Battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the military coup and the ensuing civil war, Myanmar’s school system is in shambles. The number of high school students taking a key test has plummeted by 80%, parents, teachers and education experts say.
To protest the February 2021 coup, some 300,000 teachers and other school staff walked off their jobs at government-run schools as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement, leaving schools severely understaffed. In response, the board has suspended more than 11,000 academic staff members and some 125,000 teachers and professors, according to US government data.
Subsequent clashes between the army and rebel groups have displaced thousands, making schooling extremely difficult. Many other families have stopped sending their children to school because they do not trust the junta, or have sent them to schools run by the shadow National Unity Government.
“People no longer trust their education system,” said one teacher who, like others in this report, declined to be named for security reasons. “And now, with federal schools online and other schools not operated by the military, children can consider what is best for them and what educational system can provide them with the most knowledge and skills.”
“That is why we see that there are fewer and fewer students who are taking the tenth grade exam in the board schools,” he said.
During the 2019-20 academic year, when the civilian-led National League for Democracy was still in power, nearly 970,800 students sat for the 10th grade matriculation exam, a benchmark for the educated workforce of the state. country for decades.
The following year, that number dropped to 312,300, and during the current 2022-23 year, fewer than 179,800 students took the test, according to the board’s education data.
pending reforms
The coup also put on hold education reforms being carried out by the previous NLD government, including increasing education budgets and implementing a strategic plan to transform the country’s education system and improve learning everywhere. the levels.
In June 2022, when the Ministry of Education ordered the reopening of elementary, middle and high schools across the country for face-to-face classes for the 2022-2023 academic year, more than 7 million of the country’s approximately 12 million students returned to the classrooms. according to the junta’s education minister, Nyunt Pe.
Some of the remaining 5 million students across the country do not attend schools run by the board, while some elementary, middle and high school teachers say they have not returned to their schools because they do not want to work under military administration.
Ongoing clashes between the army and ethnic armed groups together with the anti-coup People’s Defense Forces in some states and regions of Myanmar have prevented students from attending school.
In response, the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, had set up its own schools across the country.
“Since many areas in various states and regions are war zones, exams cannot be held and there are no students to take them,” said Kyaw Ye Lwin, a committee member of the NUG Federal Democratic Education Cooperation Network.
“Another thing is that NUG has strengthened its education system on the ground,” he said, with students attending federal schools trying to take the basic education completion assessment test administered by the NUG Ministry of Education. “Due to these factors, the number of students in schools under the board’s administration has decreased.”
separate exam
NUG Education Minister Zaw Wai Soe said the shadow government is implementing an interim education system across the country, with around 90,000 students taking their own 10th grade exam.
“We run practical exams for students in the areas where NUG has control,” he told RFA. “We conduct digital and internet-based examinations in the areas where we are not yet in control. We are also trying to implement online, practical and digital classes and exams for students in areas beyond our control.”
Residents of the Sagaing and Magway regions, where fighting has intensified, have set up their own community schools so that local teachers can prepare students for the matriculation exam.
“Since the education system here in our area is in accordance with the federal education system, schools here can offer their own lessons,” said a teacher at a community school in Magway.
“It’s pretty independent,” he said. “There are also several different exam designs. There are many NUG recognized schools in Magway, (but) almost no students study for exams in board schools.”
A parent of a student from Magway’s Yesagyo Township told RFA that he enrolled his children in community schools because teachers provide extra help to students.
“The difference between the board schools and our community schools is that our community schools are people-focused and teach students very well,” he said. “If students need more help, teachers give them more review time and teach them at home as well.”
‘conflict zone’
Residents of a village in the Sagaing region, a hotbed of resistance in northwestern Myanmar, set up a primary school there for children unable to attend state schools due to hostilities, the school’s founder said.
She and four permanent teachers, as well as other educators from the Civil Disobedience Movement, teach about 150 students at the primary school that opened in June 2022 under the auspices of the NUG, she said.
“Since we are in a conflict zone and a war refugee zone, there are no other schools here,” he told RFA.
“Now we can teach music, art and the curriculum to our children,” he said. “Many stationery and teaching accessories are donated to us by supporters from far away.”
So far, parents of school-age children seem unintimidated by the board’s announcement via state media on March 1 that authorities will take action against them under the Anti-Terror Law if they enroll the students. in the online schools run by the NUG. The board also said parents should enroll their children only in board schools and military-recognized private schools.
But the primary school teacher in a Sagaing village said children know they have the right to an education no matter where they live, regardless of such threats.
“Giving politicizing orders to prevent such rights of schools and children from benefiting is a very vulgar act,” he said.
Meanwhile, board-run schools are coping with labor shortages by piling work on educators.
“We have to teach eight classes a day,” said a high school educator. “In the past, we could rest two or three class periods as break time during which we could prepare lesson plans for upcoming classes. We used to have extra time to study and watch the lessons before going to each class. But right now, we have very little extra time.”
And new teachers entering the profession don’t receive proper training, he said.
“With only two days of skills training, teachers cannot be qualified to teach,” the educator said. They don’t know their subjects very well. Now we have to coordinate and learn to give these classes.”
Translated by Myo Min Aung for FRG Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
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