After gaining independence from British rule, the education system in Myanmar was a model of excellence in the Asia-Pacific. Many believed the country was heading the way of other Asian Tigers at the time. It did not. The protracted armed conflicts in the ethnic states of Myanmar since the 1950s have resulted in displacement and huge disruptions in education service delivery in these regions. During the 1960s, the education sector was turned upside-down. Not only was education severely underfunded, but also teaching became a job that lacked the satisfaction and prestige previously enjoyed, leading to the decline of the system as a whole. Given the years of isolation and academic suppression, the pedagogy of the public education system, including higher institutions at all levels, still relies heavily on rote memorization, and neglects proof of understanding or critical thinking, both of which are central to research training.
November 5, 2020. Ms. Myat The Thitsar, Mr. Ivo Balinov & Mr. Thomas (Tom) Cormier.
Decentralization as mandated by the 2008 Constitution re-introduced state/region governments and legislatures across Myanmar. This represents a central issue for the country’s long term development. The 14 sub-national legislatures have the responsibility to debate and pass local legislation and also have the formal role to debate and approve local budgets and oversee their spending. The potential of the ongoing peace process leading to the negotiation of a federal model of governance means that the roles of sub-national institutions, including parliaments, would continue to increase substantially. Against this background, the bulk of international support remains focused at the union level in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw. Less attention is paid to sub-national parliaments across the 14 states and regions in the country. The parliamentary elections scheduled for November 8, 2020 have the potential of making sub-national parliaments even more ethnically diverse and of increasing the number of women parliamentarians.
In Myanmar, despite limited moves towards decentralisation over the last decade, formal legal, policy-making and budgetary powers remain highly centralised at the union level. However, in practice, decision making at ward/village tract and village level has a large impact on citizens’ lives. Ward/village tract administrators and “100 household heads ” – the main elected community leaders – act as key interlocutors between ordinary people and higher levels of the state. So, although the vast majority of the government’s budget is centrally controlled, much of the de facto revenue collection and public service delivery is decided at local levels. Local decision-making remains highly gendered due to a persistent gender division of roles and responsibilities. In Myanmar, improving gender equality of participation in local governance bodies could result in more equitable decisions for the population.
The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report assesses women’s empowerment across four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity; Education Attainment; Health and Survival; and Political Empowerment. The latter one tends to be a very critical dimension to determine the size and direction of the gap. Political empowerment measures participation of women in parliament and the number of women ministers in the country. Within the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Philippines performs the best and Myanmar the worst, putting the country 114th in the global ranking of out of 153 countries.
It is now 25 years since the UN World Conference on Women was held in Beijing (1995). This meeting of global leaders spurred an unprecedented push for gender equality in a number of areas. Specifically, the conference highlighted women’s persistent political underrepresentation as a democratic problem as well as a hurdle for economic and human development. Since this conference, many countries have made concerted efforts to increase the number of women in politics. For example, the percentage of the world’s parliamentarians that are women has more than doubled since 1995 from 11% to 25% in 2020. Participating in public life is an aspect of peoples’ agency, and therefore the ability (or inability) to participate in politics and governance can directly affect their well-being.
Myanmar is undergoing a transition from military to civilian rule since 2011 and government expenditure on health has increased from 1% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2015, still one of the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region. Though health sector decentralization is said to be put in place, the progress so far has not been assessed. There is limited information on how resources are managed and how well is decentralization progressing. The current system favors top-down decision-making, creating vast gaps of expectations between decision-makers and communities in states/regions, townships and villages/wards. In ethnic states, the delivery of health service remains unequal and insufficient due to poor governance, limited budgets, outdated facilities, and lack of supplies and health staff. Moreover, in such resource-poor setting, the gap between community expectations and what service providers can actually offer remains enormous, and needs to be closed.
Decentralization as mandated by the 2008 Constitution re-introduced state/region governments and legislatures across Myanmar. This represents a central issue for the country’s long term development. The 14 sub-national legislatures have the responsibility to debate and pass local legislation and also have the formal role to debate and approve local budgets and oversee their spending. The potential of the ongoing peace process leading to the negotiation of a federal model of governance means that the roles of sub-national institutions, including parliaments, would continue to increase substantially. Against this background, the bulk of international support remains focused at the union level in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw. Less attention is paid to sub-national parliaments across the 14 states and regions in the country. The parliamentary elections scheduled for November 8, 2020 have the potential of making sub-national parliaments even more ethnically diverse and of increasing the number of women parliamentarians.
Following the start of the country’s various reforms in 2011, public funding for education has significantly increased, leading to an important rise in access. The primary net enrollment rate increased from 88% in 2009-10 to 93 percent in 2014-15. Net enrollment in pre-primary education saw an impressive growth between 2008 – when roughly 1 in 20 children were enrolled – and 2014 when nearly 1 in 4 children were enrolled. The National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) 2016-21 represents an important milestone for education in Myanmar, as the country’s very first education sector plan in the context of a major transition towards democracy.
A team of young researchers, publishing anonymously, carried out a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews in Aug-Oct 2021, to understand youth conceptions of ‘freedom of expression’ in the online world, and how this was being… Read more: Cyberspace and Freedom of Expression in Post-Coup Myanmar
Linking science with policy is difficult in countries with top universities and well-funded research programs, but what about in developing countries? In this Asia Research News Podcast, we delve into Doing Research in Myanmar: a systematic study of how… Read more: Doing Research in Myanmar Report
Migrant workers are heroes of Myanmar’s economy, but are facing extreme challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Myanmar’s Centre for Economic and Social Development recommends policies to address the crisis. Video created in English and Myanmar to promote a CESD… Read more: Heroes falling through the cracks
Nyi Nyi Kyaw is IDRC’s Research Chair on Forced Displacement at The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Here he talks about his background and his work on forced displacement.… Read more: IDRC Research Chair on Forced Displacement – Nyi Nyi Kyaw
Professor Banerjee is IDRC’s Research Chair on Forced Displacement at the Asian Institute of Technology’s Gender and Development Studies (GDS) Program in the School of Environment, Resource, and Development. Here she talks about her background and the research. With… Read more: IDRC Research Chair on Forced Displacement – Paula Banerjee
Nyi Nyi Kyaw is IDRC’s Research Chair on Forced Displacement at The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Here he talks about his background and his work on forced displacement. Nyi Nyi Kyaw will focus on two projects as the IDRC Research Chair. The first investigates…
Professor Banerjee is IDRC’s Research Chair on Forced Displacement at the Asian Institute of Technology’s Gender and Development Studies (GDS) Program in the School of Environment, Resource, and Development. Here she talks about her background and the research. With her extensive research and publications on gender and forced displacement, Paula Banerjee aims to collaborate with…
IDRC’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative launched its second phase in Bangkok with a Knowledge Marketplace that brought together partners and stakeholders concerned about research and higher education in Myanmar. This story is featured in the Asia Research News 2023 magazine. If you would like to receive regular research news, In November 2022, the IDRC’s…
A team of young researchers, publishing anonymously, carried out a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews in Aug-Oct 2021, to understand youth conceptions of ‘freedom of expression’ in the online world, and how this was being affected by the country’s chaotic political environment. In addition to the narrative report, three small creative…
Tea Circle is a forum for new perspectives on Myanmar, highlighting analysis, research, opinions, book reviews, multi-media presentations and other types of submissions from a global community of contributors. Read the latest updates at teacircleoxford.com and email the editors to submit your post at editor@teacircleoxford.com or teacircleoxford@protonmail.com.
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
https://youtu.be/2dVtYOavI-4 Tea Circle is a forum for new perspectives on Myanmar, highlighting analysis, research, opinions, book reviews, multi-media presentations and...
https://youtu.be/AomBRyxJRII The Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development (MIID) has produced a beautiful photo essay, highlighting 16 case studies from their research to...
