visited Thinggandun Township Education, it was found that while District Education Office
has been recently given a separate room within the Township Education Office, the demarcation of their roles were
not clear yet, and no staff were found to be working in the District office.
15
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Affairs, who coordinates with other deconcentrated administration of central line ministries, is
in charge of education matters in his/her area.
Apart from the MoE, several other ministries are involved in the management of basic education.
For early childhood education and development, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement (MoSWRR), the Ministry of Health and the MoE have jointly established the
coordination committee. The MoSWRR provides care services at their facilities that generally
have sufficient space, facilities and trained staff, while MoE provides education for pre-school
children using existing primary schools which do not have adequate teachers, facilities or space.
The MoSWRR also manages specialized education facilities for people with disabilities.
In addition to formal school education, there are a large number of monastery schools (see
Chapter 3 for details), under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. However, the
Ministry of Religious Affairs does not have any budget for education, and the management of
monastery schools is solely dependent on donations and contributions from local communities.
To help advance education in the remote and educationally disadvantaged areas, the Ministry of
Border Affairs establishes Youth Training Centers for children to get access to primary, middle
schools and high schools in the states in the border areas and the states affected by conflict. In
addition, the Ministry of Border Affairs provides teacher training at University for Development
of National Races (UDNR) for ethnic minorities, as well as scholarships for higher education at
the university level to educate individuals who are expected to lead the development of the
border states.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Source: Myo Thein Gyi, 2012, Myanmar Higher Education Policy, PowerPoint presentation at
Conference on Development Policy Options with special reference to Education and Health in
Myanmar
Figure 2-2: Higher Education Subsector Administration Structure
All the universities are publicly administered and supervised by 13 ministers for their respective
fields as shown in the above Figure. Based on the University Education Law, the Universities’
Central Council is established to formulate policies and guide and supervise universities.
Similarly, the Council of University Academic Bodies supervises matters relating to the
standard of university education, syllabi, and examination. Both councils are chaired by the
Minister for Education.
The budget for higher education is managed by two Departments of Higher Education; one is
responsible for Lower Myanmar (DHEL) and the other is responsible for Upper Myanmar
(DHEU). Each department administers the budget for higher education institutions under their
coverage. Although there is an ongoing debate on delegating financial management authority to
public universities, it does not have a legal basis yet.
Separate budget items are provided for Myanmar Examination Board, Department of Myanmar
Education Research Bureau, and Department of Myanmar Language Commission. Department
of Myanmar Education Research Bureau administers the budget for non-formal education.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
In the background of the surge in education budget since 2011/12 is the GoM’s position that
prioritizes education development. Under the compulsory primary education policy, free
provision of textbooks and exercise books, construction of new schools and renovation of
existing school buildings, extensive application of CCA, and other activities are included in the
budget for basic education. In higher education, in response to the upgrading of undergraduate
programs from 3 to 4 years, expansion of university facilities is budgeted along with
establishment of a new education college in Lasho. Construction of new DEOs is also pushing
up the capital budget. In addition, as the temporary measures while reviewing the civil service
salary scale, a special allowance of 30,000 kyat is being paid to all the government-appointed
civil servants, including teachers and ministry staff members since January 2012.
7 Budgets for higher education managed under the other ministries are not captured here.
8 For instance, the budget for the energy sector has increased by over 4,300 times and the budget for communication
has increased by 1,600 times during the years 2010/11 and 2011/12.
9
The figures of Myanmar’s government budget and GDP are not consistent between the government source and IMF
especially in recent years. Consistent time series information for them is not available to the Study Team. Accordingly,
the estimates made in this section need to be understood as indicative.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Table 2-1: The Government of Myanmar Budget, GDP and Education Budget
(Unit: Million Kyat)
2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
(1) MoE budget*1 169,690 173,466 209,476 266,649 310,137 638,926
(2) Total Government
budget *2 2,196,826 2,280,735 3,174,735 2,594,228 6,241,548 12,570,550
(3) GDP*3 23,336,113 28,778,383 32,350,527 36,436,342 39,719,126 44,644,637
(4) (1)/(2) 7.72% 7.61% 6.60% 10.28% 4.97% 5.08%
(5) (1)/(3) 0.73% 0.60% 0.65% 0.73% 0.78% 1.43%
(6) (2)/(3) 9.41% 7.93% 9.81% 7.12% 15.71% 28.16%
(7) Change of MoE
budget in real terms -14.1% 13.0% 19.1% 12.5% 94.6%
Notes and Sources
*1: Source: DEPT. Figures for 2007/8, 2008/9, and 2009/10 are on expenditure basis, 2010/11 is provisional actual,
2011/12 is revised budget, and 2012/13 is the departmental proposal.
*2: Source: Myanmar Data 2010, CD-ROM.
*3: Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2012 (GDP is for a calendar year, the figure in the
2007/8 column for example is for 2007. Figures for 2011 and 2012 are provisional estimates.)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
The allocation of the current budget of education by subsector is presented in Table 2-3.
Throughout the years observed, primary education has received over 40%, followed by upper
secondary and lower secondary education.
Table 2-4 is the itemized breakdown of the basic education current budget by the level of
education. In recent years, the spending on salary (most of which consists of teacher salaries)
has accounted for over 95% of the school budget under DBEs. But in the year 2012/13, the
allocation to maintenance has generally increased for all levels, resulting in the relative decline
of the salary share. The maintenance budget is used for the repair of schools and roads, as well
as for the maintenance of computers, copy machines, cars and other fixed assets.
From the pre-primary to the upper secondary level of education, the request for school
construction is made through the TEO. The State and Regional Education Offices decide how
the construction budget is allocated and the DBE in charge gives final approval. The budgets for
school construction, provision of textbooks and exercise books are all managed centrally, and
accordingly, the schools do not make these decisions. As important measures to promote
compulsory primary education, textbooks are now being provided free of charge, with 1,835.5
million kyat allocated towards student textbooks in 2011/12 and 7,224 million kyat allocated
towards student textbooks and 6 exercise books per student in 2012/13 10.
Table 2-4: The Share of Budget Items under DBE1, 2 and 3 by Level of Education
Item Primary Lower Secondary Upper Secondary
2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13
Salary 95.5% 81.1% 97.2% 85.5% 97.7% 90.1%
Transportation 0.2% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.2%
Labor charges
and expenses 0.3% 6.1% 0.4% 3.4% 0.6% 2.3%
Maintenance 4.0% 12.7% 2.2% 10.9% 1.3% 7.4%
Money Transfer 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Source: DEPT
The unit cost per pupil (student) based on public education expenditure is presented in Table 2-5.
The unit cost for lower secondary education is conspicuously low, compared to other levels.
The ratios of the unit cost among primary, lower secondary, upper secondary and university
10
The budget for textbooks and exercise books is included in the DEPT budget.
20
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
education is approximately 1.0:0.8:3.9:7.5. The upper secondary unit cost is around four times
of that for primary education.
The variation of the unit costs by the level of education and by DBE is shown in Table 2-6. At
all levels, the unit cost is higher for DBE 1, 2 and 3 in this order. There is a difference of some
7% between DBE 1 and DBE3 at the primary education level, 23% at the lower secondary level,
and as much as 35% at the upper secondary level. The difference in the unit costs for non-salary
expenditure is wider.
This pattern of varying unit costs is explained by several factors. First, the budget structure does
not match the reality of the schools. The primary school budget includes not only for primary
schools but also for post-primary schools and branch middle schools. Similarly, the lower
secondary school budget includes budgets for the primary school that operates under the
management of the same middle school as well as for the branch high schools. And the upper
secondary unit cost includes the budget for coexisting primary and middle schools. Secondly,
teachers serving in remote and difficult areas are paid double the amount of salary of regular
teachers to compensate for the hardship. Thirdly, the pupil/student-teacher ratio also affects the
unit costs. According to the school statistics as of August 2012, the average ratio is 28.9 for
primary schools, 36.3 for middle schools, and 25.7 for high schools. Considering these factors,
it is reasonable to conclude that the unit cost for primary education is inflated as relatively more
teachers receive double the basic salary, and the unit cost for middle schools is lowered due to
the high student-teacher ratio.
The information on the unit costs can be useful for assessing whether necessary provisions are
made to schools to assure education quality, for education planning, for comparisons between
education levels and among regions. The MoE is in the process of moving to unit cost-based
education budgeting. But the present budget structure makes it difficult to allow subsector-based
program management.
The expenditure related to education by household is shown in Table 2-7 below. On average,
households spent 6.4% of non-food expenses on education (the sum of expenses of education,
stationary, and school supplies) in 2006. The household spending on education exceeded that
21
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
for medical care (1,286 kyat) and house rent and maintenance (1,416 kyat), demonstrating the
increasing household burden for education.
Table 2-7: Education Related Spending by Household
(Unit: Kyat)
1989 1997 2001 2006
(1) Education 9.29 137.78 495.92 1,714.10
(2) Stationary and school supplies 7.40 59.33 22.30 122.61
(1)+(2) as a share of non-food spending 3.6% 4.9% 6.3% 6.4%
Average number of household members 5.27 5.25 5.37 4.72
Source: Myanmar Data 2010
With regard to the structural review of the education system, some options of changing the
current 5+4+2 system (5- year primary, 4-year lower secondary and 2-year upper secondary)
into 6+3+3 or 5+4+3 are presently being considered to adapt Myanmar’s education system to
the international standard. There are varying views on this matter, and the opinions of policy
makers have not converged on a single model. In addition to the argument of extending the
basic (pre-tertiary) education from 11 to 12 years, another important issue is the admission age
for primary education, which is currently five years old, against the international norm of six
years old. The discussion on this matter does not seem to have matured yet either.
The direction of these major reforms will have significant influence on the ongoing process to
revise the curriculum, strengthen teaching staff, and, as discussed in other chapters, to address
issues of disadvantaged education provision in the border states, as well as on the issues related
to various type of schools including monastery, post-primary, affiliated and branch schools.
A set of evaluation forms called KaSaSa is used for school inspection. KaSaSa is specified by
the MoE for (1) a regular inspection (for primary, middle and high school), (2) for an
unannounced inspection (for primary, middle and high school), and (3) a detailed questionnaire.
In total a set of 7 forms is to be completed by the schools. The forms for the regular inspection
(1) and the unannounced inspection (2) are to be completed by the inspection team leader, while
22
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
the questionnaire (3) is to be completed by the school head teacher. In the case of Thinggandun
TEO, these forms are kept at DBE3.
Each school is given an evaluation rating (A, B, C, D or E) according to the inspection results
based on the following criteria: (a) Accomplishments of the school head teacher; (b) Level of
school attendance; (c) Implementation of monthly lesson plans; (d) Students’ achievements; (e)
Use of teaching aids, facilities and laboratories; (f) Cultivating morals and ethics; (g) Capacity
of teaching staff; (h) Adequate classrooms and furniture; (i) School sanitation and tidiness; (j)
Adequate teaching aids and multimedia facilities; (k) Greening of school campus; and (l) Good
physical setting of schools.
In addition to the regular school inspection, Continuous Assessment and Progression System
(CAPS) is being introduced throughout the country. This is aimed to improve the quality of
education and completion rate by providing special teaching for students who are trailing behind
in class 11. CAPS was piloted in the 1990s with the support of UNICEF, and it is presently
applied to all middle schools.
11
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/3696fdf1928799318025650d00597e4b?Opendocument (Retrieved on
15 November, 2012)
23
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
3. Basic Education 12
Myanmar has been implementing various reforms since 2010 in response to its transition to a
market economy and a rapid increase in demand for skilled labor. In order to cope with these
reforms and changes, various policies, laws and regulations, including the modification of the
Basic Education Law, have been under discussion and preparation as discussed in Chapter 2.
One of the recent decisions is the permission of private schools to open at the basic education
level under the Private School Registration Law, which was approved in December 2011.
12
The discussion of basic education in this chapter follows the responsibility of DBE, which means pre-primary,
primary, lower secondary (middle school) and upper secondary (high school).
24
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Ph.d
20
24
19
Higher Education
23
18 Graduate
22 Master
17 School
21 Engineer
16 Batchelor(BE)
20 Technician
15 GTC
19
14
Distance Edu.
(B-Tech)
18 University/College Skilled worker
13 GTI
17
12 Diploma
16
11 Technical
Secondary Education
15 High School (G1-G11)
10 School
14
9
13
8
12 Middle School (G1-G9) Post
7
11 Primary
6 (G1-G8)
10
5
Primary Education
9
4
8
3 Primary School (Lower Primary: G1-G3, Upper Primary: G4-G5)
7
2
6
1
5
Pre-primary
Pre-primary
4 School
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
26
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Currently, “Education Policy on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)” is being
developed by the MoE with assistance from UNICEF, and the law on ECCD is under review by
the Cabinet. They are about to be submitted to the Parliament.
For example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates Myanmar’s population at 62.41
million people in 2011 against the World Bank’s estimate of 48.33 million in the same year. On
13
All higher education institutions are established as state/public institutions. However, a new law for the
establishment of private higher education institution is currently being drafted.
14
CESR Curriculum Working Group
27
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
the other hand, the GoM announced that its population was at 59.13 million (2009) 15. In this
report, the government data is used unless indicated otherwise.
15
Myanmar Data 2010, Department of Population, Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development
16
The net enrollment rates shown are the data of 2010 to 2011. The population ratio below poverty line is the data of
2007 to 2011.
17
The poverty line was defined as 376,151 kyat/year (1,030 kyat/day) in 2010. For those who are under the poverty
line are counted as the poor.
28
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Source: Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar, 2010, UN & MNPED
Figure 3-2: Gap of School Access between the Rich and the Poor
Figure 3-3 shows NERs of urban and rural areas. There is only a slight difference in primary
level enrolment rates (only 3%), whereas the difference becomes more pronounced at the
secondary level (around 30%) between urban and rural areas.
Source: Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar, 2010, UN & MNPED
Figure 3-3: Access to School in Urban and Rural Areas
Figure 3-4 shows the ratio of students who reside within an hour’s walk to school (within 1.23
miles). More than 90% of pupils at the primary level reside within this distance but at the
secondary level (includes Grade 6 and above of post primary schools) only 60% of students who
live in urban areas and 24% of students who live in rural areas are within this distance. Low
enrolment in secondary school in rural areas is considered to be a result of difficulty of access to
secondary school. Unlike in urban areas, it is difficult to secure transportation to school in rural
areas, especially during the rainy season.
29
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Source: Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar, 2010, UN & MNPED
Figure 3-4: Ratio of Students who Reside
within An Hour’s Walk from School
Figure 3-5 and Figure 3-6 show the gap of NERs both in primary and secondary education
among regions/states. Rakhine state shows the lowest NER both in primary and secondary
levels. The gap for primary education among regions/states excluding Rakhine is around 12
points, on the other hand the gap for secondary education more than doubles to around 29 points.
This shows that the gap among regions/states becomes wider at upper levels of education. The
possible reasons are: (i) limited access in rural areas in secondary level; (ii) young labor force in
rural and Thai border areas; and (iii) lack of understanding of the importance of education by
parents.
Source: Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar, 2010, UN & MNPED
Figure 3-5: NER by the Region/ State in Primary Education
30
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
80 73.8 72.4
68.9
70 63.4
57 56.4 55.9 54.5
60 52.8 51.8 52.5
50 45.9 45.8 45
40 32
30
20
10
0
Source: Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar, 2010, UN & MNPED
Figure 3-6: NER by the Region/ State in Secondary Education
At the schools which the Study Team visited, it was observed that the quality of educational
environment was not adequately assured because; (i) More than 100 students were studying in
one classroom, in which teachers have to rely more on lecture-type lessons; (ii) Most schools in
rural areas have no walls between classrooms, making it difficult for students to concentrate;
(iii) There seem to be no standards pertaining to school facilities- for example, schools in urban
areas provide desks and chairs for students, whereas only desks are provided in rural areas.
Students in all grades are studying in one floor Around 120 students are in one classroom.
together. Students of the same grade sit together
around each blackboard.
31
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Thus, it is highly recommended to examine the number of teachers, classrooms, school facilities
and so forth, based on the actual situation at the school level. In addition, standards to define an
appropriate educational environment should be established.
Source: Calculated from Education Statistics Year Book, 2010/11 & 2009/10
Figure 3-7: Repetition Rate in AY2009
Figure 3-8 shows the dropout rate in each grade. About 23% of students drop out in the 5th
grade of primary school, which is the last year of primary school and shows the highest dropout
rate. The dropout rate increases as the grade level becomes higher. In the 8th and the 9th grade
the dropout rate is more than 18%. In addition, a high dropout rate is observed for the 1st grade
of primary school, which is the starting year of compulsory education.
The high dropout rate is caused by various reasons: (i) migration of families due to seasonal
jobs; (ii) parents’ low interest in education, especially in rural areas; (iii) migration of students
as young labor, especially to Thai border regions/states. In addition, difficulty of access to
middle schools in rural areas is one of the reasons behind the high dropout rate at Grade 5. The
high dropout rate at Grade 1 is also a result of difficult access to primary school in rural areas,
as well as a lack of readiness of G1 entrants to study in primary education. Primary education
has become free, but parents still have to bear several costs 18 from the middle school level and
18
Parents need to pay PTA fee and ASL (Athletic, Stationary and Library) fees from middle school in addition to
purchasing textbooks, exercise books and uniform.
32
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
these place heavy burdens on poor households that choose to send their children to higher
school levels.
Source: Calculated from Education Statistics Year Book, 2010/11, 2009/10 & 2008/09
Figure 3-8: Dropout Rate in Each Grade
Figure 3-9 shows the percentage of students in each grade that passed the promotion test.
Except for the high school level, it is indicated that almost all students have passed this
examination.
33
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
98
96
94.2
94
92 90.7
90
88
86
G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10
Source: Education Statistics Year Book, 2010/11
Figure 3-9: Pass Rate of Promotion Examination (2010/11)
Figure 3-10 shows the rate at which students passed the matriculation examination. Overall the
rate is around 35% in 2010/11 and the students from three DBEs had similar results. However,
the rate at which females passed is higher than that of males.
30.00
25.00 Total
20.00 Female
15.00 Male
10.00
5.00
0.00
DBE1 DBE2 DBE3 National Total
Source: Education Statistics Year Book, 2010/11
19
The level of the matriculation examination is basically followed by the O-Level examination which examines to
what extent students learned basic knowledge. However contents of the matriculation examination cover up to G11
level.
34
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
3.8.1 Access
1. Enrollment in education has improved in recent years. However, The NER in primary
education is still below other ASEAN countries. It has also been pointed out that the
dropout rate is high at beginning and the final stages of each school level. In terms of
access, the NER of students who belong to poor households is low. Access in rural areas
and enrollment of students from poor households tend to decrease as they progress to
higher grades. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to improve access to middle and
high schools as well as to provide support, incentives and alternative measures for children
from to poor households.
2. Monastery schools have an important role in providing educational opportunities to
disadvantaged groups by offering free education. However, there are still limitations to
establishing monastery schools at the middle and high school levels. This in turn limits
students’ access to higher levels of education.
3. Although primary education is now free, parents have to shoulder several school fees from
middle school education onwards. This is one of the barriers that children from poor
households face in progressing to upper levels of education.
4. Due to the geographical reason, it is difficult for children in the border areas to get access
to schools. Alternative programs by providing boarding facilities and mobile schooling
need to be considered.
3.8.2 Quality
1. There is a lack of qualitative criteria in establishing schools.
2. Standards to assess quality of the education environment are necessary to maintain
appropriate class sizes and facilities.
3. A teacher-centered teaching approach and rote learning still dominate in the classroom.
4. The contents of examination still tend to emphasize knowledge acquisition. This reflects
classroom teaching priorities.
35
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
5. Curriculum contents to be taught at schools should consider social and cultural aspects of
ethnicity as well as using ethnic language as the language of instruction for ethnic groups.
3.8.3 Management
1. Compared to other ASEAN countries, the school starting age of five years old is younger.
In addition, the total number of schooling years from primary to upper secondary is 11
years and this is one year shorter than in other countries. Five years old in the first grade in
Myanmar corresponds to the last year of pre-school education in other countries. It is
necessary to verify whether the teaching contents offered in Myanmar are equivalent to
other countries by analyzing curriculum contents of the entire primary and secondary
education programs.
2. Education policies for pre-primary education differ among ministries. While the MoSWRR
emphasizes nursery education such as sentiment education, the MoE places emphasis on
learning preparation for primary schools. The policies need to be unified among relevant
ministries to provide/expand pre-primary education to eligible pupils.
3. School head teachers do not have enough management and administration authority in
primary and middle schools. Therefore, it seems difficult to strengthen school management
at both school levels. In addition, school inspections are carried out on a regular basis but
more emphasis should be put on improving the quality of teaching.
4. The matriculation examination has the following issues:
Due to the characteristics of the examination, the level to pass the examination is set at
the same level as entrance to university. Therefore, graduation and completion rates of
high school students is low,
The rate at which students pass the examination differs greatly depending on the
selection of subjects. Students become less interested in taking the subjects for which
it is difficult to pass the examination.
5. It is difficult to appoint qualified teachers to the border areas/ remote areas, because most
of the teachers are reluctant to work in these hardship postings.
3.9.1 Management
(1) Teacher Education Structures in ASEAN countries
In last two decades, many ASEAN countries have embarked on educational reforms, following
their commitment to the “Education for All” world declaration in 1990, which is focused,
among other things, on ensuring quality teaching by competent teachers in their respective
countries. Myanmar is one of the countries to improve teacher education system and in late
1990’s its teacher education system was reformed to facilitate the training of more competent
teachers at the basic education level in the country.
Table 3-6 shows the current structures in support of teacher education in ASEAN countries.
According to the documents available on websites, it is seen that these countries have been
upgrading teachers’ qualifications by extending the length of teacher training courses. Teachers
in most of these countries are supposed to complete a 4-year training course at a university or
college. The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree is the standard qualification for teachers,
regardless of which school level they teach, be that primary, middle, to high school. Also,
36
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
excepting Laos and Cambodia, most individuals who enter the teacher education program are
high school graduates.
37
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
Table 3-5: Structures in Support of Teacher Education in ASEAN Countries
Length of course
Trained GDP
Lower Upper Pupils Primary Teacher Population 2011
Primary Second. Second. Teacher Completion in Prim. 2011 (Billion
Country Sch. Sch. Sch. Nature of Institution Entry Requirement Ratio*1 Rate (%)*1 Sch.*1 (Million)*2 USD)*2
Myanmar 1yr 2yrs 5yrs University (IOE) High school 28 104% 100% 48.34 42.0
Cert.Ed Dip.Ed B.Ed Education College (EC) graduation (2010) (2010) (2010)
Thailand 4yrs 4/5yrs University High school 16 - - 69.52 345.6
Dip.Ed B.Ed graduation (2008)
BA/BSc
+1yr
Philippines 4yrs 4yrs University High school 31 92 - 94.85 224.8
B.Ed B.Ed (Secondary) Teachers College graduation (2009) (2009)
(Elem) +Subject Spec
Laos 1-4yrs 3yrs 4/5yrs University (NUOL) For primary moving to 27 93 94 6.29 8.3
Degree Teachers Training College (TTC) lower secondary (2011) (2011) (2011)
Teacher Training School (TTS) graduate
Malaysia 4/5yrs 4/5yrs University and Teachers College High school 13 - - 28.86 278.7
Degree B.Ed graduation and entry (2009)
38
BA/BSc+1yr test
Indonesia 4yrs University and Teachers College High school 16 109 - 242.33 846.8
Diploma/Bachelor graduation (2010) (2010)
Cambodia 2yrs 2yrs 1yr National Institute of Education High school 47 90 99 14.31 12.9
(PTTC) (RTTC) (NIOE) (NIOE) graduation (2011) (2011) (2011)
Regional Teachers Training Junior high school
Center (RTTC) graduation for
Provincial Teacher Training disadvantaged regions
Center (PTTC)
Vietnam Upper College Degree University High school 20 - 98 87.84 124.0
Sec. Diploma College graduation (2010) (2010)
Diploma
Singapore 4yrs 2yrs University High school (A Level) 17 - 94 5.18 239.7
B.Ed. Dip.Ed. (2009) (2009)
Brunei 3yrs 4yrs University (IOE) High school (O Level) 11 120 88 0.41 12.4
Cert. BA/BSc+1yr (2011) (2011) (2011)
Source: *1: World Data on Education (7th edition), UNESCO (2011) http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/services/online-materials/world-data-on-education/seventh-edition-2010-11.html
Final Report
*2: World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (2012) http://data.worldbank.org/country/ Myanmar Teacher Education Review, UNICEF (2007)
(BA: Bachelor of Arts, BEd: Bachelor of Education, BSc: Bachelor of Science, Cert.Ed: Certificate in Education, Dip.Ed: Diploma in Education)
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(2) Teacher Education in the 30-Year Long-Term Plan for Basic Education
The MoE has been implementing its 30-Year Long-Term Plan for Basic Education 2001-2031.
According to the plan, the GoM set priority areas in basic education. One of these emphasizes
teacher education (Process 4).
In 2001, the MoE’s 30-Year Long-Term Plan reported 6 areas of implementation for improving
the quality of teacher education.
With the plan as a reflection of the GoM’s commitment, many activities were initiated and
implemented. These included upgrading Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) and Teacher
Training Schools (TTSs) to Education Colleges (ECs), providing pre-service teacher training,
introducing a credit assessment system, new teaching certificates (Diploma in Education, etc.),
postgraduate degrees in education (Master of Education and Doctor of Philosophy, etc.) and
in-service teacher training. According to a report by the MoE, educational reform has, to some
extent, been successful. Particularly, the number of uncertified teachers has been drastically
reduced through the provision of several in-service teacher trainings for certifying, while the
teacher appointment system has been made more systematic and efficient by assigning
executive committee under DEPT to be responsible. Special consideration for the teachers in
border areas was also introduced, in terms of promotion and other benefits, so that in
cooperation with University of Development of National Races (UDNR) more competent
teachers have been appointed in those areas. Management training for TEO and head teachers
also was conducted for ensuring improved school management together with school
infrastructure construction and maintenance.
Nowadays, the teacher career path has become more flexible and complicated through the
introduction of several entry points to the teaching profession. It is assumed that university
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
graduates still face difficulty in getting a job, as compared with students in teacher education
institutes like IOE and EC who are assured of getting a teaching job if they accept deployment
to any area.
Due to the ascending salary system, once a teacher starts his/her career, he/she starts looking for
a better position in a higher level school. This is the system, but even this system can support
improvements in teacher quality. Every time a teacher moves to a higher position, the teacher is
expected to take training courses to upgrade knowledge and skills. For instance, PAT takes a
diploma course at EC for becoming JAT and JAT takes a degree course at IOE to become SAT
or other position. Unfortunately, the chance to practice educational theory in class is only in
teaching the bloc curriculum. If the curricula of EC and IOE do not meet teachers’ needs and
teachers are in effect taking classes just to move to a higher salary status, pedagogical
improvement will not be possible even after 2~5 years of the program. It is suggested that EC
and IOE curriculum be reviewed as early as possible to meet the needs of teaching in class.
Another issue around career development is related to the absence of a teacher education policy,
which leads to the lack of professional standards for each of the stakeholders in education sector
according to age, responsibility, level of school, etc. In addition, a teacher appraisal system is
also not in place in Myanmar and only TEOs have the authority to report outstanding or
underperforming teachers to higher authorities.
As of October 2012, the number of PATs is 180,532, JATs 67,175, and SATs 26,738. As seen
here, teaching posts at higher level schools comprise about one third of the number of lower
level schools, not including IOE graduates who are employed as high school teachers.
Transferring to a higher school is not easy and many teachers stay at primary schools even
though they have teaching certificates that qualify them for a higher salary scale.
Looking at all the career development issues mentioned above, it is strongly suggested that 1)
the teacher career development be linked with the salary system, 2) a teacher appraisal system
be developed, 3) teacher education policy be formulated and approved, and 4) policy-based
professional standards for teachers be defined set out as soon as possible
Due to the absence of a comprehensive teacher education policy in Myanmar, it is hard to figure
out the framework of continuing professional development for teachers and the professional
standards for all stakeholders in the education sector. Therefore, the long-term goal of all the
efforts, like pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher training, is vague.
Consequently systematic design of teacher education and effective and efficient implementation
of teacher education programs is difficult.
Among the project initiatives in the past, one of them, called JICA’s Strengthening Child
Centered Approach (SCCA) which was active from 2004 to 2011, proposed concrete
descriptions of teacher competencies as shown in Table 3-7.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(7) Recommendations
For Solving or Improving the Situation
1. All teacher education institutes should be upgraded into bodies that award 4year degrees.
This will help to produce specialized teachers at each level with B.Ed, such as B.Ed
(Primary) for primary school teachers, B.Ed (Lower Secondary) for middle school teachers,
and B.Ed (Upper Secondary) for high school teachers.
2. The salary scale for teachers should be restructured separately and equalized for each level
of school.
3. Teacher Education Policy needs to be formulated.
4. Professional standards for all education related personnel should be discussed among the
stakeholders and formulated. This should subsequently guide all training programs to
ensure greater consistency throughout teachers’ professional careers.
5. A National Teacher Council (tentative) should be established to oversee the professional
standards for educational personnel.
6. More school management authorities should be delegated to head teachers of
primary/middle schools, and decentralized school management system should be
re-structured.
7. School-level management and leadership training must be organized for head teachers at
primary/middle schools.
For Phase 2
1. More detailed information should be collected about the necessary preparation for
upgrading educational institutes to bodies that award 4 year degrees.
2. Teacher education policy framework should be discussed and documented.
3. By involving more stakeholders the Comprehensive professional standards for all
education related personnel should be discussed and documented more thoroughly.
4. Mission, roles and responsibility for National Teacher Council (tentative) should be
discussed and a proposal should be prepared.
5. The current decentralized school management system must be structured.
6. Training needs for school head teachers are to be collected and incorporated to school-level
management and leadership training.
3.9.2 Quality
(1) After Re-Institutionalization of Pre-Service Teacher Training Program (After
1998)
Pre-service teacher training stopped in 1971 but was re-instituted in 1998 based on the
education seminar in May 1998. This reform upgraded five Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs)
and 14 Teacher Training Schools (TTSs) to Education Colleges (ECs). Thus, teachers from the
old system and from the new system are now together in the same school.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Currently, the minimum requirement for applying to be a high school teacher (Senior Assistant
Teacher: SAT) or an Educational Administrator is a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree. This
degree is only offered to the people from Lower Myanmar at Yangon IOE in Yangon Division
and for those in upper Myanmar at Sagaing IOE in Sagaing Division. Both of these IOEs are
under the control of Department of Higher Education (DHE), MoE. (See Table 3-8)
In YIOE, the B.Ed. equivalent to the high school teacher certificate can be obtained. There are
three different admission systems. One is called B.Ed. (Direct Intake) which is for students from
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Lower Myanmar who have passed the matriculation examination. These students can apply
directly to DHE, and the DHE selection committee selects 300 candidates for YIOE’s
consideration. YIOE interviews the candidates and makes final selections.
A second admission system is known as B.Ed. (Bridge Program). This program is for those who
have completed two years pre-service training at EC (D.T.Ed). Students with higher
performance may apply for this degree program at IOE. An annual quota of 300 is available.
The Education College Board under guidance of DEPT recommends 300 candidates to be
enrolled in the third year of the B. Ed in YIOE.
The last admission system is the B.Ed (Correspondence Course). Those teachers who are in
service with any Bachelor’s degree and have at least five (5) years of teaching experience can
apply to this course. After passing an entrance examination they take the program remotely.
Students in any of the three courses may apply to high school teacher and educational
administrator positions after successful completion.
Teaching staff of YIOE from two fields of study, namely academic and education, jointly teach
their students to keep YIOE’s quality of education high. In the education field, there are three
departments: 1) Educational Psychology (Among the staff, 10 PhD holders), 2) Education
Theory (11 PhD holders) and 3) Methodology (12 PhD holders). Each department head is
proficient in the English language and two were awarded their PhD from universities in Japan.
Annual curricula are drafted by the department heads and other staff and approved by the Board
of Study (BOS), consisting of 10 to 20 former professors and subject experts. The medium of
instruction at YIOE is English. However, Myanmar is also used to help students understand
their classes better. YIOE’s budget is decided by DHE and the MoE, and YIOE does not have
any decision-making authority, including over the use of the budget. Students pay tuition fee of
500 kyat per month. Some of the interviewees mentioned that due to job security reasons,
students are likely to choose IOE as their professional institute, as almost all graduates get a
teaching job or an administrative job. Thus, the students admitted to IOE are, to some extent,
bright ones, if not among the best performers in their cohort.
As at YIOE, SIOE’s tuition fee is 500 kyat per month. Curriculum, budget and entrance
requirements are also the same as YIOE. In order to maintain the standard of education, SIOE is
using a self-assessment system with 12 criteria. Normally, female students outnumber male
students, but since 2011 the MoE initiated a new policy of recruiting more male teachers and
now a fixed percentage of 60% male students and 40% female students has been set.
Due to its location in upper Myanmar, SIOE accepts students from the area. However, the
matriculation examination, which provides the chance to enter SIOE, is administered in
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Myanmar language, and there is no special arrangement for the ethnic minorities even during
classes. Furthermore, inclusive education is not applicable to SIOE, as no guidelines have
been developed by the IOE authority.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
middle school teachers. Nowadays, almost all the students enrolled in first year of EC choose to
continue to their second year.
Apart from those two programs, EC offers a one year Diploma in Teacher Education
Competency (DTEC) to university graduates to become middle school teachers. It is assumed
that university graduates have good academic backgrounds, and the duration of the course can
be shortened by cutting down those academic classes that do not apply to teaching.
EC also takes primary and junior teachers in service as students in a short course during the
summer holidays. After they complete the courses and pass the final examination, Primary
Assistant Teacher Certificate (PATC) and Junior Assistant Teacher Certificate (JATC) are
awarded, respectively. In all courses, female students outnumber male students as seen in the
Table below. (See Table 3-11)
The tuition fees in EC are kept low (See Table 3-12) and almost 100% of EC graduates obtain
teaching jobs as primary school teachers. This is why high school graduates who face financial
difficulty at home and pass the matriculation examination tend to prefer to choose EC as one of
their priorities of higher education. But since EC is residential, the Dining Fee could be a heavy
burden for some students.
EC curriculum can be considered as six (6) parts according to their different objectives; 1)
Methodology, 2) Academic Subject, 3) Co-curricular Subject, 4) Social Studies, 5) Modern
Studies, and 6) Bloc teaching.
20
MOE (2011) Statistical Year Book 2011
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Table 3-14 shows the annual workload of Mandalay EC, which looks confused because of
running 4 different courses in the same campus.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(7) Recommendations
For solving or Improving the Situation
1. Professional Standards for all education related personnel should be discussed among the
stakeholders and formulated, which should guide all training programs to be more
consistent throughout teachers’ professional careers.
2. A National Education Staff Development Center (tentative) that is linked with its satellite
centers (e.g. Division/State Education Staff Development Center) should be established to
train all educational personnel and maintain nation-wide professional standards.
3. The school inspection system should be more focused on teaching and learning in the
classroom, and related evaluation formats should be revised in line with new teaching
approaches including lesson observation.
4. A new teacher evaluation system should be introduced and its training program provided to
all relevant personnel (teachers, teacher educators, ATEO, TEO)
5. Curriculum reforms for IOE and EC are to be addressed as soon as possible.
6. Overseas training for teacher educators needs to be considered for revising and
implementing internationally standardized teacher education curriculum.
For Phase 2
1. New teacher education curriculum together with Professional Standards for all education
related personnel should be formulated following discussion among stakeholders.
2. Mission, roles and responsibility for National Educational Staff Development Centre
(tentative) should be discussed and a proposal prepared.
3. Needs assessment of training for every educational personnel should be conducted.
4. Teachers’ evaluation including lesson observation with international standard evaluation
format should be conducted to uncover issues in classroom teaching and learning.
3.9.3 Access
(1) Teacher Needs and Supply
Every year, teachers’ vacancies are reported by all the Township Education Officers (TEOs)
based on a request by all three DBEs, namely DBE1 (Lower Myanmar), DBE2 (Upper
Myanmar) and DBE3 (Yangon Division). Available teacher posts are compiled into a list by
DBEs by 1st March every year, and requests for the new teachers are sent to DEPT.
After receiving the vacancy list from DBE, DEPT provides a new teacher list to each DBE.
DBE forms the Educational Committee chaired by the Director General to appropriately deploy
newly certified teachers from ECs and IOEs. New teachers are considered by two main criteria,
namely specialized subjects and native hometown (language and cultural background) and are
deployed to each TEO through REO/SEO by May with an official appointment letter. They start
their teaching at the beginning of the academic year (1st June). DEO officials say that there is no
big gap between teacher needs at the school level and supply from DEPT.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Selection Education
Teacher Certified
Vacancy
Committee College
DBE 3 Board Teacher DBE 3
EC Admission List
Application Performance result
DBE 1 DBE 1
Education Colleges (20)
Students who pass the matriculation examination and who want to become teachers are required
to submit their applications to each DBE through either TEO, DEO, REO or SEO where the
applicant lives. The 1st selection is made at Selection Committee formed at REO/SEO. Screened
applications are sent to the Selection Committee formed at DEPT for the 2nd selection chaired
by DG. After that, an interview attendance list is sent by EC Principals to each EC, so that EC
Principals can finally admit the screened applicants. Recently, due to the need for male teachers,
selection standards for males are slightly lower than that for the female.
After completion of teacher training courses (DTEd, DTEC) at each EC, the trainees are finally
evaluated by the Education College Board chaired by DG DEPT. Based on the results from the
Final examination (40%) and others (60%), such as Bloc teaching, Attendance and Practical,
DG DEPT issue teaching certificates to students and the list of newly certified teachers is sent to
each DBE. The top 500 trainees with the highest marks are recommended for admission to 2
IOEs. Out of about 7,000 trainees who graduate from ECs every year, 500 (7 %) go to IOEs,
while only a few go into teaching after completion of the 1st year (Cert. TEd).
The tables below show the actual status of teacher deployment in the country by calculating
Students Teacher Ratio (STR).
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
At the primary level, STR stands between 23.6 and 32.0 (National average is 27.0), which do
not show significant variations across divisions. . But if we look at the regional distribution,
Bago West (Urban) region shows only 17.1, while Rakhine (Rural) region 36.5.
At the middle school level, STR shows between 28.8 and 41.0 (National average is 35.3), which
looks a little higher, but still comparable. But if we look at it region wise, Bago West (Urban)
region shows only 20.0, while Shan South (Rural) region 45.0.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
At the high school level, STR shows between 21.4 and 40.2 (National average is 26.6), which
looks a little standardized. But if we look at it region wise, Shan East (Rural) region shows only
9.1, while Sagain (Rural) region 42.8.
The table above shows teacher deployment status by gender. At every school level, more than
80% of teachers are female. (Primary school: 82.4%, Middle school: 88.7%, High school:
86.9%) But female percentages of head teachers are lower. (Primary school: 62.5%, Middle
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
school: 54.7%, High school: 68.0%) In fact, it is commonly viewed that Myanmar society
accepts female teachers more than male teachers. The fact that male students only see female
teachers in their schools also reinforces this view and may further discourage males to consider
teaching as a desirable job for them. That management positions tend to be occupied by more
male teachers is also not a fair representation of gender roles and responsibilities. There is no
strong reason for male teachers to be more suitable as head teachers.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
Table 3-18: List of Teaching Certificates and Relevant Degrees in Myanmar
Program Starting Duration Entry Requirement Selection Method Assessment Method Qualification to be
Year granted
EC1 Certificate in 1998 1 Year Matriculation Matriculation marks, For each semester Cert. Ed
Education examination pass Number of candidates Tutorial (10%)
which sanctioned for Assignment/ Practical Task (10%)
specific area Semester end test (National Exam)
(30%)
EC2 Diploma in Teacher 1998 2 Years Cert. Ed Those candidates who For each semester D.T.Ed
Education got Cert. Ed and prefer Tutorial (10%)
to proceed the second Assignment/ Practical Task (10%)
year Semester end test (National Exam)
(30%)
EC3 Diploma in Teacher 2004 1 Year Bachelor Degree Entrance exam marks/ For each semester DTEC
Education Holder Number of candidates Tutorial (25%)
Competency which sanctioned for Assignment/ Practical Task (15%)
specific area Semester end test (National Exam)
(60%)
54
EC4 Primary Teacher 1978 1 Year Primary School Number of years of job Assignment Primary Teacher
Certificate in to (Plenary Teachers who do not experiences Final exam (National Exam) Certificate (PATC)
Correspondence 2010 Training during have certificate
Course Summer)
EC5 Junior Teacher 1994 1 Year Middle School Number of years of job Assignment Junior Teacher
Certificate in (Plenary Teachers who do not experiences Final exam (National Exam) Certificate (JATC)
Correspondence Training during have certificate and
Course Summer) age under 58
IOE1 Bachelor of 2000 (4 Years) Matriculation Regular application Credit system B.Ed (DI)
Education (1964) 5 Years examination results - Tutorial (20%)
(Direct Intake) Since 2012 (High marks) - Semester-end Test (80%)
(on campus) CGPA 3 (Passed)
CGPA 4 and above (Qualified)
CGPA 4.5 and above (Credit)
IOE2 Bachelor of 2002 (2 Years) Qualified in D.T.Ed Selected by the Credit system B.Ed (Bridge)
Education (Bridge 3 Years Education College Board - Tutorial (20%)
Program) Since 2012 - Semester-end Test (80%)
Final Report
(on campus) CGPA 3 (Passed)
CGPA 4 and above (Qualified)
CGPA 4.5 and above (Credit)
IOE3 Bachelor of 1970 2 Years Bachelor Degree Entrance Exam/ Assignment (20%) B.Ed (Corr.)
Program Starting Duration Entry Requirement Selection Method Assessment Method Qualification to be
IOE8 Post Graduate 1999 1 Year B. Sc Holder Entrance Exam 3 Modules (Computer Company) PGDMA
55
Final Report
9:00am)
Source: CESR Teacher Education Working Group
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Those who obtained “Cert.Ed.” and “PATC” are certified primary school teachers. Those who
obtained “D.T.Ed.”, “DTEC”, “JATC” and “PGDMA” are certified middle school teachers,
although they start their career as primary assistant teachers (PAT) after graduation. After 5
years as primary school teachers, they can apply for promotion to junior assistant teachers (JAT)
at the middle school level. Lastly, those who obtained B.Ed and above from IOE are eligible to
apply to positions as either senior assistant teachers (SAT) at the high school level, or education
officer positions at ATEO, TEO or above.
The table below shows the number of teaching staff and students at each Education College. It
was found that there are no ECs in Chin state and Kayah state, and students from these two
states are admitted to ECs in other divisions/states. Every EC has a hostel facility, but those
trainees who are travelling away from their hometown and family find it difficult to make the
decision to further their education at EC in a different area. The teacher student ratio (TSR) at
ECs is 8.6 on average; however, EC from Kyaukphyu in Rakhine is 17.3, while Dawei in
Thaninthaye is only 1.8. Some remedial measures should be taken to equalize these ratios
among ECs across the country.
Staffing at individual ECs is probably similar. Table 3-21 shows is the staffing at the Mandalay
EC as an example. There are five categories of staff at an EC. According to statistical data 21, as
of March 2011 there are 507 Assistant Lecturers (out of which 429 are female) and 678 Tutors
(576 female) in the 20 ECs nationwide.
21
MOE (2011) Statistical Year Book 2011
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Each EC has its affiliated practicing school (PS) in the same campus. The number of students
varies from 1,806 at Yankin ECPS to 159 at Pyay ECPS 22. Generally, ECPS are recognized as
good schools with bright students, though the schools go only through to the middle school
level. The ratio between boys and girls is nearly 1:1 in every ECPS. On the other hand, majority
of the teachers at ECPS are female. Of 169 teachers in 20 ECPS Middle Schools, 159 are female,
and of 196 in 20 ECPS Primary Schools, 177 are female. Teacher recruitment for ECPS is
handled by DEPT unlike in normal government schools where recruitment is handled by DBE.
22
MOE (2011) Statistical Year Book 2011
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
training, although some modifications were made based on the actual budget. The teachers are
expected to be equipped with new teaching techniques to improve lessons, so that students’
learning is also expected to improve.
“Basic Education and Gender Equity (BEGE)” is another INSET program for teachers by the
MoE in cooperation with UNICEF from 2011 to 2015, under which several activities are to be
implemented to improve basic education. “Life Skills Training” is one of the components of
BEGE, and teachers are trained, within limited project areas, with new knowledge and skills
about health/sanitation and nutrition education for school level improvement. In other
components, “Early Childhood Development” and “HIV/AIDS prevention” are among the
subjects taught to teachers. Some teaching materials (e.g. posters) are also provided to the
training participants. At a school in Mandalay where the Study Team visited during the survey,
the posters about infectious diseases and nutritional information were hung on the wall in the
classrooms.
A part of the above mentioned training sessions, the MoE conducted some refresher courses for
primary and secondary teachers. In total, 209,908 teachers were trained from 2006-07 to
2008-09. In addition, refresher courses for English language and Mathematic were conducted
and 13,062 teachers were trained in the 2009-10 academic year.
But the basic principle of CPD is that opportunities are provided not far from school,
continuously, and are designed to address teachers’ learning needs. JICA’s SCCA2 project
considered cluster meeting as an effective learning opportunity for teachers in service and
implemented some basic programs for disseminating the concept of CCA. Another opportunity
for teachers in school is school meetings, which has been held since long time ago, but
unfortunately this meeting is normally used as a means of delivering information from the MoE
or DBE to teachers. Since these meetings are already in the system, if teachers’ professional
development aspect, for example “Lesson Study” approach, is incorporated into these meetings,
these will better utilized as effective CPD. As of November 2012, UNICEF is planning to
initiate a new program of “School based In-service Teacher Education”. This is also expected to
bring about some teachers’ professional development in future.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(8) Recommendations
For solving or Improving the Situation
1. New ECs are necessary in Chin, Kayah and Shan States to equalize opportunity for
individuals across the nation to access teacher training courses.
2. Some counter actions should be taken to attract male students to take teacher training
courses.
3. Some different levels of training should be prepared as INSET according to the levels of
the teachers, including specialized program mandatory for beginning teachers, experienced
teachers, expert teachers, and even for head teachers.
4. CPD, such as School-based and Cluster-based training, must be regularized by
administrative support, and TEO/ATEO should make sure to hold these on-site trainings.
5. A more flexible system for ethnic people should be taken into consideration particularly
incorporating the use of their native languages, not only at UDNR but also at other
institutions in border areas. Some universities in border areas should be utilized as
schooling sites.
For Phase 2
1. More detailed information should be collected about the needs of teachers from deprived
areas.
2. The teacher education policy framework should be discussed and documented.
3. Professional standards for all education-related personnel should be discussed and
documented, with the involvement of more stakeholders Training needs of TEO/ATEO/
Head teachers should be discussed and incorporated into capacity development framework
of educational personnel to implement CPD programs in townships, school clusters and
schools.
4. Teachers’ capacity assessment based on lesson observation and interviews should be
conducted and their training needs should be identified.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
The new constitution put more emphasis on specific competency “all around correct thinking”
to build a better nation. The national curriculum is one of the most important polices used to
accomplish the national goal.
As it has been four years since then, we can easily understand that the curriculum reform
together with the education system review is the key to boosting the improvement of education
quality in Myanmar.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
According to recent discussion with government officials, decisions regarding the reformation
of the school system reformation will likely be made soon. It is obvious that the curriculum
must be revised based on the new school system.
Article 1:
(c) “Curriculum” shall mean subjects taught at school and practical education development
activities constituting training inside and outside school for the purpose of realizing the
educational objectives prescribed by this Law.
(d) “Syllabus” shall mean detailed programme of instruction for each school subject or for each
practical educational development activity.
(i) “Text-book” shall mean a book published or prescribed by the Basic Education Curriculum,
Syllabus and Text-book committee formed under this Law for use at school and teachers’
training schools.
Despite the clear definition of the National curriculum framework in Basic Education Law,
specific “Curriculum” and “Syllabus” are not properly maintained as comprehensive documents
in Myanmar, though textbooks are published and distributed to schools. Curriculum-related
information actually exists, but it is fragmented in various documents. For example, the official
teaching hours of each subject are described in the training booklet named “School Management
Refresher Training for Basic Education.” Also, the “Monthly Curriculum” (MC) developed by
the Regional Education Office (REO) and authorized by DBE is the well-known school syllabus
despite being called “curriculum.” In addition to that, modifications relating to school
curriculum are made during an annual conference in April- the “Seminar on National Education
Promotion”- without updating the current curriculum documents. DBE merely notifies schools
about decisions and modifications through REO, District Education office (DEO) and Township
Education Office (TEO). For instance, an agriculture subject was newly introduced for primary
schools, but the MC and other related curriculum booklets have not yet been revised.
This kind of fragmentation makes curriculum reform discussion difficult and complicates the
analysis done by curriculum experts. Then it decelerates curriculum reform process.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
In other words, well-maintained comprehensive curriculum documents will enable all educators
including non-formal education sector and civil society to achieve National human resource
development goals as a whole. Documents with clear guidance also encourage the private sector
to develop teaching aids and other educational materials that strengthen Myanmar education
quality.
Currently Myanmar does not have this kind of curriculum review system. Though the
matriculation examination is the achievement test provided throughout the country, the result
only judges whether students pass or fail. It does not review the strengths and weaknesses of the
curriculum.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Figure 3-13 shows the simplified analysis of the above table. As shown in the figure, only 30
percent of textbooks and teacher’s manuals were modified in recent 10 years. In addition,
according to the curriculum officer in DEPT, the past revision made only minor modifications
even though the official curriculum reform was completed except for English in 1999-2000
(The English textbook was totally revised at the revision).
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Not
exist
8%
Not
exist
23%
After
Before 2002
2001 32%
47% Before
After 2001
2002 60%
30%
Figure 3-12: Percentage of the Revision Year of Textbook and Teacher’s Manual
Core subjects in Myanmar consist of national language, English, mathematics, science and
social studies. Co-curricular subjects such as arts and physical education are set out around core
subjects. Science is handled as a combined subject in primary and lower secondary level, and is
divided into physics, chemistry, and biology at upper secondary level. Social study is combined
in primary, too and is divided into geography and history at lower secondary level, while
economics is added at the upper secondary level. These core subjects are the scope of the
matriculation examination for graduating from high schools. It is quite an orthodox curriculum
structure, similar to the Japanese curriculum.
One unique characteristic of the Myanmar curriculum is found in the formation of correlated
subjects which stimulate interests of children by strengthening correlation between subjects.
General study at the lower primary level involves study of the three subjects (natural science,
moral and civics, and life skills) while social study at the upper primary level consists of
geography + history, moral and civics, and life skills.
Upper secondary level students can select three subjects from among several courses, such as
optional Myanmar, geography, history, economics, chemistry, physics, and biology. The
combinations of subjects offered are as shown below.
At the upper secondary level, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics have been taught in
English since 1986, and textbooks and examinations are only in English.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
Lower Primary (G1-3) Upper Primary (G4-5) Lower Secondary (G6-9) Upper Secondary (G10-11)
(30min / period) (35min / period) (45min / period) (45min / period)
(a) Natural Science 4 → Basic science 4 → General science 4 → Physics (5) Elective Subject
Core subjects
Biology (5)
(b) Moral & Civics 3→2 → (b) Moral & Civics 2 → Moral and Civics 1 → Moral and Civics 1
Co-curricular Subjects
Physical education 4 → Physical education 4 → Physical education 1→2 → Physical education/ Life skill 1
Aesthetic education 3 → Aesthetic education 3→2 → Aesthetic education 2→1 → Aesthetic education 1
School Activity 2→1 → School Activity 1→0 → School Activity 1 → School Activity 1
Source: Created by the Study Team / Instruction: Number of Each Subject Indicates Periods/Week. Periods revised in this year are shown as “periods before -> periods after”).
Final Report
Arrows in “General Study” and “Social Study” indicate correlations between subjects
Figure 3-13: Subject Organization
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Recently, informatization of society has placed more emphasis on the capacity to utilize
information rather than just knowing the information. In this context, an Outcomes-Based
Approach (OBA) has been widely introduced worldwide. OBA designs a curriculum based on
“what kinds of competency children need to obtain.” On the contrary, the traditional curriculum
design approach is called Content-Based Approach (CBA), which considers “what needs to be
learned by children.” As described in the previous section, Myanmar currently follows CBA
based on the orthodox separate-subject curriculum organization.
It is often argued whether which approach is better than the other between CBA and OBA. Both
CBA and OBA have strengths and weaknesses. Thus the discussion to change the curriculum
design approach should be conducted carefully. A dramatic curriculum change can easily cause
problems if teachers cannot effectively follow such a change. For example, the South African
case is widely known as a failure case caused by the drastic change 23.
On the other hand, Japan has consistently performed well in terms of education quality, even
though it still follows CBA. Japan always scores one of the highest results in international
achievement test such as PISA24 or TIMSS 25. Table 3-27 shows the result of latest TIMSS
(2011) for countries listed in above table. The number in the table indicates the ranking among
participating countries.
23
“OBE (Outcome-Based Education) was introduced to South Africa in the late 1990s by the post-apartheid
government as part of its Curriculum 2005 programme, but it was widely viewed as a failure, and was eventually
scrapped in 2010.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome-based_education#South_Africa
24
Program for International Student Assessment (http://www.oecd.org/pisa/)
25
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) (http://timss.bc.edu/)
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Teaching Hours
Table 3-28 shows teaching hours per week among ASEAN counties (except for Brunei) and
Japan in different grades.
Table 3-27: Teaching Hours Per Week among ASEAN Countries and Japan
Philippines
Cambodia
Singapore
Myanmar
Indonesia
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Thailand
Vietnam
Average
Japan
Subjects
Core Subjects 937 930 920 455 990 1230 1500 960 700 746
980*
G3 Co-curricular 362 270 280 525 390 240 300 540 245 469
Total 1267 1200 1200 980 980 1380 1470 1800 1500 945 1215
Core Subjects 910 1120 920 595 560 840 1170 1500 900 735 759
G5 Co-curricular 425 280 280 525 600 480 300 400 600 280 501
Total 1335 1400 1200 1120 1160 1320 1470 1900 1500 1015 1260
Core Subjects 1092 1260 1400 800 1170 1080 1160 1440 960 700 950
G9 Co-curricular 475 315 350 480 450 480 440 540 840 350 500
Total 1567 1575 1750 1280 1620 1560 1600 1980 1800 1050 1450
Core Subjects 1080 1350 1500 1215 1215 800 640 840
G11 Co-curricular 564 225 100 540 405 n/a** 800 n/a** 1160 720 n/a**
Total 1644 1575 1600 1755 1620 1600 1800 1560
Source: Created by the Study Team based on the information described in “World Data on Education Seventh Edition
2010/1126”, UNESCO
* The Government of Indonesia defines total teaching hours only in lower primary level. Each School decides core
subject/co-curricular subject distribution.
** Malaysia, Philippines and Japan use credit system in upper secondary level so that school curriculum varies in each
school.
As the definition of core subjects and co-curricular subjects differs by county, teaching hours
are calculated according to the definition in Myanmar (Core subjects: national language, foreign
language, mathematics, natural science and social science. Co-curricular subjects: Others).
The figures in the table are presented in the following graph for further analysis. Figure 3-15
shows the total teaching hours per week among ASEAN countries and Japan. Total teaching
26
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/services/online-materials/world-data-on-education/seventh-edition-2010-11.html
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
hours in Myanmar almost overlap with the average total teaching hours of all represented
countries. Thus no problems have been found here regarding total teaching hours.
Myanmar
2000
Cambodia
Indonesia
1500
Lao PDR
Malaysia
1000
Singapore
Philippines
500
Thailand
Vietnam
0
G3 G5 G9 G11 Japan
Figure 3-14: Teaching Hours Per Week among ASEAN Counties and Japan (Total)
The following figures also support the relevance of total teaching hours in Myanmar. Table 3-29
shows the comparison of annual teaching hours between Myanmar and Japan. In Myanmar, the
length of each class is defined as 30 minutes at lower primary level, 35 minutes at upper
primary level, and 45 minutes for lower and upper secondary levels. One academic year has 36
weeks. Based on this information, annual teaching hours are calculated as shown in the table.
Table 3-29 also shows the annual teaching hours in Japan for comparison. It indicates that
annual teaching hours in Myanmar are more than in Japan at all levels.
As a result, the total teaching hours of Myanmar are also greater than in Japan as shown in
Table 3-30, although schooling years in Myanmar is 11 years which is shorter than Japan’s 12
years.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Figure 3-16 clearly indicates that teaching hours for core subjects in Myanmar are higher than
other countries. Although it is at the country average at grade 3, Myanmar spends considerably
more time on teaching core subjects at higher grade levels.
1400 Myanmar
Cambodia
1200
Indonesia
1000
Lao PDR
800 Malaysia
600 Singapore
Philippines
400
Thailand
200
Vietnam
0 Japan
G3 G5 G9 G11
Figure 3-15: Weekly Teaching Hours among ASEAN Counties and Japan
(Core Subjects)
On the other hand, Myanmar spends less time on co-curricular subjects, as shown in Figure 3-17.
This is actually the least level among those countries.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
1400 hours
Average
1200 Myanmar
Cambodia
1000
Indonesia
800 Lao PDR
Malaysia
600
Singapore
400 Philippines
Thailand
200
Vietnam
0 Japan
G3 G5 G9 G11
Figure 3-16: Weekly Teaching Hours among ASEAN Counties and Japan
(Co-Curricular Subjects)
(2) Textbook
Deployment of Textbooks
The GoM decided on a policy to deploy all textbook for free of charge in all primary schools
from AY2011/2012. The policy was successfully implemented and schools received textbooks
as planned. Teachers commented that thanks to the new textbook, student motivation has
improved compared to the previous year. Therefore almost all school teachers in primary school
supported this free textbook policy and teachers in middle and high schools strongly hope that
the policy will be expanded to the upper level, according to a series of interviews with school
teachers made by the Study Team in co-operation with the CESR Working Group in November,
although the interviewees were limited in number (The result of the quick survey is shown in
the box below).
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Some teachers pointed out during the interview that textbooks contain inappropriate information
for example; Myanmar coin is printed in mathematics textbook though it is not used recently.
Level 1: Lower Level Thinking Skills that require thinking skills such as Recollection,
Recognization, Description, Definition, Calculation/Computation, Retrieving, Measurement and
Comprehension.
Level 2: Middle Level Thinking Skills that require thinking skills such as Comparison,
Classification, Relating, Interpretation (Explain), Selection, Representation, Modeling, Drawing
and Solving routine problems.
Level 3: Higher Level Thinking Skills that require thinking skills such as Analysis, Examination,
Integration/Synthesis, Prediction/Hypothesis, Design, Drawing Conclusions,
Generalizion/Specialization, Justification and Solving Non-routine Problems.
According to the above standard, curriculum officers of 10 subjects group analyzed a G5
textbook to determine how much information of each thinking level was contained in it. The
result is shown in Figure 3-18. As it was just a practice exercise conducted over a limited period
of time, the result was not seriously examined and may include some error. But it could still be
useful for providing an indication of overall textbook characteristics in Myanmar
10
8
6
4
2
0
Level 1 level 2 Level 3
Much 4 1 1
Fair 4 7 0
Little 2 2 9
Source: Analyzed by curriculum officers in DEPT (November 2012)
Figure 3-17: Result of Textbook (G5) Analysis
The analysis indicates that textbooks contain much level 1 information that uses lower level
thinking skills. Only one subject (life skills) is judged as containing a considerable amount of
level 3 information relative to the other 9 subjects.
Textbooks are the most important teaching and learning material used to improve the ability of
students. Hence, the characteristics imply that students in Myanmar have less opportunity to
improve their higher level thinking skills.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Even though CCA has been introduced, the large number of students prevents teachers from
being able to properly conduct CCA. Hence this kind of disparity must be taken into
consideration to improve education quality. In Japan’s case, the government legally set the
maximum number of students per class which to 40 students. For example, if a school has 41
students in a certain grade, the school is expected to organize two classes and deploy two
teachers.
Teaching in English is also a considerable issue in Myanmar. The Study Team confirmed
through lesson observation that lessons conducted in English seemed strongly textbook or
curriculum centered rather than CCA because of the language barrier both for teachers and
students. The class was like an English class, and students had to work hard to understand the
contents of the class in English. This seemed to spoil creative skill development.
Teachers in high schools also indicated their doubts about this policy. According to the joint
school observation of the Study Team and the CESR Working Group, only 6 teachers among 25
teachers agreed with the current policy regarding teaching in English as shown in the box
below.
Q: At the high school level, subjects like mathematics and science should be taught in English?
(a) Agree 6
(b) Disagree0
(c) Only the terminology should be taught in English 14
(d) Teaching in English should be introduced at the middle school level. 5
Source: Joint school observation by the Study Team and the CESR Working Group, November 2012
27
“Education for all: Access to and Quality of Education in Myanmar (Conference on Development Policy Options
with Special Reference to Education and Health in Myanmar)”, pp. 26, 13-16 Feb 2012, MOE
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
CET is organized for core subjects and life skills and is developed by the school teachers. CET
consists of a paper-pencil test and an oral test for lower primary, whereas only paper-pencil tests
are used from upper primary. The duration of CET is equivalent to the duration of one class,
that is:
Lower Primary 30 min
Upper Primary 35 min
Lower Secondary 45 min
Upper Secondary 45 min
Comprehensive Personal Record (CPR) is another official format for student assessment. Every
academic year end, teachers are also mandated to record each student’s CET score, behavior and
discipline to handover this information to the next teacher.
According to a series of interviews with school teacher conducted by the Study Team in
November, teachers well understand this assessment system and it seemed to have been
implemented according to MoE’s expectations. Monthly assessment seems to support teachers
in controlling the progress of school curriculum as scheduled. On the other hand, some teachers
emphasized that the frequent assessment, CET in particular, push teachers to just cover the
textbook contents rather than to teach contents carefully. In addition, some teachers pointed out
that the actual teaching time has decreased due to the preparation and review of CET, and that
teachers cannot provide quality lessons as a result.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
In terms of the drop-out rate, about 23% of students drop out in the 5th grade of primary school,
which is the last year of primary school and shows the highest primary school drop-out rate as
shown in Figure 3-8. The drop-out rate increases as the grade level becomes higher. In 8th and
9th grade the drop-out rate is more than 18%. In addition, a high drop-out rate is observed for
the 1st grade of primary school which is the starting point of compulsory education.
These figures imply that there are some problems with the school program at the G1, G5, G9,
G10 and G11 levels. It is not clear, however, whether or not these problems are caused by the
curriculum. Further study is needed to clarify this issue but some assumptions can be made; G5,
G9 and G11 are the last grades in each level, thus the problem could be mainly caused by
connection problems, rather than the curriculum. On the other hand, G1 and G10 are the first
grades of each level, thus it is highly likely that the mismatch of curriculum is one of the main
causes of students’ withdrawal from school.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Myanmar English Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology History Geography
Level 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Level 2 3 5 43 2 1 0 2 1
Level 1 7 5 5 13 7 5 2 5
Figures in above graph indicate the number of questions corresponding to each thinking level.
Similar to the textbook analysis, this exercise was just organized as a practice; the result was not
seriously examined and again the result may include some error. There was, for example,
actually an argument regarding biology, where the biology team judged all questions in the
biology matriculation examination to be categorized in level 1 though there were some
questions that looked like level 2 or 3 at a glance but turned out to simply be statements copied
from the textbook.
Myanmar language seems to exhibit good organization, whereas other subjects allocate more
questions that require using lower level thinking skills.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Pass Rate
As mentioned above, the matriculation examination only reports overall pass rates and is not
used for curriculum review. The Study Team together with the CESR Working Group visited
schools to obtain matriculation examination results by subject to investigate problems of the
curriculum. Table 3-33 shows the example.
Although it is quite difficult to discuss anything using these limited figures, Myanmar language
shows the higher performance despite the test including level 3 question that require higher
level thinking skills as described in the previous section. It means that the curriculum for
Myanmar language works well. On the contrary, overall performance in English and Physics is
not good, even though there are few higher level thinking questions. Biology apparently shows
a good result, however this might be because the exam contained only level 1 question as
mentioned in the previous section. Hence it is difficult to judge whether the quality of the
curriculum is good or not from the point of view of curriculum review.
As the matriculation examination is the only nationwide standardized test platform in Myanmar,
utilizing matriculation examination results as a part of curriculum study is highly recommended
to improve the curriculum in a logical and systematic fashion.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
is the top priority in Myanmar. In Japan, textbooks are totally changed every 10 years through a
regular curriculum reform process (Table 3-33).
Information must be updated immediately especially for natural sciences and social studies to
accommodate new discoveries and changes of facts.
In addition, as mentioned before, the information in the textbook is not relevant to the
development of higher level thinking skills. Current textbooks generally contain more learning
contents that require the use of lower level thinking skills.
JICA has been supporting textbook analysis work for the Curriculum section in DEPT to
improve the scope and sequence of textbook learning contents. It is expected that this will help
to identify issues and gaps in textbooks for the up-coming textbook revision.
Figure 3-20 shows the conceptual image of “all-round correct thinking” development that the
national constitution aims to foster in ideal citizens.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Cognitive
(Knowledge)
Ideal Person
who has all-
around correct
thinking
Psychomotor Affective
(Skills) (Attitude)
Although there is no clear definition on “all-round correct thinking”, it is assumed that this
capacity can be developed from multiple directions as described in the well-known Bloom’s
idea shown in the above figure. In this context, co-curricular subjects play an important role in
improving psychomotor and affective abilities. Hence the promotion of co-curricular subjects is
recommended to help achieve the national human resource development goal.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
According to ‘Myanmar National Disability Survey 2010’ which was published by the
MoSWRR, 2.32% of the population has a disability of some form, which could be caused by
congenital factors (43.6%), by injury (36.2%) or by disease (20.2%). Figure 3-11 shows the
proportion of disabled people by the type of disabilities. As can be seen, physically disabilities
constitute the majority.
68.1%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0% 13.3%
10.3% 8.2%
10.0%
0.0%
Physical Visual Hearing Intellectual
Source: Myanmar National Disability Survey 2010
Figure 3-20: Proportion of Disabled People by the Type of Disabilities
As there is currently no specific criteria to define the degree of disability- guidelines for schools
regarding the education of children with disabilities do not exist- the professional staff 28 in
resource centers decide if a pupil should be enrolled in regular classes or in a school for disabled
children (Special Needs School) after he/she has been screened to have a disability by school
teachers and school head teachers at the beginning of primary education.
28
There are 37 resource centers for the people with disabilities.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
There are eight schools (including primary and lower secondary levels) for students with
disabilities. These are broadly divided into three subcategories: (i) schools for visually impaired
students; (ii) schools for hearing impaired students (iii) training schools for disabled youths.
Two schools in Yangon and Mandalay are managed by the government whilst other schools are
managed by NGOs and receive various contributions 29.
Pupils who have mild disabilities attend regular classes in primary school; however, moderately
or severely disabled children receive education in schools for disabled children. After
completing primary education, students who are admitted to study in regular classes receive
their education in regular schools as part of inclusive education from the middle school level.
According to the Disability Survey (2010), 37.1% of disabled students have received
educational opportunities, implying that around two thirds of disabled individuals did not
receive an education. Among individuals who received an education, 66% graduated from
primary school, 22% graduated from middle school and only 2% graduated from university
Teachers in Special Needs schools graduate from Education Colleges (EC), and are provided
with one year correspondence training by EC to receive knowledge about the education of
children with disabilities, as well as regarding specific teaching methodology.
Students with disabilities take examinations in almost the same conditions as regular class
students. As a result, the rate at which students with disabilities pass the matriculation
examination is very low compared to regular students 30.
29
Those schools which target to rehabilitate disabled children are under the Ministry of Social Affairs, Relief
and Reconstruction. On the other hand, MOE provides inclusive education in regular classes at the middle
school and high school levels.
30
For example, Dagon high school in Yangon, only two students with disabilities have passed matriculation
examination from 2009 to 2012 against 44 students have taken examination.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(1) Access
1. There is a limited number of schools that disabled students can attend.
(2) Quality
1. There is lack of consideration for each disabled student to study according to his/her degree
of disability including support system and evaluation for individuals. It is important to
establish individual learning achievement/targets according to an individual’s degree of
disability.
2. There is no specific course for training inclusive education teachers at EC.
(3) Management
1. Criteria for judging children with disabilities, including that for identifying the degree of
disability, are not yet regulated. Therefore effective support levels for individual disabilities
have not yet been achieved. It is also important to collect statistical data for capturing an
overall picture of the current situation to help develop policies and plans to support
inclusive education.
2.
3. There is a shortage of supporting legislation for people with disabilities, especially
regarding their employment.
To disseminate basic literacy programs, literacy campaigns are conducted on a regular basis. In
April 2013, the mobilization of university students is planned as part of the implementation of
literacy education.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Among them, EP to primary education has been conducted since 1998, targeting drop-out
students aged 10 to 14 years old in order to provide them with a second chance to re-enroll in
formal schooling. This program is composed of two levels for a two year course: (i) Level 1
equivalent to Grade 3 level and (ii) Level 2 equivalent to Grade 5 level. While all successful
attendants can proceed to middle school, only 22% enrolled to middle school among them in
total. The MoE now plans to establish an EP program to middle school to improve access to
secondary-level schooling.
(2) Quality
1. Quality of instructors is not equal as they are recruited on a voluntary basis.
2. There is a gap among the success rate of literacy programmes across the nation. It is
necessary to identify its reasons and make CLC activities more effective.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(3) Management
1. There is a shortage of personnel at the MoE to manage NFE in an integrated fashion such
as policy making, planning, implementation and monitoring.
2. Due to the limited government budget, external sources such as NGOs and UNICEF have
been relied on for many activities.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Until 1996, the MoE administered the education sector including TVET. However, since the
establishment of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) in 1996, MoST has
developed and promoted engineering related TVET sector by setting its own framework and
system. At the same time, TVET in other fields was taken over by the respective ministries; this
system has continued until recently. However, as a result of the drastic movement towards civil
since 2011, TVET is facing an important phase for its renovation through changes such as legal
reforms, policy initiatives, development plans, changes in the system of schooling years and
degrees, joint education/research programs with ASEAN and other countries, and introduction
of international skill standards.
This section provides an overview of the TVET sector and major government TVET institutions
in the engineering field. In addition, institutions related to TVET include both institutions
focused solely on TVET and higher education institutions which also provide education in
technical and vocational field. These two types of institutions are explained in this section.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Parallel to the MoE’s 30-Year Long-Term Plan, the MoST developed its own plan which is
in-line with the policy and regulations laid down by the GoM. By the end of 2012, the MoST
expects to have drafted a new education plan which could reflect the MoST’s new education
structure and the GoM’s development strategies in technical, industrial and human resources
development.
In addition, according to the speech of the Vice President in April 2012, in order to develop
regional economies, plans are being made for community colleges in each region to provide
TVET for adults in the community.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
as Higher Education institutions and offer academic degrees. Other TVET institutions offer
short-term training for skill development, targeting the capacity building of civil servants. The
definition of TVET also varies among ministries. For example, HRD program which offers
morning, evening and weekend courses at art and science universities for in-service people and
employees from various organizations has been recognized by the MoE as a part of TVET. The
MoST, on the other hand, regards TVET as full time study at engineering-related schools such
as Government Technical High Schools (GTHS), Technological Universities (TUs) and so on.
Some ministries offer similar types of training and education at different institutions such as
institutions under the MoST, Skill Training Centers (STC) under the MoL, and Industrial
Training Centers (ITC) under the MoI. In addition, the TVET team of CESR temporary defined
the TVET institutions in Myanmar as “TVET institutions which do not provide degrees” and
AGTI course at TUs, GTCs and GTIs.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Total
Ministry Field TVET institutions #
Engineering etc Myanmar Mercantile Marine College
Ministry of Culture Music, Sculptures, National University of Arts and Culture 1
Drawing, etc
Ministry of Forestry Forestry Training Centre, Central, Forestry 4
Environmental Development Training Centre (2),
Conservation and University of Forestry
Forestry
Ministry of Defense Military Training, Defense Service Academy, 5
Medical Science, Defense Service Medical Academy
Engineering etc Defense Service Technological Academy
Defense Service Institute of Nursing and
Paramedical
National Defense College
Union Civil Service Civil Service Central Institute of Civil Service (Short 2
Board course)
Ministry of Border Teacher Education University for the Development of the National 3
Affairs Arts and Science Races of the Union (1)
Nationalities Youth Resource Development
Degree Colleges and Central Training Schools
(2)
Vocational Vocational Training Schools of Domestic 58
Education Science for Women (39)
Training Schools for Development of
Nationalities Youth from Border Areas (29)
Ministry of Industry Engineering Industrial Training Centers 6
(1 year certificate course)
Ministry of Labour Engineering, Skills Training Centers (Short Course) 3
Language, IT
Ministry of Social Non-Formal Youth Care Centers and Vocational Training 14
Welfare, Relief and Education Centers for Disabled Adults (10)
Resettlement Schools for Visual and Hearing Impairment
and Students with Disability (4)
Ministry of Sport Sport Education Sport and Physical Science School (High 2
school level)
Ministry of Hotel and Tourism Tourism Training School 1
Tourism. Education
Ministry of Rail Rail Central Institute of Transport and 1
Transportation Transportation Communications
Black: Higher education institutions which provide undergraduate Diploma or higher degrees related to technical and
vocational education
Red italic: TVET institutions which do not provide degrees
Italic with underline: Higher education institutions which provide both undergraduate Diploma or higher degrees
and TVET without degree.
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the interviews at respective ministries
The detailed information of each institution is described in Appendix 4-1. Various stakeholders
conduct TVET in various fields for various targets in Myanmar. Thus it is difficult to collect
information on all TVET institutions in Myanmar within a limited time frame. Hence this report
mainly focuses on the TVET institutions in the engineering field under DTVE in MoST, which
supervises the largest number of TVET institutions in Myanmar.
As mentioned above, the definition of TVET is different among ministries and the demarcation
between higher education and TVET is very vague. TVET institutions under DTVE also include
both higher education institutions which provide technical and vocational education, i.e., TU,
GTC, GTI, and University of Technology (Yatanarpon Cyber City), and institutions devoted to
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
only TVET, i.e. GTHS. In addition, TUs under DTVE could not offer degree certifications for
students on their own and their academic matters (such as developing curriculum and exam
papers) are assisted by Yangon Technological University and Mandalay Technological
University under the Department of Advanced Science and Technology (DAST). It is noted that
27 TUs, GTCs and GTIs under DTVE and West Yangon Technological University (WYTU)
and Pyay Technological University are affiliated with YTU and MTU. The following section
will explain information related to DTVE institutions. Institutions under DAST are described in
the next section as higher education institutions.
At first, graduates of middle schools are able to enter Government Technical High Schools
(GTHS) instead of entering ordinary high schools in the formal education system. Graduates of
GTHS with good performance are eligible to attend AGTI Diploma courses at higher TVET
institutions under DTVE such as Technological Universities (TU).
In the formal basic education track, students that pass the matriculation examination could have
diverse options to study at both professional universities and non-professional universities.
However, qualified GTHS students have to access AGTI courses and are not entitled to enter
other higher education institutions. After the completion of AGTI, excellent students are able to
enter higher degree courses which are Bachelor of Technology (B.Tec) to be a technician, and
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E) to be an engineer. If higher degree courses are not offered at the
same institution, students transfer to the other TUs in same region/state.
Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Middle(4) High(2) Exam B.A, B.Sc (3) Master PhD * Schooling year vary
Primary(5)
(2) based on the field of
(4~)
education
Cooperative University (3)/College(2), Computer
TVET university (Bachelor 3, Master 2, PhD 4) etc
The recent reform in Higher Education structure of the MoST states that from the 2012-13
Academic Year, AGTI courses will be increased to three years, Bachelor of Technology
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
(B.Tech) courses will become two years and Bachelor of Engineering (B.E) courses will be four
years. Therefore, B.Tech and B.E course will be completely separated. Following this change,
there will be only one TU in each state/region that is able to offer the B.E course.
In addition, the TVET institutions under the Department of Advanced Science and Technology
(DAST) of MoST are the four Universities of Technology, an Aerospace Engineering
University, and 25 Universities of Computer Studies. DAST selected four universities as
Centers of Excellence (CoE). CoEs that will offer six year B.E. degree programs to train
students who passed the matriculation examination with 450 marks and above. The details are
described in the section on Higher Education. Prior to this CoE program, since 2010 the
University of Technology (Yatanarpon Cyber City) under DTVE offered a five year 32 B.E
course emphasizing the ICT sector.
The following table shows the expenditure in the most recent five years in DTVE. The
expenditure has gradually increased, but the percentage of GDP has been stable at about 0.1%.
While it varies by year, generally speaking capital expenditures for facilities and equipment
have been larger than current expenditures for personnel and maintenance. It is, however,
observed during the survey at institutions that there is a shortage of the equipment used as
teaching aids during hands-on training sessions, and the equipment that the TVET institutions
have is out-dated. Therefore the budget should be increased to provide quality education for all
students at present and in the future.
The following figure shows the distribution of DTVE’s budget to individual TVET institutions.
The expenditure of the Head of Office is the highest amount in each year, because in general
procurement of equipment and building facilities are unified at the department level and the
department distributes procured materials to each institution. The second largest amount is
distributed to TUs as they have the highest number of students and teachers among TVET
institutions. The expense to other institutions is considerably lower in comparison with the
department in Naypyidaw and in TUs.
32
It will be a six year course from the 2012-2013 AY.
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16000
14000 Naypidaw
12000
TU
10000
8000 GTC
6000 GTI
4000 GTHS
2000
Others
0
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the statistical data of MoST (2012): million kyat
Figure 4-2: Distribution of Budget to TVET Institutions under DTVE
4.2.4 Scholarship
There are only a few scholarship opportunities for TVET students under DTVE. The existing
official scholarship supports less than 10 excellent students per year to study overseas. The
donors such as Germany, Korea, ASEAN countries and Japan provide post-graduate
scholarships, and the Foreign Economic Relations Department (FERD) recruits candidates for
these scholarships. The number of scholarship is, however, not sufficient for the large number
of students. The private sector offers an insignificant number of scholarships. Compared to
other TVET institutions, candidates from a University of Computer Studies received more
scholarships during the time of survey (In AY2011/2012, about 50 university students out of
3,500 received scholarships for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.) There are many
institutions which have never received a scholarship (these figures include GTHS).
On the other hand, there is a large scale gap of institutions between the border and central areas.
The following table compares the scale of institutions in each state and region. There are few
institutions located in states near the border and student enrollment is relatively small. GTHS
especially have considerably fewer numbers of students at state institutions. On the other hand,
the number of teachers is not very different between states and regions. Thus students in state
institutions are in better condition regarding the student/teacher ratio.
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Table 4-3: Scale of TVET Institutions in Each State and Region (2011–2012)
# of Students/ Teacher/
Type of institution 33 institutions # of students Institution institution
TU/GTC/GTI(State) 14 12,462 890.1 73.9
TU/GTC/GTI(Region) 28 65,949 2,355.3 100.6
GHTS(State) 14 752 53.7 25.3
GHTS(Region) 22 2,275 103.4 30.5
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the statistical data of MoST (2012)
Table 4-4: Number of Students in Each Study Field and Institution (2011/2012)
Study field TU GTC GTI GTHS Total
Civil Engineering 20,915 1,611 1,782 0 2,4308
Electronic Engineering 11,208 966 377 0 1,2551
Electrical Power Engineering 11,126 1,050 1,432 0 1,3608
Mechanical Engineering 14,197 1,150 1,600 0 1,6947
IT/ICT 3,056 399 32 0 3,487
Mechatronic Engineering 2,466 0 28 0 2,494
Metallurgical Engineering 143 0 0 0 143
Chemical Engineering 683 0 0 0 683
Architectural Engineering 1,213 0 0 0 1,213
Petroleum Engineering 522 0 0 0 522
Textile Engineering 276 0 0 0 276
Mining Engineering 214 0 0 0 214
Biotechnology 197 0 0 0 197
Nuclear Technology 101 0 0 0 101
Electronic Technology 0 0 0 391 391
Machining Technology 0 0 0 339 339
Building Technology 0 0 0 1,048 1,048
Building Services Technology 0 0 0 36 36
Auto Mechanics Technology 0 0 0 695 695
Electrical Technology 0 0 0 448 448
Metal Process Technology 0 0 0 70 70
Total 66,317 5,176 5,251 3,027 79,771
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the statistical data of MoST (2012)
33
There are 7 regions in Myanmar (Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway, Bago, Ayeyarwady and Tanintharyi).
Regions are mainly located in central area of the country and Burmese people live in the regions. This institutions
includes University of Technology in Yatanarpon Cyber City
There are 7 states in Myanmar (Kachin, Shan, Chin, Rhakine, Mon, Kayah, and Kayin). States are located near
boarder area and many ethnic groups live there.
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Table 4-5: Number and Completion Rate of Students in Each Grade (2010/2011)
Institut AGTI(1st) AGTI(2nd) B.Tec(1st) B.Tec(2nd) B.E(1st)
ions Taken Passed Taken Passed Taken Passed Taken Passed Taken Passed
TU 18812 58% 12515 75% 9459 79% 6986 86% 7641 63%
GTC 2386 64% 1667 75% 1097 88% 543 89% 654 57%
GTI 1832 68% 1147 74% 540 85% 436 91% 0 0%
Total 23030 60% 15329 75% 11096 81% 7965 87% 8295 62%
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the statistic data of MoST (2012)
34
Civil Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Electrical Power Engineering etc
35
Myanmar, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Economics
36
This number includes all staff in institutions including administrative staff.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
contents of the curriculum. The employment, training and deployment of teachers are managed
in an integrated fashion by the respective ministries.
37
The project of Enhancing Skills Recognition System in ASEAN is implemented as the ASEAN Australian
Collaboration Program. It was a regional level project and the MoL was involved as a representative of Myanmar. It
was implemented from 2004 to 2008 and four levels of skill standards were formulated in five vocational areas
referring to the skill standards of Australia.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
private sector. The Employment and Skills Development Law was drafted and submitted to the
national congress in order to officially approve the establishment of occupational competency
standards. Further progress will continue after the law is enacted.
In order to enhance the above activities, draft occupational competency standards are planned to
be reviewed with support of GIZ, and the development of training curriculums based on the
draft occupational competency standards are planned to be supported by polytechnic of
Singapore.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Thousands of students study at large suburban Machines for practical work are old and not in
campuses (Mandalay TU) sufficient supply (Thanlyin TU)
Facility is smaller than TU (This is Sagaing TU Teaching materials for Electronics. Some materials
which was GTC last year) have been used since the location was a GTHS.
(Sagaing TU)
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because they all offer the B.Tech course. Some GTIs have less than 20
students enrolled / year.
Only 188 students learn in Wakema GTI. Same as TU and GTC, equipments and
There is enough number of classrooms. materials are in shortage. (Wakema GTI)
Facility is a little smaller than high schools under It seems more opportunity of hands-on activities
the MoE (Kyaukse GTHS) than TU/GTC/GTI, because of few students
(Ywarama GTHS)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
and government officials of other TVET institutions such as TU, GT and GTI. The missions of
the university are:
This university is pursuing challenging and innovative activities such as joint degree
programmes with Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, and Asian Cyber University
Networking with assistance from KOICA.
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Facility is similar to GTHS. Both building and Trainees learning metal processing. The content of
equipment are old. (Yankin STC) vocational education is similar to GTHS. (Yankin
STC)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Hands on activities are better than in other TVET There are vacant spaces in large workshops. More
institutions thanks to newly introduced equipment students can be trained when the facilities are well
and adequate number of trainees (Mandalay ITC) equipped. (Mandalay ITC)
39
About 400 institutions are listed in Myanmar training.com (http://myanmartraining.com/mt/default.asp)
40
The UK's largest awarding body, offering academic and vocational qualifications and testing in the UK and in over
85 countries internationally. (www.edexcel.com)
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The campus is big enough for 150 students. PCs were well equipped, but engineering
equipments are limited because of these cost.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Equipment for hands on activities are well Trainers supervise trainees for hands on
set out in the training centre. activities well.
Study theory at school one day a week. Practice at work place 4-5 days a week
41
94 children also study at Education for Youth course, which provide 4 years basic education from 14 years old.
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some ministries offer similar fields of TVET, but their mission and outlook differ and there is
no direct or indirect linkage between them. For example, GTHS under MoST, STC under MoL
and ITC under MoI provide training in engineering field but their direction and development
plans reflect their respective institutional policies.
It is recommended to review the functions and aims of these institutions, and a strategy to
improve the whole TVET sector should be developed by an inter-ministry decision making
body that could be harmonized with the industrial sector development plan. Since November
2012, CESR team has been organizing a periodical meeting called “the CESR round table
discussion on TVET”. In the meeting, various ministries and private institutions related to
TVET sector were called and began sharing about their TVET programs and discussing their
definition of TVET. It is a great effort that will contribute to enhancing the collaboration among
respective ministries and organizations in TVET.
At the demand side of TVET, about 280,000 students exit 42 from high schools annually, and
about a million youth exit from whole basic education. They have potential seeking access to
TVET. According to the development indicators of MoL in 2009, the total labor force in
Myanmar is estimated about 30 million people and 66% of them are employed. Among them
about 12 million people, excluding elementary occupations and occupations that require higher
education, may require some sort of skill-upgrading to cope with their job requirements. Due to
this amount of huge potential needs on TVET, access opportunities to TVET for technical
workers, which do not have the certificate of matriculation examination pass, are very limited at
both pre- and post-employment, in comparison with the opportunity of TVET for engineers at
TU, GTC and GTI.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
opportunities for students to receive scholarships. It is not easy to solve this financial issue
immediately. However alternative measures can be discussed. For example, some private TVET
institutions collaborate with private companies and introduce students as part-time employees.
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5. Higher Education
This chapter illustrates the current situation of higher education sector in Myanmar. The chapter
mainly focuses on the higher education system and HEIs under the MoE and the MoST, the
ministries that administer the most number of HEIs. After reviewing the current situation, the
chapter presents issues and challenges that the Study Team has preliminarily found, as well as
recommendations to tackle them.
In Myanmar, the definition of HEI is not clear. Some publications count Technological
Universities and Government Technical Colleges under DTVE of MoST as HEIs and some do
not. In this Chapter, these institutions are counted as HEIs unless explicitly mentioned.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Budget
Every year, each HEI proposes its budget to the respective DHEs, Upper or Lower. DHEU and
DHEL carefully examine these proposals, compile all the budgets and submit a combined
budget proposal to the Minister. The Minister submits them to the Parliament for approval.
Once they are approved by the Parliament, the Minister allocates the budget to DHEU and
DHEL respectively. Distribution of allocated budgets to each HEI is then carried out by the two
DHEs.
HEIs
DHEL and DHEU administer 46 HEIs. Out of these 46 institutions, 38 are Arts and Sciences
Universities, Colleges and Degree Colleges. The remaining eight institutions are known as
Universities of Foreign Languages (UFL), Institutes of Education, Institutes of Economics (IoE)
and National Management Colleges. Table 5-3 shows the number of HEIs under DHEU and
DHEL by field of study. It reveals that the number of HEIs offering arts and sciences account
for a significant portion of the total number. Two HEIs in Upper Myanmar and one in Lower
Myanmar offer Economics and related fields. There is one HEI offering Education and one
offering language study in each of Upper and Lower Myanmar. Yangon University and
Mandalay University only have post-graduate degree courses. Study fields related to political
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
science are offered by only Yangon University and Mandalay University. Yadanabon
University offers an International Relations course.
Table 5-3: Number of HEIs under DHEU and DHEL of MoE by Field of Study
DHEU
Field of Study Offering # of
Bachelor Master Ph. D. HEIs
Arts and Sciences (Degree College) * 3
Arts and Sciences (University) * * 16
* * 1
Arts and Sciences (University, Distance Education) * 1
Language (Mandalay University of Foreign Languages) * * 1
Economics (Monywa University of Economics, * * * 2
Myeiktila University of Economics)
Education (Sagaing University of Education) * * 1
Total 25
DHEL
Field of Study Offering Degree # of
Bachelor Master Ph. D. HEIs
Arts and Sciences (College) 1
Arts and Sciences (Degree College) * 0
Arts and Sciences (University) * * 12
* * 1
* * * 2
Arts and Sciences (University , Distance Education) * 1
Language (Yangon University of Foreign Languages) * * 1
Economics (Yangon Institutes of Economic) * * * 1
Journalism, Business, and Business English (National 1
Management College)
Education (Yangon Institute of Education) * * * 1
Total 21
Source: Compiled by the Study Team based on Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar), 2012,
Summarized facts and figures of University and Degree Colleges under Department of Higher Education, MoE
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Budget
Every year, each HEI under DAST proposes its budget to DAST. DAST carefully examines
these proposals, compiles all the budgets and submits a combined budget proposal to the
Minister. The Minister submits them to the Parliament for approval. Once they are approved
by the Parliament, the Minister allocates the budget to DAST and DAST distribute allocated
budget to each HEI under DAST.
HEIs
DTVE administers 27 TUs, University of Technology, Yatanarpon Cyber City, three
Government Technological Colleges, while DAST administers four Technological Universities,
25 Universities of Computer Studies, and Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University.
Regarding TUs, as seen in Table 5-4, 17 of them offer Bachelors of Technology and Bachelors
of Engineering and 14 of them offer up to a Masters degree. Only Yangon Technological
University and Mandalay Technological University offer Ph.Ds. According to the interview
with DAST, the MoST is planning to offer post-graduate courses only at YTU and MTU. In
order to improve access to TUs, every state or region has at least one TU.
Table 5-4: Number of HEIs Offering Engineering Related Courses under MoST
by Degrees Offered
(Yellow cells indicate HEIs administered by DTVE and orange cells indicate HEIs administered by DAST)
Name of Universities Degrees Offered # of
Bachelor of Bachelor of Masters Ph. D. HEIs
Technology Engineering
GTCs * 3
Technological Universities * * 17
Technological Universities * * * 9
Technological Universities * * 1
University of Technology, * 1
Yatanarpon Cyber City
Technological Universities * * * 2
Technological Universities * COE * * 2
(YTU and MTU)
Myanmar Aerospace Engineering * 1
University
Source: Compiled by the Study Team based on data provided by DTVE and DAST of MoST
Regarding Universities of Computer Studies, at least one has been established in each state or
region to improve access and there are 25 Computer Universities in total. Since AY2010/2011,
only Universities of Computer Studies in Yangon and Mandalay have offered Master and Ph.D.
degrees while the rest of 23 universities offer only Bachelor degrees.
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Students who passed the matriculation examination are eligible to apply for a relevant
University, Degree College and College based on the marks they obtained and the major subject
series they have chosen in the matriculation examination standard.
Regular Programs: Regular and Distance Education track of Arts and Sciences Universities
effective from AY 2012/2013
From the AY2012/2013, Arts and Sciences Universities, University of Distance Education and
Institutes of Economics will adopt a new structure for higher education. This structure can be
classified into three types: qualified path, ordinary path and distance education path.
Figure 5-1 illustrates the degree system of regular and distance education track of Arts and
Sciences Universities under the MoE effective from AY 2012/2013. It is described as follows.
<Undergraduate degrees>
Students who passed the matriculation examination can apply for Arts, Sciences, Economics
and other interdisciplinary subjects which are in line with major subject series chosen in
matriculation examination(e.g., students enrolled in series that include Geography, History and
Optional Myanmar are not eligible to apply for economics and science subjects).
Schooling years for under-graduate degree (Bachelor of Arts/Sciences) is four years for both
regular and distance education students. The result of the second year final examination creates
two paths, namely qualified and ordinary.
1) Qualified students are eligible to immediately join third year honors classes. The third and
fourth years of the regular Bachelor program are regarded as the first and second years of
the honors program. After completion of their fourth year, students receive a Bachelor of
Arts (B.A) or Bachelor of Science (B.Sc). Students who attend one more year of honors
class will achieve a B.A (Hons:) or B.Sc (Hons:).
2) Disqualified students are regarded as ordinary students and after studying four years for
undergraduate courses, they receive a B.A or B.Sc degree. However, there is one option for
them to join post-graduate degree courses. Students with good grades in the final year of
undergraduate degree program can attend one year Qualified class and after completion,
they will receive a B.A (Q) or B.Sc (Q). There is no entrance examination to join Honors or
Qualified degree programs.
3) Students who choose correspondence education can attend respective Arts and Sciences
institutions that provide distance education courses. The path for an undergraduate degree
is similar to disqualified students. After studying four years of a B.A or B.Sc degree
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
program, qualified candidates could join regular day classes to attend qualified degree
program and receive a B.A (Q) or B.Sc (Q).
<Post-graduate degrees>
With regards to post-graduate degrees, students who obtained B.A/B.Sc (Honors) or B.A/B.Sc
(Qualified) degrees with good grades (passed with 1st and 2nd class) are able to attend a two
year Masters degree program (including coursework and research) without entrance exams, and
will be awarded a Master of Arts (M.A) or Master of Science (M.Sc). In the former system,
DHE provided two types of Masters degrees, by coursework and by research (M.Res). At that
time, the Master of Research course was offered for students who wanted to continue on to a
doctoral degree program. From the upcoming academic year, the M.Res degree program will be
abolished. Qualified Masters degree holders can enroll in a PhD program by passing an entrance
examination.
Source: Created by the Study Team based on interview with the MoE
Figure 5-1: Degree System of Regular and Distance Education Track of Arts and
Sciences Universities under MoE Effective from AY2012/2013
In 1998, the Department of Higher Education initiated Human Resources Development (HRD)
programs to facilitate student access to different types of training programs and higher
education. Institutions that provide HRD programs offer three to four month certificate courses,
9 to 12 month undergraduate and postgraduate diploma programs, three year Bachelor degree
programs, and two year HRD Master Degree programs. Except HRD Masters and regular
Masters programs, there is no entrance exam for other courses.
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In fact, HRD programs offer flexibility to learners and institutions. HRD courses are conducted
based on demands made by the labor market and institutions receive more autonomy for
opening courses. In recent years after the reopening of Arts and Sciences Universities, as regular
programs offer undergraduate degrees, Undergraduate diploma and Bachelor courses of HRD
programs have received less attention from the general public. However, some institutions are
continuously operating HRD programs to produce qualified human resources needed for
modernizing and developing the economy.
Under the HRD structure, students who pass the matriculation examination can apply for
certificate courses, and applicants can afterwards continue to undergraduate diploma courses.
To attend HRD post-graduate diploma courses, students must have a degree and take an
entrance exam. It is noted that it is very rare for HRD post-graduate students to join the regular
Masters programs.
Source: Created by the Study Team based on interview with the MoE
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On the other hand, students who attained 360 marks and above can apply for either A.G.T.I
Diploma in Government Technical Institutes (GTIs), Government Technical College (GTCs) or
Technological Universities (TUs). The number of required years for AGTI courses has been
increased to three years effective from AY2012/2013 and the third year results will determine
whether students are qualified to take further steps. Qualified (first class) students are able to
attend four year B.E courses at selected institutions (i.e., among 3 GTCs and 27 TUs under
DTVE and 2 TUs under DAST). The MoST will select institutions in each region to offer B.E
courses. Qualified (second class) students can also pursue a two year Bachelor of Technology
(B.Tech) degree.
This new structure does not allow B.Tech holders to apply for B.E courses. Considering this
limitation, DTVE plans to offer two year Master of Technology (M.Tech) courses for successful
B.Tech applicants to enhance their knowledge and technical skills. However, the
implementation of M.Tech courses is still under consideration and not yet officially announced.
For post-graduate degrees, from AY2012/2013, only YTU and MTU will serve them. Qualified
B.E. candidates from respective institutions could attend a two year Master of Engineering
(M.E.) degree program by passing an entrance exam. With respect to Doctoral studies, qualified
M.E. students could be admitted by passing an entrance exam and do research work for three or
more years to obtain a PhD in Engineering. At present, the required years of study for
post-graduate degrees has not yet been confirmed by the MoST but is tentatively planned as
stated above.
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Under the MoST, students who want to specialize in computer science and technology can
apply to the Universities of Computer Studies. Students who obtained 450 marks and above can
study at COE Bachelor course at University of Computer Studies, Yangon or Mandalay.
Students who received 365 marks and above can attend regular Bachelor course at 25 Computer
Universities located throughout Myanmar. Computer universities will add two years to
undergraduate degrees for both regular and CoE tracks starting from AY2012/2013. Therefore,
to obtain a Bachelor of Computer Science (B.C.Sc) and a Bachelor of Computer Technology
(B.C.Tech), students will have to study for five years. Regarding the CoE Bachelor course, the
length of study is the same as the regular track but CoE students must choose their specialized
subjects from seven prescribed disciplinary areas in the second year of study. After successful
completion, CoE students will be awarded a B.C.Sc/B.C.Tech according to their area of
specialization.
Regarding post-graduate studies, qualified CoE and regular students who passed an entrance
examination can continue for a two year Masters Degree program at the University of Computer
Studies, Yangon or Mandalay. Additionally, qualified Masters holders who passed an entrance
exam can attend doctoral degree programs. The duration of doctoral programs is determined by
the individual's research plan and activities.
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Human Resources Development Programmes under HEIs of the MoE can determine their
curriculum, syllabus and textbook without authorization from other bodies.
43
This number is excluded the student enrollments at TUs and GTCs administered by DTVE of the MoST.
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Trend of # of students
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000 ME Passed
300000 Fresh
200000 Total
100000
0
Source Created by the Study Team based on Statistical Year Book 2010
Figure 5-5: Trend of the Number of Students
The larger number of student enrollments at the beginning of 21st century was caused by the
reopening of Arts and Sciences Universities that had been closed from 1996 to 2000. In recent
years the total number of students and new freshmen is at a stable level of around 500,000 and
200,000 students respectively. The number of students who passed the matriculation
examination is more or less the same as the number of new freshmen. This might indicate that
almost 100% of students who pass the matriculation examination go on to HEIs; in this sense
the matriculation examination can be considered as an entrance examination to HEIs.
Figure 5-6 shows HEI student enrollment by study field roughly estimated using data from the
Statistical Year Book 2010 and data provided by the MoST shown in Table 4-4. More than three
quarters of students at HEIs major in Arts and Sciences. More than 60% of students who major
in Arts and Sciences participate in the distance education track. Students enrolling in distance
education occupy about half of total HEI enrollment. The proportion of students who major in
economics, agriculture, marine, or forestry is very low.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Engineering related
4%
Economic
Education
77%
Agriculture, Marine,
Forestry
Source: Compiled by the Study Team based on data of Statistical Year Book 2010 and data
provided by DTVE of MoST
Figure 5-6: HEI student Enrollment Ratio Estimation by Study Field
Age limitation also affects the recruitment process of teaching staff for the MoE and MoST. To
become a permanent teaching staff, a candidate must be below 35 years old to work for the MoE
and below 28 years old for the MoST. Therefore, there is almost no career path to become a
permanent teacher at HEIs for those who have obtained the required degrees and worked in the
private sector for a long time.
44
This number does not include # of teaching staff of GTCs and TUs administered by DTVE of MoST.
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# of Teaching Staff
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2000- 2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007- 2008- 2009-
01 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Arts and Science
6,597 9,355 9,650 10,439 10,174 9,819 9,545 10,664
Universities
TUs under DAST and
1,187 1,190 1,389 1,799 1,588 1,895 2,405 2,213
Computer Universities
All HEIs 10,598 15,911 14,280 15,860 15,525 15,436 15,722 16,761
Source: Compiled by the Study Team based on Statistical Year Book 2010
Figure 5-7: Number of Teaching Staff of HEIs
Figure 5-8 shows the trend of the number of teachers at HEIs45 administered by DAST of the
MoST. From AY2000/2001 to the AY2009/2010, the number of teachers almost doubled. As
written in the previous section, because of the age limitation set for new teacher employment,
there is almost no opportunity for those who have worked for a long time in the private sector to
become permanent teaching staff at HEIs. In this context, it seems that there might be quite a
number of younger and less experienced teaching staff at HEIs under DAST of the MoST.
45
YTU, MTU, WYTU, Technological University (Paya) and 25 University of Computer Studies
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Table 5-6 shows the STR of selected HEIs and its average among the same category of HEIs
under the MoST in AY2011/2012. It is found that the STR varies widely among HEIs. The
reason why that of YTU and MTU is low is that they offered only post-graduate programs until
AY2011/2012. The average STR of Computer Universities is quite low. Three out of 25 have
less than 100 students. Thirteen out of 25 have their STR at less than five, which can be
interpreted as an issue from an efficiency point of view.
Systematic data that enable an analysis of the STR disparity by department of HEIs nationwide
has not been available; however, the data obtained from the HEIs where the Study Team visited
implies that there exists a huge disparity of STR by department. Table 5-7 shows the highest
and lowest STR by department of the selected HEIs, two Technological Universities located in
urban and rural and two Arts and Sciences Universities located in urban and rural, to highlight
their disparity.
Table 5-7: Highest and Lowest STR by Department of the Selected HEIs
in AY2011/2012
Name of department of the university STR
Civil Engineering of Technological University A in Urban Area 96.7
Textile Engineering of Technological University A in Urban Area 4.5
Civil Engineering of Technological University B in Rural Area 29.5
Electronic Engineering of Technological University B in Rural Area 13.8
Physics of Arts and Science University A in Urban Area 40.2
Oriental Studies of Arts and Science University A in Urban Area 1.38
Mathematics of Arts and Science University B in Rural Area 22.5
Oriental Studies of Arts and Science University B in Rural Area 0 46
Source: Compiled by the Study Team based on data provided by the HEIs that the Study Team visited
46
No student with 6 teaching staff
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high, especially in the science and technology related fields. Hence, it has been difficult to keep
a sufficient number of well-qualified and experienced teaching staff in Technological
Universities, since they can obtain relevant jobs in the private sector with better salary more
easily than teaching staff in the Arts and Sciences Universities.
Table 5-8 shows the trend of Research/Current/Capital Expenditures of DHEU and DHEL of
the MoE. It obviously indicates that the budget allocated for research is limited. The research
budget of DHEU is increasing little by little, while the proportion of the research budget of
DHEL is decreasing.
Source: Presentation power point entitled “Some STI Statistics in Myanmar”, Dr. Soe Win Director General,
DHEU, MoE and Aung Than, Tutor, Department of Statistics, Meiktila Institute of Economics, MoE downloaded
from www.uis.unesco.org/.../STI-Myanmar.pptx
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The main journals where researchers or teaching staff under the MoST publish their research
outcomes are the Science and Technology Journal published by the MoST and the Myanmar
Engineering Society Journal.
Under the MoST, there are several departments that are designed to conduct research such as the
Myanmar Scientific and Technological Research Department (MSTRD), the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE), the Department of Technology Promotion and Coordination (DTPC), as
well as the Materials Science and Materials Engineering Research Department. As far as the
Study Team observed at the oldest research department, MSTRD, is concerned, research is not
implemented very actively. However, researchers under this department sometimes teach at
HEIs under the MoST and provide some advice on students’ Masters or Ph.D. theses or
dissertations.
Generally, the research fund for research activities at HEIs is obtained through each HEI’s
annual budget. A research budget proposal is embedded into each HEI’s annual budget proposal.
Thus, the selection of research projects whose budgets will be inserted into the HEI’s annual
budget proposal is determined by the respective HEIs. Finally, the MoST department that
administers HEIs will decide which research projects to support and the respective budget
amounts they are to be provided with; the research budget is then allocated through HEI’s
annual budget. Under this research fund provision system, the following problems have been
identified 48. 1) Teaching staff at HEIs often intentionally avoid research that would take more
than one year and tend to focus only on research that would take a shorter amount of time
because research budget allocation is determined annually. 2) Relatively expensive equipment
for research cannot be procured because the maximum amount of research budget per research
is set quite low 49. 3) Research projects cannot often start on time because the research budget is
allocated through HEI’s annual budget and takes time to be actually distributed to the research
project.
47
According to data provided by DAST of MoST, the number of published research papers from the 2007-2008AY to
the 2011-2012AY is: YTU(Domestic:658, International:268); MTU(Domestic:31, International:219); West
Yangon Technological University(Domestic: 21, International:77); and Pyay Technological University (Domestic:32,
International:16).
48
These were pointed out during a group interview with representatives from each department of YTU that has the
largest number of research papers published in Journals among Technological Universities under DAST of the MoST.
49
According to YTU, the maximum amount per research might be more or less USD2500 in the FY2013/2014.
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5.2.1 Access
(1) Issues and Challenges
1) More than three quarters of the total students at HEIs enroll at Arts and Sciences
Universities. One of the reasons might come from the fact that no limitation is set for
enrollment in the distance education track of the MoE. Assuming that HEI graduates try
to work in fields similar to what they studied at HEIs, there seems to be a quantity gap
between demands of the labor markets and supply from HEIs. However, the demand and
supply gap needs to be explored further with more systematic statistics.
2) There are very few HEIs that offer courses related to political science, business and
economics.
(2) Recommendations
1) It is recommended to conduct an analysis of the demand and supply gap in the labor force
market, and to identify fields of study where the number of potential graduates will be far
lower than employment prospects. Based on the results, it some measures should be taken
to increase the number of graduates who study in the identified fields. Measures might
include, but are not limited to, establishing new departments offering the identified
academic fields at existing universities and providing some kind of financial incentives to
students who study in the identified academic fields.
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private institutions, if affordable, to obtain certificates that show their competency and
level of practical skills valued by labor markets. Analysis on the gap between demand of
the labor markets and supply from HEIs from a perspective of graduates’ quality is
encouraged to be explored further.
7) According to an interview with the top management of several HEIs, teaching staff have
considerably few chances to make connections outside of HEIs and to find out about
industry and labor market trends.
(2) Recommendations
1) It is recommended to provide teaching staff with opportunities to experience study or
research at foreign HEIs to know other countries’ education and research activities at
HEIs and enhance their education and research capability.
2) To attain high quality teaching staff, new evaluation criteria that focus more on their
performance could be considered, in addition to length of service and degrees held.
Also, it is recommended to examine the possibility of providing more opportunities to
individuals with plenty of practical experience in the private sector or teaching experience
in foreign countries to become permanent teaching staff at HEIs .
5.2.3 Management
(1) Issues and Challenges
1) There seems to be no documented policy or development plan illustrating an overall
strategy on higher education sector as a whole. HEIs are administered by 13 ministries and
it seems that each ministry, for example, the MoE and the MoST, has its individual policy
including a development plan of its education and training institutions. There is an
organization to coordinate these 13 ministries; however, coordination and harmonization to
develop higher education sector as a whole needs to be further explored.
2) There is no clear definition of HEIs. Institutions regarded as HEIs vary among government
publications and papers. Various views of what constitutes a HEI exist; for example,
whether GTIs, GTCs or TUs administered by DTVE of MoST, which provide
undergraduate diploma level of courses called A.G.T.I. Diploma, should be regarded as
TVET institutions or HEIs has not been clearly determined.
3) Statistic formats also vary among ministries and statistics seem to be mainly utilized inside
each ministry. Therefore, it is difficult to integrate and combine data collected from
different ministries and analyze the entire higher education sector. It is recommended to
develop some kind of standardized statistical formats across relevant ministries
administering HEIs and make use of statistics for making policy decisions.
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4) The MoST has made significant efforts to adjust its higher education system or degree
structure to respond to the rapid change in labor market trends. This adjustment might have
caused a frequent change of schooling years for degrees, for example, the Bachelor of
Engineering program at University of Technology, Yatanarpon Cyber City. It is
recommended to develop an overall development policy or master plan of the higher
education system in the engineering related fields, including a clear demarcation between
the TVET and higher education tracks.
5) Types of degrees, entry requirements, and required years of schooling vary among HEIs
under different ministries, and their structure is rather complicated. This might raise
problems or cause hindrances to implementing collaborative activities with HEIs in foreign
countries, such as credit transfers, student or faculty exchanges, etc. Compatibility of
degrees with HEIs in foreign countries also needs to be carefully evaluated.
6) Some courses, for example, the regular track of Technological Universities under the
MoST and the distance education track of the MoE, do not set a maximum number of
students. Therefore, it might be difficult to plan and allocate the appropriate number of
teaching staff in accordance with the number of students.
7) The governance system is centralized and each HEI has less autonomy. For example, to
exchange MOU with foreign HEIs, permission from the ministry is required.
(2) Recommendations
1) It is recommended to develop a mechanism to collect statistical data systematically across
all HEIs even if they are under different ministries, and to analyze this data in order to
make policy decisions, for example, decisions regarding admission policy, finance-related
intervention policy for disadvantaged students, teacher recruitment, allocation and
promotion policy, staffs’ capacity development policy, etc. The introduction of a Higher
Educational Management Information System could also be considered.
2) It is recommended to establish a national accreditation board that is preferably independent
from the government to guarantee the quality of education and research at HEIs across the
different Ministries. Also, a quality assurance system needs to be developed.
3) It is recommended to strengthen existing organization, such as Universities’ Central Council
and Council of University Academic Bodies, or establish a new one that actually functions to
coordinate between different ministries. The above-mentioned accreditation board could
take this role, too.
4) A new higher education law that includes, but is not limited to, the definition of HEIs,
privatization of HEIs, and institutional autonomy, etc is expected to be enacted. It is
recommended that policy documents showing the degree system of HEIs are developed
and opened to the public.
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Under the service sector, tourism is the priority area according to the interview conducted by the
International Labour Organization and the MoL. Figure 6-2 shows that the number of
tourism-related companies has nearly doubled, from 268 companies in 2009/2010 to 498
companies in 2012/13. Not all of the tourism-related companies are members of the Myanmar
Tourism Board so there are likely to be more companies serving tourism in Myanmar. As seen
from Figure 6-2, tourism is booming in Myanmar.
Figure 6-3 presents the number of companies registered in the Union of Myanmar Federation
Chamber of Commerce Industry, which has increased by 32 percent in the past three years from
18,824 in 2009 to 24,910 in 2012. However, only 809 companies are foreign companies, and the
share is only 3 percent of the total membership pool.
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498
500
450 406
400
328
350
268
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2009/10. 2010/11. 2011/12. 2012/13.
Source: Myanmar Tourism Board (2011)
Note: The data of 2012/13 is as of October 2012
Figure 6-2: Numbers of the Registered Companies
in Myanmar Tourism Board, 2009/10-2012/13
30000
25000 24910
20936
20000
18824
15000
10000
July. 2009 Dec. 2010 Aug. 2012
Source: UMFCCI (2011)
Figure 6-3: Numbers of Registered Companies in UMFCCI,
2009-2012
The FDI inflows by sector show that FDI for secondary and tertiary industries has been
increasing rapidly compared with FDI for primary industries (see Table 6-1). For instance, the
accumulation of FDI from 2005 to 2010 in livestock and fisheries is US$2.4 million. This rate
of FDI inflows is only 0.063% of all sectors. This industrial structural change implies that
demand for excellent skilled human resources from tertiary industry has been increasing rapidly
in Myanmar’s labor market.
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Figure 6-4 shows staple exports in 2000 and 2011. This figure indicates that apparel products
held the largest share in 2000. However, natural gas constituted the largest share (about 40%) of
staple exports in 2011. According to the Asian Development Bank (2012), this change has been
recognized as the effect of the lifting of economic sanctions carried out by the US and other
western countries which are regarded as the main markets. After the relaxation of such sanctions,
it is hoped that the apparel industry, a basic industry that has been growing from the 1990s, will
help to create job opportunities in Myanmar’s labor market (ADB 2012: 28). Overseas
enterprises draw attention to labor-intensive businesses such as apparel industry because it is
known that 90% of CMP (Cutting, Marking and Packing) businesses 50 are in the apparel
industry in Myanmar. For this reason, it could be pointed out that more attention would be given
to identify the needs of the labor force in the apparel industry (JICA 2012: 128-9).
FY2000 FY2011
Natural gas
9%
Base metal
& ore
1%
Base metal & Others Others
Pulse Other farm
ore 27% 27%
13% output
3% Natural gas
1%
Other farm 38%
output Raw rubber
2% Garmenrt 1%
Rice
Raw rubber 30%
3% Pulse
-1%
Rice Teak wood- 11%
Teak wood-
2% basel
basel Fishery Fishery Garmenrt
7%
7% 7% 5% 6%
Source: Created by the author based on Thein (2012) and MNPED (2012)
It is said that when overseas enterprises enter Myanmar, almost all conventional small and
medium-sized companies 51 need to modernize and develop human resources with high skills
who can seek employment in various sectors, in order to maintain the management of 92% of
small and medium-sized private enterprises in Myanmar. Within this context, the Ministry of
Industry is trying to prepare a system of governance including human resource development for
resolving the main issues which small and medium-sized enterprises face: (1) financial access;
(2) technology transfer; and (3) market development (JICA 2012: 139-40). On the other hand,
the MoL reported that not only energy, power and mining sectors have potential, but also
primary sectors such as livestock and fisheries.
50
In Myanmar, the business in which the factory receives a commission by processing raw materials imported from
foreign buyers and exporting them back to the foreign buyers is called CMP business (JICA 2012: 130).
51
In Myanmar, small and medium-sized companies are divided into three categories; SNE (Small & Medium
Enterprises) which has been modernized, SMI (Small & Medium Industries) which is aimed at domestic market, and
traditional small companies (JICA 2012: 139).
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6.2 The Trend of the Sectors Related to Engineering and the Labor
Markets
Myanmar is at a stage of changeover of industrial structure from agricultural farming to
industrialization (see Figure 6-1). With this background, what is the status of FDI in the
industrial sector? The investment to resource and energy is the largest in the industrial sector
(see Table 6-1). Investment in oil and gas is the highest cumulative investment [more than
US$29 million], followed by Mining [US$4.15 million] and Electricity [US$3.9 million] in the
most recent five years. For these reasons, the demand for human resources specializing in
electrical engineering and mechanical engineering need to be increased.
Natural resources and energy sectors should be given priority in Myanmar (ADB 2012). By
developing renewable energy like hydropower, Myanmar would benefit from: (1) increased
finance to promote research and development and private investment; (2) accelerated
infrastructure development; (3) enhanced human resource capacity; and (4) applied
market-based power and petroleum prices. Green growth strategy plays an important role in the
country’s sustainable development and lasting economic growth. If Myanmar can succeed in
making use of renewable energy, it could become a regional supplier of clean and reasonably
priced energy. For these reasons, the intensity of demand for human resources specialized in
resource and energy sector will increase.
ADB (2012) reported that the impediments in Myanmar are the lagging physical and social
infrastructure, especially low connectivity both within and beyond the national border.
Investment in infrastructure could expand growth and attract private investment, integrated into
the regional economy, and stimulate economic activity and investment in Myanmar. With this
background, the development of infrastructure and connectivity must be accelerated. For these
reasons, the demand for the human resources specialized in civil engineering will increase.
Regarding the demand for human resources from Japanese companies which found the market
in Myanmar, the local staff is composed of workers, supervisors and managers. As for workers
in the factory, Japanese companies employ inexperienced recruits over 18 years old from the
communities nearby the factories or from rural areas. On the other hand, for the managerial
level, they employ experienced workers who have been well trained as managers or supervisors.
In apparel manufacturing, the employers often have to hire inexperienced workers since it is
difficult to find workers experienced in the field. Therefore, the companies often provide
in-house orientation and training to those inexperienced staff while such training is not usually
provided to experienced workers. In other manufacturing industries, companies do not
emphasize the employment of experienced workers. Training for workers tends to be on the job
training. In addition, some companies provide external seminars and overseas training. IT,
auto-repair and engineering companies hire new graduates.
According to a survey conducted by JICA (2012), local companies except apparel companies do
not require experienced workers. Some companies said that they regard communication skills
and personality as important things instead of technical qualifications. They carry out basic
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training and on the job training for employees because these companies recognize that
university education tends to provide theory and knowledge rather than skills. Local IT
companies require System Engineers who have 2-3 years working experience. In fact, it is
difficult to employ experienced workers. For this reason, companies try to employ people who
were trained in external training center after graduation. However, the number of people who
trained in external training centers is limited. As a result, some companies hiring excellent new
graduates temporarily, and after that, employ the new graduates who meet the requirements.
Normally, it is difficult for new graduates who are not given external training to meet the
requirements of the companies.
As this chapter explained, due to the lack of knowledge and application of the skills of lecturers
in college of engineering, as well as the shortage of laboratories, the graduates from engineering
universities cannot integrate well into the labor market because their applied ability is
insufficient. For this reason, each company gives, on average, one to three years of training to
new graduates. Because of the shortage of job opportunities corresponding to the number of
university graduates, there are some cases where graduates get jobs overseas. For instance, 20%
of graduates from Yangon Technological University find jobs overseas. The lecturers in
technological universities pointed out that qualified graduates get jobs in ASEAN countries. In
addition, some graduates study in vocational schools overseas due to the lack of vocational
schools in Myanmar.
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If we consider quality of human resources in the analyses, however, JICA (2012) indicated that
the supply is insufficient to meet the demand in many types of industries or jobs at present.
There is another report which states that some companies are supposed to advertise job
openings frequently and conduct interviews once every one or two weeks. The result of the
analyses of the industrial labor force’s demand-supply gap in each type of industry is as follows:
First of all, when we look at a manufacturing industry, for example the sewing industry-one of
the key industries in Myanmar-we find that it is now short of human resource supply to meet the
existing demand. This is due to the fact that there are few vocational training schools where
students can obtain sewing skills, so that most people are trained after they are employed by the
companies. In general, the short supply of human resources which are of sufficient quality to
meet the demand is an issue in most types of manufacturing industries. This is caused by the
shortage or poor location of vocational education and training institutions, and the fact that little
importance is attached to the curriculum of institutions for vocational education and training or
higher education to practical abilities which are required by companies. Hence, Myanmar’s
local companies in manufacturing industries tend to consider that in-company training for new
employees is essential.
Meanwhile, when we look at a nonmanufacturing industry, we can also find a short supply of
human resources in information and technology areas where new graduates are not ready to
work. The drain of excellent human resources who have a lot of work experience to foreign
countries makes this shortage of supply more serious; it appears to be the reality that many
talented people leave for countries like Singapore and Malaysia where they can earn much
higher salaries. It becomes virtually impossible to take measures to stop this drain because it is
impossible for local companies to pay higher salaries. Even in the car repair industry, where
companies are actively trying to hire new graduates, it is noted that there is the issue of short
supply of people of sufficient quality to meet the needs from the demand side, caused by the
low quality of existing vocational education and training institutions.
Finally, the growing demand for workers who have management skills both in manufacturing
and nonmanufacturing industries, along with the need to modernize small and medium-sized
enterprises in advance of foreign affiliated companies (including Japanese-affiliated companies)
entering Myanmar has brought labor supply shortage issues to the fore. There are few human
resources who can meet the needs for this area, which include a high level of English
communication skills, sufficient knowledge of marketing, as well as wide experience in foreign
markets. Because of this, it is urgent to increase the training opportunities for obtaining these
skills in Myanmar. It is also said that the demand for this type of human resources from foreign
affiliated companies can be high because they want to cut their labor costs by reducing the
number of employees from their countries living in Myanmar or win in business by blending
into local society. Furthermore, there is an increasing call for the expansion of the opportunity
to receive foreign language education because the demand for people who have the ability to
speak English as a business language is also high, particularly in the tourist industry.
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Accordingly, commitments of support in the education sector by various DPs have significantly
increased 52. As of January 2013, a number of bilateral agencies (including AusAID, British
Council, DFID, Danish Embassy, GIZ, Japanese Embassy, JICA, and Norwegian Embassy),
multilateral agencies (including ADB, EU, UNESCO, UNICEF, and World Bank) and NGOs
(including Nippon Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Save the Children and many others)
have shown interest or committed to support education or human resource development in
Myanmar.
52
The Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness (2012) Myanmar Donor Profiles
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As of January 2013, there are ongoing discussions on DP’s support to Phase 2 of CESR. It is
expected that most of the DPs already supporting CESR from Phase 1 will continue their
support to Phase 2 with a possibility of new DPs joining.
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Table 7-2: Support to the Education Sector by Major DPs 1 (By Subsector)
Subsector DP Support to be provided
ECD MDEF-UNICEF • ECD expansion
• ECD policy development
Save the Children • ECD expansion
Basic Education JICA • Review of Primary Curriculum (Under consideration)
MDEF-UNICEF • Support to Child Friendly School
• Development of Life Skills curriculum
• School construction
• Support for WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)
DFID-Save the • Support to transition from pre-school to primary school
Children in disadvantaged areas
British Council • Review of English Curriculum (Under consideration)
WFP • Provision of food for school children
Nippon • School Construction in ethnic minority areas
Foundation 53
Secondary ADB (Under consideration)
Education
Teacher JICA • Child-Centered Approach Training
Education • Upgrading of Teacher Training Colleges (Under
preparation)
• Support to Primary Teacher Education (Under
consideration)
MDEF-UNICEF • Assessment of Pre-service Teacher Training Institutions
• Pilot School-based In-service Teacher Training
• Training for Returnee Teachers
British Council • English Teacher Training
• Support to conferences/seminars on teaching
TVET KOICA • Support to Industrial Training Centre under the Ministry
of Industry
GIZ • Support to Industrial Training Centre under the Ministry
of Industry
• TA in TVET planning under the Ministry of Industry
ADB (Under consideration)
UNESCO (Under consideration)
ILO • Mapping of Apprenticeship Opportunities
Higher JICA • Provision of scholarships to Japan
Education • Support to AUN/SEED-Net (A network of engineering
higher education institutions among ASEAN and
Japanese universities)
• Support in the field of engineering mainly through
Yangon Technological University (Under consideration)
ADB • ASEAN-AUN(under a regional program)
KOICA • Support to Asian Cyber University Network
UNESCO (Under consideration)
British Council • Training of English Tutors
53
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2012) Three Main Pillars of The Nippon Foundation’s Projects
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
54
The New Light of Myanmar, Thursday, 22 March 2012, “Union Education Minister receives
officials of Johns Hopkins University, New York-based HESP”
55
Myanmar Education Consortium (2012) Description of Action
56
For details, see Directory of International Non-governmental Organizations in Myanmar 2012 and Local NGO
Directory 2012 published by Local Resource Center Myanmar.
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Table 7-3: Support to the Education Sector by Major DPs 2 (By Agency)
Multi-donor Fund
Multi-donor Education Fund (MDEF)
・ Funding donors: AusAID, Denmark, DFID, EU and Norway
・ Phase1(2006-2011) completed:
Total funding: approximately 38 million USD
UNICEF was entrusted to manage the fund and to implement the education support
programme activities.
Target Subsectors: 1. ECD, 2. Basis Education, and 3. Non-formal Education
・ Phase 2 (2012-2015) Quality Basic Education Programme (QBEP) 57 on-going:
Total funding: approximately 83 million USD
UNICEF continues to manage the fund and overall programme implementation in
collaboration with other implementation partners
Target Subsectors: 1. ECD, 2. Basis Education (Review of Pre-service/In-service Teacher
Training, Provision of materials to schools, and Support to Life Skills education at the
secondary-level), and 3. Education Planning and Administration(Strengthening School
Management, Support to EMIS, Capacity development for educational planning and
monitoring), 4. Non-formal Education
Target Areas: 28 disadvantaged townships (80 townships for ECD intervention and
nationwide for secondary Life Skills component)
Multilateral Agencies 58
UNICEF
・ Overview:UNICEF has been one of the leading UN agencies to implement in-country
interventions 59 in Myanmar through funding from many donors (including MDEF) and has been
playing a key role in collaborating with the GoM, other aid agencies, and International/Local
NGOs.
・ Education Sector Support:Under UN’s Strategic Framework for Myanmar (2012-2015)60,
UNICEF is designated as a convening agency for the education component and is designated as
co-chair representing DPs at JESWG. UNICEF has been one of the leading agencies to support
and advise the MoE on CESR processes and continues to be the lead implementation agency for
QBEP funded by MDEF to support sustainable improvements in access, equity, quality and
management in Myanmar’s basic education sector.
・ Implementation Modality:Direct in-country programme implementation in partnership with
government/aid agencies, and International/Local NGOs
UNESCO
・ Overview:UNESCO established its antenna office in Myanmar in 2009 to implement post-Nargis
Disaster Risk Reduction programme. It is currently preparing a Country Planning Document for
Myanmar (2012-2015).
・ Education Sector Support:In parallel with technical support to CESR, UNESCO is preparing its
programme in education planning capacity development under CapEFA (Capacity for EFA
Fund)61 as well as in TVET and higher education Subsectors.
・ Implementation Modality:Direct in-country programme implementation and through technical
support from HQs or Bangkok Regional Office
57
UNICEF Myanmar and Myanmar Multi-donor Education Fund (2012) Myanmar Quality Basic Education
Programme: Programme Design Document
58
Other cooperation through multilateral agencies includes regional cooperation programmes under Southeast Asian
Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), of which Myanmar is a member.
59
UNICEF (2010) Myanmar Country Programme Document 2011-2015
60
United Nations Country Team in Myanmar (2012) United Nations Strategic Framework 2012-2015
61
UNESCO (2011) Capacity Development for Education for All : Translating theory into practice; the CapEFA
Programme
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
EU
・ Overview: After the decision to suspend sanctions imposed on Myanmar in April, 2012, the EU
has opened a country office in Myanmar and significantly increased aid commitments for the
country's democratic reform and inclusive development initiatives 62, becoming one of the largest
donors for Myanmar.
・ Education Sector Support: Along with health, basic education is the key focus area for EU
assistance in Myanmar 63. The EU’s assistance to education is channeled through MDEF.
・ Implementation Modality: Mainly through funding to MDEF, UN agencies and
International/Local NGOs
ADB
・ Overview: In the first half of 2012, ADB started preparatory analytical work and country
dialogue discussions with the GoM and in October 2012, developed its interim partnership
strategy for Myanmar 64, which provides the framework for reengagement activities in support of
sustainable and inclusive economic development and job creation.
・ Education Sector Support: In parallel with technical support to CESR in secondary, TVET or
higher education, ADB will formulate its future programming most likely in post-primary
subsectors including secondary, TVET or higher education. Other on-going ADB collaboration
under Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Human Resource Development programme includes
support to university QA capacity with ASEAN-AUN and exploration of a credit transfer system.
・ Implementation Modality: (For the time being) Technical support through HQs and regional
offices and fielding of international consultants
World Bank
・ Overview: From early 2012 the World Bank resumed discussions with the GoM and announced a
new interim strategy for Myanmar 65 in November 2012 to re-engage with the country in order to
support political and economic transitions. It has already initiated technical assistance for a
multi-sectoral Public Expenditure Review and approved the launch of a 6-year National
Community Driven Development Project 66 (in the amount of 80 million USD equivalent), the
first World Bank Group project in Myanmar in over 25 years, to support rural infrastructure
development through community participation.
・ Education Sector Support: As part of its support to CESR, the World Bank is providing
technical assistance for an analysis of education finance together with AusAID. Under the
National Community Driven Development Project, Community Block Grants could be utilized
for educational purposes such as school construction/rehabilitation based on community needs.
・ Implementation Modality: Provision of project grant, technical support through HQs and
regional offices and fielding of international consultants
Bilateral Agencies 67
Australia-AusAID
・ Overview: Since 2010, Australia has significantly increased its aid to Myanmar, shifting its focus
from humanitarian assistance to mid-to-long-term development 68.
・ Education Sector Support: Basic education, together with health, is the priority sector for
AusAID’s assistance in Myanmar 69. AusAID has earmarked about 80 to 100 million USD for the
education sector support in the next 3 years and is the largest contributor to MDEF Phase 2.
AusAID has been actively engaged in CESR as well as in collaboration with other DPs (such as
support to PER with the World Bank, support to MEC with DFID, and co-funding of TA for
CESR with ADB) and is designated as co-chair together with UNICEF to represent DPs at
JESWG. Other education support includes provision of scholarships to Myanmar students.
・ Implementation Modality: Mainly through funding to MDEF, UN/multilateral agencies and
International/Local NGOs
62
Council of the European Union (2012) Council conclusions on Burma/Myanmar
63
European Commission (2007) The EC-Burma/Myanmar Strategy Paper 2007-2013
64
ADB (2012) Myanmar Interim Country Partnership Strategy 2012-2014
65
World Bank (2012) Myanmar Interim Strategy Note for the Period FY13-14
66
World Bank (2012) Myanmar National Community Driven Development Project
67
Several countries not listed below (such as China and Singapore) are offering scholarships eligible for students
from Myanmar.
68
AusAID (2010) Australia’s Strategic Approach to Aid in Burma
69
AusAID (2012) Burma Annual Program Performance Report 2011
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Denmark
・ Overview:From 2012 Denmark has increased its development assistance to Myanmar from
around 8.5 million USD to around 17 million USD per year 70.
・ Education Sector Support:Denmark has significantly increased its education assistance in
Myanmar since 2011 mainly through the contribution to MDEF.
・ Implementation Modality : Mainly through funding to MDEF, UN agencies and
International/Local NGOs
Germany-GIZ
・ Overview:Germany’s assistance around EUR 10 million each year to Myanmar 71 so far has been
largely confined to humanitarian aid projects and the awarding of scholarships. But in 2012 it
pledged a further EUR 6.2 million to expand ongoing projects and is planning new cooperation
projects
・ Education Sector Support:GIZ’s support will mainly focus on TVET such as technical support
in TVET to CESR, resumption of support to the Industrial Training Center in Sinde under the
Ministry if Industry. Other support under consideration includes support to the Ministry of
Industry in TVET planning and support to the National Skill Standard Authority under the
Ministry of Labour.
・ Implementation Modality : Mainly through fielding of experts/advisors, and funding to
non-governmental organizations and the UN agencies.
Japan-JICA
・ Overview:Japan has been a key bilateral partner to Myanmar and JICA remained as one of the
few bilateral agencies continuing to engage with the GoM to implement in-country cooperation
programmes72 until 2011. In 2012, Japan announced a provision of a concessional yen loan with
the size of approximately 50 billion JPY and will launch projects to support economic and
infrastructure developments of Myanmar 73.
・ Education Sector Support:JICA has implemented a number of bilateral cooperation schemes
since 1997 (such as the fielding of advisors, a sector study, and two technical cooperation
projects) in partnership with the MoE focusing on quality improvement of teaching and learning
in basic education. Teacher training on Child-Centered Approach (CCA) developed through
JICA’s assistance has now been taken over by the MoE for nationwide expansion. Current and
planned support to education includes technical support to CESR through a sector Study Team,
upgrading/expansion of education colleges (under preparation), support to primary curriculum
review and teacher education (under consideration), on-going support to AUN/SEED-Net
(networking of key engineering universities in ASEAN and Japan) and provision of scholarships
to Myanmar students.
・ Implementation Modality: Direct in-country programme implementation and through technical
support from HQs.
Norway
・ Overview: While Norway’s earlier assistance funds have mainly gone to voluntary organizations,
it is now planning to initiate state-to-state bilateral assistance from 2013. 74
・ Education Sector Support: Norway’s support includes the contribution to MDEF as well as
co-funding with Sweden of Master-level scholarships to study at Asian Institute of Technology
(AIT) in Thailand75.
・ Implementation Modality: Mainly through funding to MDEF, UN agencies and
International/Local NGOs
70
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, “Danida in Burma (Myanmar)” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013,
http://thailand.um.dk/en/danida-en/danida-in-burma/)
71
German Federal Foreign Office, “Myanmar: Development cooperation and humanitarian assistance” (Retrieved on
11 January 2013, http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Laender/Laenderinfos/01-Laender/
Myanmar.html#doc474102bodyText3)
72
Japan International Cooperation Agency, “Activities in Myanmar” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013,
http://www.jica.go.jp/myanmar/english/activities/index.html)
73
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Myanmar Summit Meeting” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013,
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/myanmar/meeting1211.html)
74
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, “Myanmar: Aid trends” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013,
http://www.norad.no/en/countries/asia-and-oceania/myanmar#)
75
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012) About NMFA Scholarships for Myanmar
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
South Korea-KOICA
・ Overview: South Korea will strengthen cooperation with Myanmar mainly focused on sharing
Korea’s own accumulated experience and know-how on development; it announced several
bi-lateral economic development projects 76.
・ Education Sector Support:Mainly targeting TVET and human resource development in
technical fields, KOICA is supporting the Industrial Training Center under the Ministry of
Industry, as well as capacity building /training of personnel in various sectors such as
environment, health, disaster relief, agriculture, rural development, fishery, and forestry. In higher
education, KOICA is also supporting the Asian Cyber University Network, an e-learning platform
linking Korean and other ASEAN universities.
・ Implementation Modality:Direct project implementation, funding to NGOs, dispatch of
volunteers, and invitation of trainees for capacity building.
UK-DFID/British Council
・ Overview:The UK announced its plan to scale up assistance in Myanmar in 2010 and
significantly increased aid commitments to the country. UK has been actively engaged in aid
coordination efforts including Partnership Group on Aid Effectiveness (PGAE), a principal donor
coordination mechanism in Myanmar and other multi-stakeholder working groups.
・ Education Sector Support:Under the 4-year plan (2011 to 2014)77, DFID earmarked around 15
million USD for the education sector support including contribution to MDEF. Focusing on
access to primary education in hard-to-reach disadvantaged areas, DFID is supporting the
transition programme from pre-school to primary school (implemented by Save the Children) and
the establishment of MEC in collaboration with AusAID. The British Council has been supporting
non-formal English language education in Myanmar for decades and plans to extend its support to
the MoE with its expertise on English language education in the areas of teacher training and
curriculum revision.
・ Implementation Modality: Mainly through funding to MDEF, UN agencies and
International/Local NGOs
USA-USAID
・ Overview: After the historic visit of President Thein Sein and Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi to the US in
September 2012, the US committed to support Myanmar’s development focusing on the areas of
democracy, peace, and prosperity78.
・ Education Sector Support: The US has announced several initiatives to support Myanmar’s
higher education mainly through partnerships among local/US higher education institutions and
the private sector, including the International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) 79
coordinated by the Institute for International Education (IIE) and a partnership program by
USAID 80.
・ Implementation Modality: Mainly through funding to higher education institutions and the
private sector partners.
NGOs
Save the Children
・ Overview: As one of the largest NGOs working in the country, Save the Children has been one of
the key INGOs to deliver post-Nargis humanitarian assistance since 2008. 81
・ Education Sector Support: Save the Children has been supporting ECD, transition programmes
(from pre-school to primary) and non-formal education in remote and disadvantaged areas as well
as education assistance in emergency situations. Together with Burnet Institute, Save the Children
is designated as the lead agency to establish MEC.
・ Implementation Modality: Direct in-country programme implementation
Source: Compiled based on the information made available to the Study Team as of January 2013
76
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, South Korea (2012) Press Release: Korea-Myanmar Economic Cooperation
Invigoration
77
DFID (2012) DFID Burma Operational Plan 2011-2015
78
USAID (2012) Burma Framework Fact Sheet
79
Institute for International Education (2012) 2012-2013 International Academic Partnerships Program
80
USAID (2012) Higher Education Partnerships to Support the US-Burma Commitment to Democracy, Peace and
Prosperity
81
Save the Children, “Myanmar” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013, http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8r
LIXMGIpI4E /b.6150543/k.D615/Myanmar.htm)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Based on the information gathering and analyses by subsector in the preceding chapters, this
chapter summarizes the critical issues and recommendations, classified in relation to access,
quality and management of the education sector in Myanmar. It begins with the analysis of each
subsector, followed by an identification of common issues and their causes. The critical issues
presented in this chapter are priorities areas linked to the human resources needs in response to
the imminent ASEAN integration and the current labor market. Finally, it draws up
recommended actions for each critical issue.
This section recapitulates the analysis in the preceding chapters and presents the critical issues,
causes and recommendations for each subsector.
And for education finance, the existing education budget structure makes it difficult to clearly
identify the actual spending and necessary budget for improvement at each level of education.
It is suggested to re-examine the roles and authorities of education administration and budget
system to get better management of schools. Simultaneously, it is highly recommended to look
into the education budget to achieve goals of education reform.
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Table 8-1 Critical Issues and Recommendations in Education Administration and Finance
Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
The current MoE’s organizational The current MoE’s organizational structure To redesign the MoE’s organizational structure by
structure is not conducive to does not allow the ministry to address redefining the roles of each sub-divisions to
accelerate the education reform. important education challenges in a respond to the needs of the education reform.
responsive manner. To support human resources development of the
Human resource development of the MoE is MoE.
not adequate.
Unclear demarcation of roles among The current decentralization measures(e.g. To consider a certain degree of delegation of
different government bodies and establishment of DEO)are not accompanied authority to the State/Region-level to allow
schools is leading to inefficiency and by review and delegation of authorities among flexibility based on local needs.
ineffectiveness in education REO, TEO and schools. To delegate more authority on school management
administration. Capacity of education administration bodies at to the school level and restructure education
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Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Budget and financial resources to Concrete target value and financial plan are Conduct a gap analysis and establish a financial
achieve long/mid-term educational not indicated in the 30-Year Long-Term Plan plan to achieve goals (Identify the budget which
policies are not clear. and five-year medium-term plans the GoM can finance, and to what extend the GoM
needs to get external assistance)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Access to education in primary level had made successful progress due to the efforts of the
GoM to mobilize various resources to establish primary schools in nation-wide. However,
enrolment rates decrease and dropout rates increase towards the upper grades, especially among
disadvantaged students who live in poor household, rural areas and ethnic groups. There are
several reasons such as: (i) students enrolled in monastery school have limited opportunities to
complete basic education and to advance to the next level of education; (ii) secondary education
is not free though primary education is provided as free of charge and (iii) there is a lack of
support for them to continue education (e.g. scholarship). In addition, there are also some
regions which do not have any Teacher Training Institutions (TTIs), and in which qualified
teachers are not fully assigned, especially in disadvantaged areas. It is recommended for the
MoE to take necessary measures to secure further educational access and provision of
alternative schooling to disadvantaged, disabled and dropout students.
There are some areas of improvement for quality of basic education as well. The classroom
teaching practice is still dominated by rote-learning and difficult to introduce teaching-learning
to improve thinking ability. In addition, there is no curriculum framework and no regular
revision of textbooks based on the framework. Furthermore, existing teacher promotion and
training system do not based on professional competency of teachers and difficult to foster
continuous professional development (CPD) of them. At the same time, there are no adequate
standards for school establishment to improve quality of teaching. To ensure the quality of basic
education, it is recommended to develop curriculum framework for regular revision of
textbooks; conduct INSET for CPD of teachers after establishing their professional competency;
and introduce CCA upon at least minimum quality standards of school establishment.
Regarding management of basic education, the school inspection system based on KaSaSa form
has been widely introduced in nation-wide, however, existing system has become a formality
without meaningful feedbacks for quality improvement. In addition, the head teachers,
especially in primary schools, do not have a clearly defined role and any support system for
better school management. Therefore, it is recommended to revise the existing school evaluation
form to support improvement of both school management and teaching, as well as clearly
re-define and decentralize authorities of head teachers along with DEO establishment, and
develop capacity of the responsible people.
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Table 8-2 Critical Issues and Recommendations in Basic Education
Access
Category Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Disadvantaged There is a pattern in which There is a lack of access to middle/high To establish schools and accommodation
Children enrolment rates decrease and schools in rural areas facilities based on needs
dropout rates increase towards Students enrolled in monastery school To ensure equivalency at each level of
the upper grades have limited opportunities to complete education for students enrolled in
basic education and to advance to the monastery schools so that these students
next level of education. can complete each level of education
There is a lack of incentives for (Such support includes assistance to poor
schooling without appropriate job students, extension of grades at monastery
opportunities especially in rural areas. schools to ensure completion of each level
There is also an economic pressure to of education, accreditation of monastery
drop out from school to engage in work school teacher by the MoE, introduction of
at a young age. a transfer system to regular MoE schools)
Though primary education is provided To promote awareness on the merits of
144
Access to educational There is a lack of support to To ensure that all schools can offer
opportunities for disadvantaged accommodate them (waiver of school inclusive education.
children (such as children from fees, scholarships, considerations for To encourage mainstream classes to
poor families and minority special instructions) introduce inclusive education/ Provide a
groups, and children with There is a shortage of schools offering course at EC for inclusive education
disabilities) is limited. inclusive education To increase the number of schools and
There is a shortage of schools and teachers in ethnic minority areas.
Final Report
teachers in ethnic minority areas.
Access
Teacher Some regions do not have TTIs There is a lack of prospective teachers in To establish an EC in every State/Region
Development and in their localities rural agricultural areas due to the low To lesson admission requirements for
Deployment education level in such areas students from rural agricultural areas to
There is a shortage of ECs to supply enter TTIs
primary and secondary teachers (Only 20
ECs exist in the whole country)
There is a shortage of IOEs offering BoE
to supply high school teachers (Only 2
IOEs exist in the whole country)
145
Only limited training It is difficult for minority students to To establish a course focusing on border
opportunities exist for minority qualify in Myanmar language to enter region education at each EC
students to become teachers TTIs To expand the capacity (facilities and
The capacity of UDNR under the teaching staff) of UDNR
Ministry of Border Affaires is limited.
There is a shortage of teachers There is a lack of incentives for qualified To revise and improve the incentives and
deployed to remote areas. teachers to work in remote areas. conditions for teachers who are assigned in
remote areas.
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Quality
Curriculum and The contents of textbooks have There is no curriculum framework to To develop a curriculum framework and to
Teaching not been revised for a long time. ensure consistent textbook revisions. revise textbooks based on the framework
There is no curriculum review system to To develop regulations to conduct regular
regularly and strategically update and curriculum reviews
improve the curriculum. To implement regular curriculum reviews
146
There are not enough human resources To train personnel who can involve in
who have knowledge and experiences of curriculum reform
curriculum reform
The classroom teaching practice The class size is too large (especially in To increase the number of classes and
is still dominated by urban areas) to enable CCA practice. teachers
rote-learning. Most of the current examination To diversify contents and levels of
questions are heavily focused on questions used in examinations
knowledge acquisition. To further promote CCA through INSET
Teachers are still practicing a To consider the appropriate teaching
teacher-centered approach in classroom language at high schools (e.g. use English
teaching. only for specific terms)
High schools use English, resulting in
Final Report
difficulty for teachers
Quality
Issues concerning Professional competencies The existing promotion system of To establish a promotion system based on
teacher quality among teachers need to be teachers does not promote teachers professional competencies to ensure
strengthened. within the same education level but teacher quality at each level of education
transfer them towards the upper level To establish a dedicated
schools (such as promotion from a section/organization for INSET
primary school to a secondary school) To develop a teacher development policy
There is no regular provision of INSET. To establish professional competencies for
There is a absence of teacher teachers
development policy To develop teacher education curriculum
Teacher training and evaluation are not To develop human resources specialized in
147
Teachers have difficulty Due to the absence of teacher To develop a policy on INSET and a
upgrading their professional development policy, there is no budget framework of CPD as part of a teacher
competencies. allocated for regular INSET and CPD development policy
There is a lack of opportunities and To allocate appropriate budget for
facilities for teacher training especially in INSET/CPD based on the above policy
rural areas To establish a teacher training center at
The period of teacher training is each region/state level
relatively shorter among ASEAN To examine the period of teacher training
countries
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Quality
Management
Category Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Laws and Policies The existing laws and policies The existing laws have not been revised To revise and update the existing laws
have become outdated and do for a long time. To establish decision making body to
148
not reflect the realities of basic There is a lack of coordination across coordinate ministries, and set a clear vision
education today, and no unified ministries (such as different policy of To unify information/ data
policy and guideline pre-primary education between the MoE
and the MoSWRR)
Each ministry and institutions decide
each policy and standard (establishment
of schools, decision criterion of
disadvantage, etc)
Statistics/data from different ministries
and institutions are not compatible or
unified
School Inspection The existing school inspection There is a shortage of staff specialized in To develop school inspectors specialized
system has become a formality school inspection in this function
Final Report
without meaningful feedbacks Different ministries which administer To reach an agreement across different
for quality improvement (For schools to not coordinated well with the ministries on conducting school inspection
example, any official school MoE To establish a system to follow up on the
Management
School-Based The head teachers do not have a The role and authority of newly To clearly redefine and decentralize
Management clearly defined role and any established DEOs are not clear, leading authorities of head teachers, DEOs, and
(SBM) support system on school to confusions in administrative practices. TEOs to support SBM
management Primary head teachers do not have
adequately delegated authority
149
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Various ministries and private institutions are providing TVET in Myanmar, but it does not
sufficiently meet the demand and has some gaps of access opportunity. Though remarkable
progress has been made to establish TUs and GTHSs in all regions/states, some of those
institutions have very few students, which indicates ineffective use of limited financial
resources. Additionally, there are only limited numbers of TVET institutions which do not
require the certificate of matriculation examination pass for entrance and capacities of annual
intake in these institutions are also limited, though there are huge potential needs among
technical workers. Furthermore, though it is not easy for poor students/family to bear required
costs (such as accommodation, transport, materials for their assignment, etc); there are very few
scholarships or supports for them.
Quality of TVET also needs some improvements. Most of TVET institutions are not providing
practical training to students, due to the shortage/aging of equipments and teaching materials.
As a result, teaching tends to focus more on knowledge than skills. In addition, TUs, GTCs, and
GTIs are using a fixed national curriculum, which makes it difficult for students to meet the
local requirements and needs. Furthermore, the qualifications of teachers in TUs, GTCs, and
GTIs are still not very high and there are very few professors.
There are two main issues of management for TVET. Firstly, there are limited opportunities for
the ministries to work cooperatively, resulting in different definitions of TVET. Each ministry
has its own strategy, policy and implementation plan. It is recommended to review the functions
and aims of the institutions, and a strategy to improve the whole TVET sector should be
developed by an inter-ministry decision making body that could be harmonized with the
industrial sector development plan. Since November 2012, CESR team has been organizing a
periodical meeting called “the CESR round table discussion on TVET,” and various ministries
and private institutions have begun sharing information and discussing the definition of TVET.
Additionally, the amendment of Agriculture, Technical and Vocational Education Law should
be completed as soon as possible to solve the problem of inconsistency between the law and
actual conditions, by collaborative discussion among respective ministries. To do so,
establishment of a decision making body for the development of new policy framework, law
and development plan related to all TVET institutions need to be considered. The CESR round
table discussion on TVET can be a good opportunity to discuss this issue.
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Table 8-3 Critical Issues and Recommendations in TVET
Access
Category Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Regional access gap There is a significant TVET The number of students qualified to enter To analyze a unit cost per student at each
enrolment gap across regions. TUs in remote regions are limited. TVET institution, and to consider
The number and location of TVET merging institutions with higher costs by
institutions in each region/state do not comparing the costs for building
match the needs based on prospective accommodation facilities, providing
student enrollments scholarships, etc
Lack of access to There is a gap between supplies of There is an acute shortage of To expand TVET institutions targeting
TVET TVET programs and demands for governmental TVET institutions except youth who exit from basic education
middle-level technical workers. for institutions under the MoST To provide institutional support for
The existing private TVET institutions enhancing private TVET institutions
are small-scale.
151
Economically There is a lack of financial Only limited scholarships are offered To strengthen scholarship system
Disadvantaged support for economically Dormitories at some TVET institutions To establish accommodation facilities for
Students disadvantaged students. such as TUs have been closed. students coming from remote areas
There is a limited number of institutions To support NPOs/NGOs to offer TVET
offering TVET courses targeting courses targeting economically
economically disadvantaged students disadvantaged students (e.g. CVT is
sending students to private companies to
get practical experiences & some
income)
Final Report
Quality
There is a lack of resources (such as new libraries and access to the Internet) to
publications, internet) to keep up with enable more access to new information
new information
The recent rapid increase of the number
of TUs was not accompanied with
adequate measures to ensure the quality
of the teaching staff.
Reputation of The private companies have low Due to the lack of appropriate skills and To increase the quality of TVET based
graduates from confidence and trust in TVET capacity of graduates from government though the recommended measures
TVET institutions institutions. TVET institutions, the private companies mentioned above
need to retrain them after they were To strengthen accreditation bodies (such
hired. as NSSA)
There is a shortage of accreditation
Final Report
bodies (such as NSSA) which can issue
official certifications
Management
Laws and Policies The existing laws and policies The existing laws have not been revised To revise and update the existing laws
have become outdated and do not for a long time. with enough involvement of ministries
reflect the realities of TVET To establish a decision making body
today.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Aiming to improve access to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the GoM has increased the
number of HEIs. As a result, currently at least one Arts and Science University, one
Technological University and one Computer University exist at every State/Region. Recently,
the number of students who pass the matriculation examination is more or less the same as the
number of new freshmen every year. It might indicate that almost 100% of students who pass
the matriculation examination and who are willing to continue to higher education can enter
HEIs including Distance Education track. Under these circumstances, the GoM is planning to
shift the focus of higher education sub-sector reform from access to quality. However, more
than three quarters of students at HEIs enroll in Arts and Science Universities, which might
have a gap between supply and demand of labor market. To analyze issues regarding access
more thoroughly and consider their measures, first of all, it is strongly necessary to collect more
reliable and comprehensive educational statistics, which covers a whole higher education
sub-sector.
As for quality of higher education, teaching and learning is dominated by memorizing and rote
learning and the current curriculum does not encourage application of knowledge into practice.
The same standardized curriculum, syllabus, and textbooks authorized by the GoM are used
across the country; therefore, they do not always match with the needs of local communities and
labor market. Regarding research, a lack of teaching staff’s research experience is revealed. This
issue might be caused by inadequate research resources and opportunities, such as budget,
equipment, academic conferences and journals, to support research activities, as well as
teaching staff’s low incentives to engage research activity. In addition, Quality Assurance
System (QAS) that will assure quality of education and research of HEIs has not yet been
established. To tackle these issues related to quality, it is recommended to establish QAS and
implement various measures to be mentioned in the table below to enhance quality of education
and research at firstly selected HEIs as a model case.
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Table 8-4 Critical Issues and Recommendations in Higher Education
Access
Category Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Demand-supply There are very few HEIs that offer There has been no analysis on the To conduct an analysis on the demand
gap in courses highly demanded courses and thus demand and supply gap in the labor and supply gap in the labor market and
offered by HEIs limiting access to these courses. market to identify appropriate fields of to identify appropriate fields of study,
(There is a gap between demands study that match with the employment and the appropriate numbers of HEIs
from the labor markets and supplies prospects of the graduates. and students to match with market
of courses by HEIs ) Lack of integrated statistics on higher demands
education across ministries makes it To establish accurate and integrated
difficult to analyze the entire higher statistics on the entire higher education
education sector and to identify an sector
appropriate balance of fields of study, To consider allowing to open private
and numbers of HEIs/students. universities with a proper legal
Private universities which can readily framework.
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Quality
Final Report
opportunities for professional work experience
development. To ease age limit restrictions to become
The teaching staff has limited real work a permanent teaching staff
Quality
Research Research functions at HEIs need to Teaching staff do not have enough To increase opportunities for the
be strengthened. research experience. teaching staff to study at HEIs or
Resources and opportunities to support research instates abroad.
research activities (amount of budget as To strengthen academic resources
well as disburse system of budget, (access to latest journals and
equipment, academic conferences and publications, more human resources)
journals, etc.) are not adequate. To allocate more budget for research, to
Teaching staff are not given incentives to streamline the research budget proposal
engage in research. process and to establish competitive
research fund
To reflect achievements in research
activities in the performance evaluation
Final Report
of the teaching staff
Quality
Management
Category Critical Issues Causes Recommendations
Coordination There is a lack of coordination There is a lack of clear demarcation of To establish a coordination mechanism
across Ministries across ministries administering roles across ministries on policy, with clear demarcation of roles across
administering HEIs HEIs strategy, and planning. ministries on policy, strategy, and
There is no comprehensive development planning.
strategy and plan in the HE sector. To establish accurate and integrated
HE statistics from different ministries are statistics on the entire higher education
158
Management The policies need to be established The capacity of policy making at To increase opportunities for the
capacity of based on evidences ministries is not adequate relevant ministry staff to develop
Ministries HE statistics is not very accurate and capacity on policy making and
administering HEIs integrated, resulting in policy decisions planning, through domestic/ oversea
not based on statistical analysis. training
To establish accurate and integrated
Final Report
statistics
Management
Degree system Degree system and structure vary Coordination on degree system and To coordinate degree system and
among HEIs under different structure among different ministries structure among ministries and compile
ministries and are complicated administering HEIs is not adequate official documents describing the
system and structure
159
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Issues concerning quality : School curricula and teachers competencies have not been
adequately upgraded to respond to the changing needs of the labor market.
Issues concerning management:1) The relevant ministries, administrative bodies and schools
are not fully serving their intended functions without appropriate coordination and demarcation
of roles to serve for a unified and coordinated purpose; and 2) The existing laws and policies
have become outdated and do not reflect the realities of the education sector today.
1. The existing education laws (e.g. Basic Education Law of 1973, Agriculture, Technical
and Vocational Education Law, and the University Education Law of 1973) have
become outdated and do not reflect the realities of education today and do not adequately
serve as a basis for policy decisions.
2. The past directives and measures implemented in the education sector are fragmented
and uncoordinated (not based on a unified principle with linkages to different subsector
issues).
3. The past educational policy decisions have not been based on evidence or analysis due to
the lack of reliable and comprehensive statistics.
4. The current education system does not have a mechanism to continuously upgrade itself
to respond to the needs of the world of work.
5. The relevant ministries, administrative bodies and schools are not fully serving their
intended functions without appropriate coordination and demarcation of roles to
contribute to a unified purpose.
These core overarching issues above need to be addressed as priority areas for the education
reform in Myanmar.
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In summary, for Myanmar to overcome current challenges and to proceed with the education
reform, the important key is to formulate evidence-based policy decisions while ensuring
coherence in major reform agenda (including a school system reform, a curriculum reform
as well as decentralization).
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Ministry of Education, 2009, Education Statistics Year Book, 2008/09
Ministry of Education, 2010, Education Statistics Year Book, 2009/10
Ministry of Education, 2011, Education Statistics Year Book, 2010/11
Ministry of Education, February 2012, Access to and Quality of Education: Education for All in
162
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Myanmar
Ministry of Education, 2012, Education Development in Myanmar
Ministry of Education, 2012, Basic Education School Management Refresher Training (Lecture
on Teaching & Inspection)
Ministry of Education, September 2012, Consultation Meeting with Development Partners for
the Improvement of Education Sector in Myanmar
Ministry of Education, 8 September, Non-Formal Education Sector
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, July 2012, Situation Analysis of
Children in Myanmar
OECD, 1994, Quality in Teaching, Center for Educational Research and Innovation
The New Light of Myanmar, 21 October 2004, 40th Anniversary of UDNR observed
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 2012, Education Development in Myanmar, Ministry
of Education
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 2012, Presentation on 1 October, Mandalay Education
College, DEPT
The Union of Myanmar, 1973, Basic Education Law
The Union of Myanmar, 31 August-3 September 2009, Myanmar Country Report for 7th
ASEAN & Japan High Level Officials Meeting on Caring Societies
The Union of Myanmar, 2008, National Constitution 2008
Thint Thint, 2012, A brief history of SIOE, Annual Magazine 2012, Sagain Institute of
Education
Tomoko Masuda, 2010, Myanmar gunjiseiken no kyouiku seisaku, IDE-JETRO
UNESCO, 2011, World Data on Education, Myanmar
UNESCO, “World Data on Education Seventh edition 2010/11” (Retrieved December 3, 2012,
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/services/online-materials/world-data-on-education/seventh-e
dition-2010-11.html)
UNICEF, 2007, Teacher Education Review in Myanmar
United Nations & Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, 2010, Integrated
Household Living Conditions Survey in Myanmar
Yangon Institute of Education, 2012, Leaflet, collected from YIOE on 10 October 2012
National institute for educational research, “An International Comparative Study of School
Curriculums,” (Retrieved November 02, 2012,
http://www.hurights.or.jp/pub/hreas/3/16national_institute.pdf)
World Bank, “World Development Indicators 2011,” (Retrieved November 2, 2012,
http://data.Worldbank.org/country/myanmar)
<Chapter 4>
ADB, 2012, Initial assessment of post-primary education in Myanmar (Draft for discussion)
Central Statistical Organization 2012, Statistical Yearbook 2010
JICA, 2011, ASEAN Higher Education Network Engineering Project in East Asia and the
Pacific: Higher Education Sector Industry Assessment
JICA, 2012, Survey on the Human Resource Development in Business Sector in Cambodia,
Laos and Myanmar Final Report
Ministry of Education, 1992, Education in Myanmar
Ministry of Education, 2001, 30-Year Long-Term Plan for the Ministry of Education (Basic
Education Sector) ( 2001 - 2002 FY to 2030 - 2031FY )
Ministry of Education, 2007, EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Report
Ministry of Science and Technology, 2012, Technical and Vocational Education in Myanmar
(Presentation slide at the Conference on Development Policy Options with special
reference to Education and Health in Myanmar, 13-15th February 2012, Naypyitaw)
Myat Su Hlaing Soe, 2008, The best practices in the promotion of SMEs through TVET
Overseas Vocational Training Association, 1998, Handbook for overseas human resource
163
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
development in Myanmar
Thein Lwin, Ed.D, 12 April 2012, What Should Be the Policy on Education in Democratic
Burma/Myanmar?, Discussion Paper on Educational Reform
The Union of Myanmar, 1973, Basic Education Law
The Union of Myanmar, 1989, The Law amending the 1974 Agriculture, Technical and
Vocational Education Law
UNESCO, 2011, World Data on Education, Myanmar
Win Aye, 2007, Country Report of MYANMAR at experts’ meeting on Competence Building in
APACC Accreditation, Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Industry, 2011, “Industrial Training Centre,”(Retrieved November 2, 2012,
http://www.myanmarindustry2.com/)
Ministry of Science and Technology, 2009, ”Technological Universities”, (Retrieved November
2, 2012, http://www.most.gov.mm/techuni/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1)
Ministry of Transport, 2012, “Programs”, (Retrieved November 2, 2012,
http://www.mot.gov.mm/mmu/programs.html), “Activities”, (Retrieved November 2, 2012,
http://www.mot.gov.mm/mmmc/services.html)
Myanmar Information Management Unit, 2012, “Country wide Maps”, (Retrieved November 2,
2012, http://themimu.info/State-Region/Country%20wide/index.php)
<Chapter 5>
Central Statistical Organization 2012, Statistical Year Book 2010
Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar) of Ministry of Education, 2012, Higher
Education in Myanmar [Structure, Long-Term Plans, Evaluation of Current Situation &
Future Plans, Higher Education Policy and Accessibility to Quality Education
Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar) of Ministry of Education, 2012,
Summarized facts and figures of University and Degree Colleges under Department of
Higher Education, Ministry of Education
Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar) of Ministry of Education, 2012, Panorama
of Myanmar Higher Education
JICA, 2012, Asia-chiiki, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar-koku minkan-renkei niyoru
sangyouzinzai-ikusei kiso-tyosa saisyu- houkokusyo [Final report of the basic survey for the
development of human resources for industries in partnership with private sector].
Ministry of Education, 2001, 30-Year Long-Term Plan for the Ministry of Education (Higher
Education Sector) (2001-2002FY to 2030-2031FY)
Ministry of Education, 2012, Education Development in Myanmar
Mya Aye, 2009, University Governance in Myanmar, PowerPoint presentation at the 16th
SEAMEO RIHED Governing Board Meeting
Myo Thein Gyi, 2012, Myanmar Higher Education Policy, PowerPoint presentation at
Conference on Development Policy Options with special reference to Education and Health
in Myanmar
Tomoko Masuda, 2010, Myanmar gunjiseiken no kyouiku seisaku, IDE-JETRO
U Zaw Htay, 2012, Education System in Myanmar, PowerPoint presentation at Conference on
Development Policy Options with special reference to Education and Health in Myanmar
<Chapter 6>
ADB, 2012, Myanmar in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges, Manila, Philippines: ADB.
Asian Development Bank Statistical Database System (ADB-SDBS), 2012, (Retrieved 1
November, 2012, http://www.adb.org/publications/key-indicators-asia-and-pacific-2012).
JICA, 2012, Asia-chiiki, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar-koku minkan-renkei niyoru
sangyouzinzai-ikusei kiso-tyosa saisyu- houkokusyo [Final report of the basic survey for the
development of human resources for industries in partnership with private sector].
164
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
<Chapter 7>
ADB, 2012, Myanmar Interim Country Partnership Strategy 2012-2014
AusAID, 2010, Australia’s Strategic Approach to Aid in Burma
AusAID, 2012, Burma Annual Program Performance Report 2011
Council of the European Union, 2012, Council conclusions on Burma/Myanmar
DFID, 2012, DFID Burma Operational Plan 2011-2015
European Commission, 2007, The EC-Burma/Myanmar Strategy Paper 2007-2013
German Federal Foreign Office, “Myanmar: Development cooperation and humanitarian
assistance” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013, http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/
Aussenpolitik/Laender/Laenderinfos/01-Laender/Myanmar.html#doc474102bodyText3
Institute for International Education, 2012, 2012-2013 International Academic Partnerships
Program
Japan International Cooperation Agency, “Activities in Myanmar” (Retrieved on 11 January
2013, http://www.jica.go.jp/myanmar/english/activities/index.html)
Local Resource Center Myanmar, 2012, Directory of International Non-governmental
Organizations in Myanmar 2012
Local Resource Center Myanmar, 2012, Local NGO Directory 2012
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, 2013, “Danida in Burma (Myanmar)” (Retrieved on
11 January 2013, http://thailand.um.dk/en/danida-en/danida-in-burma/)
Myanmar Education Consortium, 2012, Description of Action
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, 2013, “Myanmar: Aid trends” (Retrieved on
11 January 2013, http://www.norad.no/en/countries/asia-and-oceania/myanmar#)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2012, Three Main Pillars of The Nippon Foundation’s
Projects
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Myanmar Summit Meeting” (Retrieved on 11 January
2013, http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/myanmar/meeting1211.html)
Save the Children, “Myanmar” (Retrieved on 11 January 2013,
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150543/k.D615/Myanmar.htm)
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, South Korea, 2012, Press Release: Korea-Myanmar
Economic Cooperation Invigoration
The New Light of Myanmar, Thursday, 22 March 2012, “Union Education Minister receives
officials of Johns Hopkins University, New York-based HESP”
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2012, About NMFA Scholarships for Myanmar
The Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness, 2012, Myanmar Donor Profiles
UNESCO, 2011, Capacity Development for Education for All : Translating theory into practice;
the CapEFA Programme
UNICEF Myanmar and Myanmar Multi-donor Education Fund, 2012, Myanmar Quality Basic
Education Programme: Programme Design Document
UNICEF, 2010, Myanmar Country Programme Document 2011-2015
United Nations Country Team in Myanmar, 2012, United Nations Strategic Framework
2012-2015
USAID, 2012, Burma Framework Fact Sheet
USAID, 2012, Call for Concept Paper for Public-Private Alliances in Burma: Higher
Education Partnerships to Support the US-Burma Commitment to Democracy, Peace and
165
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report
Prosperity
World Bank, 2012, Myanmar Interim Strategy Note for the Period FY13-14
World Bank, 2012, Myanmar National Community Driven Development Project
166
APPENDICES
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 2-1: Pupil Teacher Ratio in Myanmar (August 2012) ............................................... A2-1
APPENDIX 2-3: Structure of Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar) ..................... A2-3
APPENDIX 2-4: Universities/ Degree Colleges & Departments under the Department of
Higher Education (Lower Myanmar) ............................................................................ A2-4
APPENDIX 2-5: Structure of Department of Higher Education (Upper Myanmar) ..................... A2-5
APPENDIX 2-6: Universities and Colleges under the department of Higher Education (Upper
Myanmar) ...................................................................................................................... A2-6
APPENDIX 2-10: Structure of Department of Educational Planning and Training (DEPT) ...... A2-10
APPENDIX 3-3: Location of Teacher Education and Training Institutes in Myanmar ................. A3-5
APPENDIX 4-1: Types of Education (TVET and Higher Education), Their Responsible
Ministries and Types of Courses .................................................................................... A4-1
i
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
APPENDIX 4-2: Geographical Location of TVET Institutions under DTVE ............................... A4-7
APPENDIX 4-3: List of TVET/HE Institutions under DTVE (AY 2011–2012) ........................... A4-8
APPENDIX 7-2: Minutes of Meeting on the Report of Information Sharing Workshop .............. A7-7
APPENDIX 8-1: An Overview of Critical Issues for the Education Sector in Myanmar .............. A8-1
ii
APPENDICES 2
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
A2-1
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-2:Structure of Ministry of Education
Minister
Student Affair
Division
Assistant
Director
Sport
Division
Director
Policy Affair
( Academic )
( Academic)
Deputy Director
Division
Assistant
Director
Foreign Relation
Sub-dept.
Staff Affair
Sub-Dept.
Assistant
Director
Director
(Admin 1)
( Admin 1 )
Dispatch Division
Deputy Director
Sub-Divisional
Offices
Assistant
Director
Deputy
Director
(Admin 2)
Computer Assistant
Division Director
Deputy
Director
(Computer)
General
Assistant
Account Division
Deputy Director
Director General
Director
Admin/Finance Assistant
Division Director
Director
(Finance)
(Finance)
Deputy Director
Account/Audit Assistant
Division Director
Engineer
Executive
Division (Store)
APPENDIX 2-3: Structure of Department of Higher Education (Lower Myanmar)
Engineer
Electricity)
Executive
Division (Electricity)
Department of Higher
Education
( Lower Myanmar )
Yangon Yangon
Mawlamyin Yangoon Yangon University Translate
Institute of Yangon University Dagon Pathein University Sittew Taunggoo Pyae Dawei Hinthada Maubin Hpa-an Myeik Bago
e University University &
Economics University of Distant University University of Foreign University University University University University University University University University
University ( East ) ( West ) Publishing Dept.
A2-4
Education Languages
Yangon
Science
Institute of
Workshop
Education
National Management
Universities
Education College
Press
Universities
Postgraduate
for Applied Geology
Department
A2-5
Student Affair
Division
Assistant
Director
Sport
Division
Director
Policy Affair
( Academic)
( Academic )
Division
Deputy Director
Assistant
Director
Foreign Relation
Division
Staff Affair
Division
Assistant
Director
Director
(Admin 1)
( Admin 1 )
Dispatch Division
Deputy Director
Sub-Divisional
Offices
Assistant
Director
Statistic & planning
(Admin 2)
Division
Deputy Director
Director
(Admin 2)
Computer Assistant
Division Director
(Computer)
Deputy Director
Deputy
Director General
Director General
Assistant
Account Division
Director
Admin/Finance Assistant
Division Director
Director
(Finance)
(Finance)
Deputy Director
Account/Audit Assistant
Division Director
Engineer
Executive
Electricity)
Engineer
Executive
Division (Electricity)
Monywa
Institute of
Economics Yenangyau
Meiktila
Institute of
Economics
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-7: Structure of Department of Basic Education 1 (DBE 1)
Director General
Deputy Director
Deputy
General
Director General (2)
(1)
Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director
( Admin ) (Record/Statistics) (Finance) (Executive Engineer) ( Teaching ) ( Inspection ) (Border Area )
Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director
Inspection Section
Record/Computer
Teaching Section
Finance Section
Administration
Budget Section
Student Affair
School/Office
Staff Affair
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-8: Structure of Department of Basic Education 2 (DBE 2)
Director General
Deputy Director
Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director Deputy Director
(Executive
( Admin ) (Record/Statistics) (Finance) ( Teaching ) ( Inspection ) (Border Area )
Engineer)
Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director Assistant Director
Inspection Section
Record/Computer
Teaching Section
Finance Section
Physical/School
Administration
Budget Section
Health Section
Student Affair
School/Office
Development
Engineering
Border Area
Staff Affair
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Section
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-9: Structure of Department of Basic Education 3 (DBE 3)
Director General
Deputy
Director General
Director Director
( Admin/Finance ) ( Academic )
( Admin/Finance ) ( Academic )
School/Office Inspection
Staff Affair Section
Finance Section
Budget Section
School Health/
Student Affair
Admin Affair
Section
Section
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-10: Structure of Department of Educational Planning and Training (DEPT)
Director General
Admin/Finance
Planning (Oversea) (Inland)
Ministry of Education
Director General
Deputy
Director General
Director Director
A2-12
Research
Computer Admin/Staff
Broadcasting Broadcasting Basic Literacy and Library
Information Finance/
( Technical ) ( Production ) Continuous Education Newsletter
Statistics Account
Publication
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 2-13: Structure of Myanmar Examination Board
Examination Board
Chairman
Member
Secretary
A2-13
Head of Branch
Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary
(Finance)
1. Number of Schools
Number of Schools
High Schools Middle Schools Post Primary Schools
Primary
State/Region Main Branch Affiliate Total Main Branch Affiliate Total Schools Main Branch Affiliate Total
1 Kayin 43 37 0 80 42 34 2 78 196 978 52 17 1,047
2 Tainintheryi 46 29 3 78 37 48 26 111 209 715 24 20 759
3 Bago ( East) 71 69 1 141 42 106 16 164 400 1,404 93 26 1,523
4 Bago (West) 54 59 1 114 59 54 11 124 312 1,698 58 16 1,772
5 Mon 68 46 1 115 52 31 1 84 176 996 25 16 1,037
6 Yakhine 69 67 6 142 65 68 8 141 351 2,087 21 15 2,123
7 Ayeyarwaddy 135 166 19 320 94 301 134 529 785 4,510 285 128 4,923
DBE 1 486 473 31 990 391 642 198 1,231 2,429 12,388 558 238 13,184
8 Kachin 58 37 0 95 52 75 13 140 195 896 40 33 969
A3-1
Grade 11
State/Region
Total Female Male
G11 Enrolled Students 5,713 3,474 2,239
Examinees 5,457 3,364 2,093
Kayin
Passed Students 1,842 1,182 660
Pass Rate 33.75 35.14 31.53
G11 Enrolled Students 6,854 4,328 2,526
Examinees 6,525 4,167 2,358
Tanintharyi
Passed Students 2,411 1,582 829
Pass Rate 36.95 37.96 35.16
G11 Enrolled Students 17,426 9,283 8,143
Examinees 16,868 9,115 7,753
Bago(East)
Passed Students 5,823 3,444 2,379
Pass Rate 34.52 37.78 30.68
G11 Enrolled Students 8,731 4,724 4,007
Examinees 8,469 4,622 3,847
Bago(West)
Passed Students 3,239 1,964 1,275
Pass Rate 38.25 42.49 33.14
G11 Enrolled Students 12,473 7,479 4,994
Examinees 12,062 7,308 4,754
Mon
Passed Students 5,358 3,369 1,989
Pass Rate 44.42 46.10 41.84
G11 Enrolled Students 13,359 6,265 7,094
Examinees 12,777 6,124 6,653
Yakhine
Passed Students 3,968 1,892 2,076
Pass Rate 31.06 30.89 31.20
G11 Enrolled Students 35,540 19,105 16,435
Examinees 35,097 18,840 16,257
Ayeyarwaddy
Passed Students 11,424 6,779 4,645
Pass Rate 32.55 35.98 28.57
G11 Enrolled Students 100,096 54,658 45,438
Examinees 97,255 53,540 43,715
DBE(1)Tatal
Passed Students 34,065 20,212 13,853
Pass Rate 35.03 37.75 31.69
G11 Enrolled Students 12,370 7,346 5,024
Examinees 11,606 6,988 4,618
Kachin
Passed Students 3,435 2,034 1,401
Pass Rate 29.60 29.11 30.34
A3-3
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
Grade 11
State/Region
Total Female Male
G11 Enrolled Students 2,500 1,547 953
Examinees 2,415 1,521 894
Kayar
Passed Students 840 540 300
Pass Rate 34.78 35.50 33.56
G11 Enrolled Students 4,371 2,409 1,962
Examinees 4,275 2,373 1,902
Chin
Passed Students 718 399 319
Pass Rate 16.80 16.81 16.77
G11 Enrolled Students 32,537 17,715 14,822
Examinees 31,811 17,469 14,342
Sagaing
Passed Students 12,331 6,914 5,417
Pass Rate 38.76 39.58 37.77
G11 Enrolled Students 25,789 13,297 12,492
Examinees 25,482 13,195 12,287
Magway
Passed Students 8,768 4,842 3,926
Pass Rate 34.41 36.70 31.95
G11 Enrolled Students 49,452 25,865 23,587
Examinees 48,481 25,539 22,942
Mandalay
Passed Students 17,198 9,598 7,600
Pass Rate 35.47 37.58 33.13
G11 Enrolled Students 12,652 7,466 5,186
Examinees 12,373 7,359 5,014
Shan(S)
Passed Students 4,591 2,881 1,710
Pass Rate 37.10 39.15 34.10
G11 Enrolled Students 7,094 4,336 2,758
Examinees 6,820 4,222 2,598
Shan(N)
Passed Students 2,407 1,514 893
Pass Rate 35.29 35.86 34.37
G11 Enrolled Students 1,959 1,193 766
Examinees 1,879 1,140 739
Shan(E)
Passed Students 460 287 173
Pass Rate 24.48 25.18 23.41
G11 Enrolled Students 148,724 81,174 67,550
Examinees 145,142 79,806 65,336
DBE2 Total
Passed Students 50,748 29,009 21,739
Pass Rate 34.96 36.35 33.27
G11 Enrolled Students 60,371 31,059 29,312
DBE 3 (Yangon) Examinees 58,077 30,150 27,927
Total Passed Students 20,427 11,603 8,824
Pass Rate 35.17 38.48 31.60
A3-4
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
A3-5
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
APPENDIX 3-4: School Inspection System of DBE1&2&DBE3
A3-6
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
A3-7
APPENDICES 4
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar
APPENDIX 4-1: Types of Education (TVET and Higher Education), Their Responsible Ministries and Types of Courses
# Ministry Department Field of Ed. Types of Institutions No. Courses and schooling years Remarks
1 Ministry of Myanmar Agricultural Yesin Agricultural University 1 - 4 Years Bachelor of Agricultural Science 6 campuses based on
Agriculture Agriculture Science (BAgrSc) specialized area of studies;
and Irrigation Service - 3 Years MAgrSc various locations
- 4 to 5 Years PhD in Agr Sc
Agricultural Institute 10 -3 years Diploma Course Entry: Matriculation pass
2 Ministry of - Veterinary Yesin University of Veterinary 1 -6 Years Bachelor of Vet Science
Livestock and Science Science - 3 Years MVSc and PhD
Fisheries Fisheries Fisheries Related Fisheries Science School, Yangon 1 - Short-term and Long-term certificate Until 2011-12 FY, they
Department Course courses for in-service personnel and provide certificate courses
private firms
- Refresher Course, Inspector Course
- Fishery Technology, Post-Harvest
Technology, etc
Department of Dairy Cattle Two Training Centers in Yangon 2 - Plan to provide Diploma in Animal
A4-1
Livestock Production and Nay Pyi Taw Health and Production Training from next
Breeding year for interested applicants (For Public)
- Provide different types of training for
government staff for capacity building.
3 Ministry of Directorate of Trade Trade Training Institution in 1 - 4 month Certificate Courses
Commerce Trade Yangon
4 Ministry of Department of Arts, Business Cooperative Universities 2 -3 year degree courses (B.B.Sc) Sagaing CU upgrade as
Cooperatives Cooperatives Management and (Thanlyin and Sagaing) university from 2012-13
Accounting AY.
Cooperative Colleges 2 - 2 year diploma courses (Dip. S.E)
(Pathein and Pyaunggyi)
Department of Lacquer ware Lacquerware College in Bagan- 1 - 2 year diploma course Entry: Matriculation pass
9 Ministry of Department of Maritime Myanmar Maritime University 1 - 5 Year (B.E) and B.SC (Hons) http://www.mot.gov.mm/m
Transport Transport Engineering, - One year Postgrad Diploma mu/programs.html
Marine Electrical Myanmar Mercantile Marine 1 - 2 year Diploma Course http://www.mot.gov.mm/m
System & College - Certificate Courses (Refreshers, STCW mmc/services.html
Electronics etc Short Course, and Special Course)
10 Ministry of - Performance National University of Arts and 1 - 4 Year Bachelor of Arts
Culture Arts, Music, Culture (B.A, Performance; B.A, Painting, B.A,
Sculpture, Sculptures, B.A, Movie and Opera)
Drawing - 1 year Master of Arts
11 Ministry of Department of Forestry related Pyin Oo Lwin Forestry Training 1 - Offer 9 month forestry related training - Entry requirement: 10th
Environmental Training and training Centre course and other short-term training. Standard passed and must
Conservation Research be in-service personnel.
Pharmacy
- National Defense College 1 Information not available
13 Union Civil Civil Service Various courses Central Institute of Civil Service 2 - Intensive Officer Training Course (3 *** For Civil Servants
Service Board Selection and for civil servant (Phaunggyi) months) Only.
Training Board Central Institute of Civil Service - Special Refresher Training for teachers (Not for general public)
(Upper Myanmar) and Officers (3 months)
- Other certificate courses (1 month)
14 Ministry of Department of Teacher Sagaing University for the 1 - 3 year Primary/Special/Junior Assistant Recently they do not
Border Affairs Education and Education Development of the National Teachers Certificate provide any other arts and
Training Races of the Union - 1 year Diploma sciences course.
- 2 year B.Ed (Bridging Course)
16
Labour Labour Language and (Yangon, Mandalay and Pathein)
Computer
17 Ministry of Department of Non-Formal Youth Care Centers, Vocational 14 - Provide free education for all students http://abilitymagazine.com/
Social Welfare Social Welfare Education Training Centre for Disabled (including food, accommodation) news_Myanmar.html
(two types of Adults (10) - For those who want to study basic
training: (Accept different types of students education, they offer non-formal education
academic and such as parentless, orphanage, programs. For those who want to study
vocational children with bad moral vocational education, they have
education) behaviors and children who hairdresser (barber), carpenter (and
commit crimes) mason) and handicraft.
Schools for Blind, Deaf and
Students with Disability (4)
Source: Developed by the Study Team based on the information of Ministry of Science and Technology (2012)
and map obtained from www.themimu.info
A4-7
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
1
C: Civil Engineering, EC: Electronic Engineering, EP: Electrical Power Engineering, Mech: Mechanical
Engineering, MC: Mechatronic Engineering, IT: Information Technology, Che: Chemical Engineering, Min: Mining
Engineering, Tex: Textile Engineering, Pet: Petroleum Engineering, Met: Metallurgical Engineering, Arch:
Architectural Engineering, Bio: Biotechnology, NT: Nuclear Technology
A4-8
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
2
BT: Building Technology, BST: Building Services Technology, EcT: Electronic Technology, MT: Machining
Technology, AMT: Auto Mechanics Technology, ET Electrical Technology, MPT: Metal Process Technology
A4-9
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
A4-10
APPENDICES 7
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
Report on
for
Data Collection Survey
on Education Sector in Myanmar
7 December, 2012
Prepared by:
Study Team
for Data Collection Survey
on Education Sector in Myanmar
A7-1
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
1. Background
For the purpose of formulating future cooperation programs in the education sector in Myanmar,
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has dispatched a Study Team to conduct the “Data
Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar” in collaboration with the Department of
Educational Planning and Training of Ministry of Education (MoE) of Myanmar for the period
between September 2012 and February 2013.
As part of the Study Team’s contribution to the ongoing Comprehensive Education Sector Review
(CESR) initiatives lead by the MoE, the Study Team and CESR Technical Team mutually decided to
organize an Information Sharing Workshop to share the Study’s interim findings based on the first
field study conducted between September and November, 2012 with CESR Technical Team
members.
The timing of the workshop was arranged in early December 2012 so that the information shared by
the Study Team would be of benefit to the writing process of the CESR Phase 1 (Rapid Assessment)
Report by CESR Technical Team, which is planned from late December 2012.
2. Objectives
The objective of the workshop was to share interim study results of the JICA study with a special
focus on teacher education, curriculum and assessment and higher education.
4. Participants
CESR Technical Team Members
CESR National Consultants
CESR International Consultants
JICA Representatives
Study Team
A7-2
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
5. Venue
Conference Room, Basic Education Resource Development Centre (BERDC), ERC Building,
Yankin Education College, Thitsar Road, Yankin 11081, Yangon
A7-3
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
6. Program
6.1 Opening remarks by a JICA representative
Mr. Jun Sakuma, Deputy Director General, Basic Education Group, JICA Tokyo, welcomed all the
participants to the workshop and talked about the following:
JICA’s long history of assistance to the education sector in Myanmar since 1990s
JICA’s continued support for education particularly in the areas of basic education focusing on
primary curriculum and teacher education as well as higher education focusing on the field of
engineering
Continued interest in contributing to CESR through aligning the above programs with the
framework of CESR and the future Sector Plan
Question 1: Concerning the presentation on the basic education budget, it seems that the figure
includes the higher education budget. Please clarify.
Answer 1: The heading of the slide is “basic education budget” but the table contains all other
education subsectors.
Question 2: Concerning the presentation on teacher education, there is a sharp drop in the female
teacher ratio from the middle level to G9 level. Why it is so?
Answer 2: The reason is unclear. It may be due to the transitional period after the Education College
Reform initiated some years ago.
Answer 3: In our Interim Report, institutional autonomy is mentioned in the issues and challenges on
governance and management of the higher education subsector and it can be further expanded in the
final report.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
Answer 4: University for Development of National Races will be covered in the further study.
Question 5: Gender is an important issue in education but there was not much discussed about
gender in the presentation. Most school teachers in Myanmar are female while most of the Township
Education Officers and School Heads are male. Why aren’t there more male teachers and more
female education managers?
Answer 5: We would also like to ask our colleagues from Myanmar about the values in teaching and
management that seem to prefer female teachers and male managers to find out what is the realistic
gender ratio in education in Myanmar.
Question 6: Concerning the presentation on higher education, what are the cross-cutting similarities
between the universities under the MoE and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and
what are their differences?
Answer 6: Some of the universities currently under the MoST were originally transferred from the
MoE, so these universities have similar systems with universities under the MoE. The difference is
that universities under the MoE are only within the higher education track, while universities under
the MoST are a mixture of institutions from the higher education track and the TVET track.
Question 7: Concerning the presentation on curriculum, how were the teaching time hours calculated
in the presentation?
Answer 7: Teaching hours were calculated by each subject by each level and some subjects were
adjusted to make them comparable across countries.
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
Minutes of Meeting on
for
Data Collection Survey
on Education Sector in Myanmar
15 December, 2012
Prepared by:
Study Team
for Data Collection Survey
on Education Sector in Myanmar
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1. Background
As part of the Study Team’s contribution to the ongoing Comprehensive Education Sector Review
(CESR), the Study Team and CESR Technical Team organized an Information Sharing Workshop
on December 7, 2012 in Yangon for sharing the Study’s interim findings with CESR Technical
Team members.
Upon request from the Director General of Department of Educational Planning and Training
(DEPT), Ministry of Education (MoE), the Study Team decided to have a separate meeting in Nay
Pyi Taw to share the results of the Information Sharing Workshop.
2. Objectives
The objective of the meeting was to brief officials from the MoE and the Ministry of Science and
Technology based in Nay Pyi Taw on the interim study results of the JICA study as well as the
outcomes of the Information Sharing Workshop held on December 7, 2012 in Yangon.
4. Participants
Officials of DEPT and Department of Higher Education (DHE), Ministry of Education
Official of Ministry of Science and Technology
JICA Education Advisor
Study Team
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
5. Venue
6. Program
The Study Team made a presentation on the interim findings and preliminary analysis on the
following topics:
A summary of questions raised by the participants and answered by the Study Team is as follows:
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Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
Question 1: Under the 2008 Constitution, free compulsory education for primary and basic education
is contradicted.
Answer 1: Here is some clarification regarding the articles under Constitution 2008. Chapter I: Basic
Principle of the Union states that “28 - Implement free, compulsory primary education system” and
Chapter 8: Citizen, Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Citizens states that “366 - Shall be given
basic education which the Union prescribes by law as compulsory.” In Myanmar, the law for free,
compulsory primary education has not yet been developed and we expect to develop it. So we will
start with free primary school education, and later extend the free education to the lower secondary
level.
Question 2: TVET institutions are under various ministries, and the private sector also conducts
TVET programs. What do you think about the way to unify them?
Answer 2: The TVET sector in Myanmar has many training institutions and each of them have their
own policies, strategies and activities. One way to solve it is the formulation of National Skill
Standards initiated by the Ministry of Labour. The Ministry of Labour, however, cannot formulate
the skill standards for all areas in TVET, such as computers and transport. Therefore, currently
specialists from other ministries and the private sector are also collaborating for the development of
skill standards in their respective fields. Though collaboration among each of the specialized
ministries and private training institutions may take time, the sector can gradually improve the skills
of trainees towards the equivalent level to ASEAN standards if all stakeholders continue this kind of
collaborative work.
Question 3: Which approach of curriculum design will be the best for Myanmar: Content-Based
Approach (CBA), Outcome Based Approach (OBA), or the combination of both?
Answer 3: Myanmar currently follows CBA. Continuing to follow CBA is recommended. Based on
my experience in various countries, attempts for a dramatic curriculum change always seem to fail,
mainly because teachers cannot follow such kind of drastic changes. Teachers need costly training.
Furthermore, parents who may not accept new curriculum approach will complain. CBA is an old
curriculum design approach and the new approach like OBA seems a better one to improve
education quality. However, Japan has consistently performed well in terms of education quality
even though it still follows CBA. Japan always ranks as one of the highest in international
achievement tests such as PISA or TIMSS. There is no perfect solution. Both CBA and OBA have
strengths and weaknesses. If we think critically, we can improve either approach based on the
analysis. So again, following CBA is recommended for Myanmar.
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Question 4: The Government of Myanmar is in the process of changing its education system to 5-4-3
and it is under consideration at the President Office. With this change, what will be the challenges
for us?
Answer 4: Changing the education system to 5-4-3 will mean having extra grades. So there will be a
need for more classrooms, teachers and budget. Short term implementation will be difficult and
requires strategic planning. Thailand, for example, expanded compulsory education from 6 years to 9
years by topping up classes in primary schools.
Question 5: The starting age for schooling is also under consideration to be changed to 6 years-old in
the future. What do you think of that?
Question 6: According to the promotion system of teachers in Myanmar, a primary teacher with
some teaching experience will be promoted to a junior teacher, and then be promoted to a middle
school head teacher. When teachers become rich in teaching experiences, they are promoted and
positions of primary teachers always become vacant and recruited yearly. It affects the quality of
education. What are your suggestions to solve this problem?
Question 7: In Myanmar, there are so many ministries involved in higher education. Do we need to
administer all the HEIs under one ministry, the Ministry of Education, or not? ?
Answer 7: As long as the main objective of HEIs remains to produce high quality human resources
necessary to their belonging respective ministries, there are meanings to have HEIs under different
ministries. In such circumstances, coordination mechanism among ministries must be strengthened.
After a private sector is more expanded and the majority of graduates from HEIs become not
necessary to work in the government sector, it may be time to consider bringing back HEIs under the
Ministry of Education.
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Answer 8: Yes. Each university needs to have autonomy over curriculum decisions. In Myanmar,
HEIs are not allowed to determine their curriculum, syllabus and textbooks. All departments of the
same study field, even at different HEIs, must use the same curriculum, syllabus, and textbooks
authorized by Council of University Academic Bodies. Universities located in different regions may
have different demands and needs of human resource development from local communities and
labor market.
Answer 9: For students to have a good education, it is very important that they have a strong
foundation. Thus, it is reasonable to say that basic education teachers for grades 1 to 6 should be the
most outstanding teachers. Teachers for grades 1 to 6 have to make more efforts than teachers for
other grades because the foundation built during students’ early learning has long lasting impacts at
later stages.
Question 10: Myanmar hopes that many foreign countries will come to Myanmar to do business and
apply their technology and knowledge with their own approaches. But now it seems that the amount
of FDI is less than our expectation. What do you think about it?
Answer 10: Myanmar is still going through a transition period. It seems that foreign countries are
waiting to see the changes in every aspect of Myanmar especially in FDI policy. After the FDI
policy is approved, there will be incentives for FDI and many foreign companies should come here
to carry out investment and apply their own technology and knowledge with their own approaches.
Question 11: In the future, which sectors will be the best for FDI in Myanmar?
Answer 11: Myanmar has labor-intensive industries and good human resources. Manufacturing
sectors especially in the garment sector will have more demand for FDI.
Question 12: How can Myanmar meet the gaps between supply and demand for good human
resources?
Answer 12: To meet a gap between supply and demand for good human resources of foreign
affiliated companies in every sector of business, people should have appropriate skills such as
language skills for communication, management skills, etc. and sufficient knowledge of marketing
not only in Myanmar but also in foreign countries. Some activities or programs to upgrade skills
should be initiated to generate efficient and effective workers and employees. For example,
internship programs in universities should be promoted. Some experts from local and foreign
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countries with experience should be invited to hold seminars in universities and so on. To identify
whether graduates from universities can apply the knowledge and skills which they learnt from their
universities in the practical world after graduation, universities should conduct a trace survey of
graduates and their employers.
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APPENDICES 8
Data Collection Survey on Education Sector in Myanmar Final Report (APPENDIX)
APPENDIX 8-1: An Overview of Critical Issues for the Education Sector in Myanmar
The current MoE’s organizational structure is not conducive to accelerating the education reform and improvement.
Education Unclear demarcation of roles among different government bodies and schools is leading to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in education administration.
Administration The existing education administration structure does not allow each locality to respond to their local needs.
and Finance The existing education budget structure makes it difficult to clearly identify how much is actually spent and how much is needed for improvement at each level of education.
Budget and financial resources to achieve long/mid-term educational policies are not clear.
1 2 3 4 5
Educational policy decisions Current education system does Relevant ministries, administrative
The past directives/measures bodies and schools are not fully
have not been based on not have a mechanism to
The existing education laws implemented in the education serving their intended functions
Core Issues evidence or analysis due to the continuously upgrade itself to
have become outdated. sector have been fragmented without appropriate coordination
lack of reliable and respond to the needs of the and demarcation of roles to
and uncoordinated.
comprehensive statistics. world of work. contribute to a unified purpose.
Overall
Recommendation To formulate evidence-based policy decisions while ensuring coherence in major reform agenda
for Education (including a school system reform, a curriculum reform as well as decentralization).
Reform in Myanmar
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