ASEAN EDUCATION | Myanmar’s education system in ‘crisis’
PHOTO: ENVATO
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ANN/THE STAR – After violence erupted in Myanmar in the wake of the 2021 coup, most high school students in the remote township of Thantlang left their studies and took up arms to support a grassroots rebellion against the military, local school teacher Salai said.
Across Myanmar, one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries that has been ravaged by widening fighting since the coup, only about 22 per cent of eligible students are enrolled at the high-school level, the World Bank said in a report published in July.
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingOverall, enrolment rates in Myanmar’s education institutions have dropped by over 12 per cent between 2017 and 2023, the World Bank said, underlining “a crisis in education access”.
A junta spokesperson did not answer a phone call seeking comment.
Myanmar was plunged into chaos in February 2021 when the country’s military unseated an elected government and violently cracked down on subsequent protests, leading to a widespread uprising that has killed thousands of people.
While other countries in the region have seen education enrolments bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic, large numbers of children in Myanmar have not come back to school, the World Bank said, based on a survey of nearly 8,500 households.
Teachers and students in Myanmar have been at the forefront of opposition movements against military rule for decades. Many teachers joined a civil disobedience movement since the coup, disrupting the education sector.
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