Myanmar's quest for qualified teachers
One in four of Myanmar’s 380,000 teachers lack formal qualifications. Finland supports the extensive reform of the country’s education system and teacher education.
Ten teacher trainees are staring at a thermometer. The men are taking temperature measurements, and the women are writing down the readings. This is a physics and chemistry lesson at the Thingungyun Education College in Yangon. The task of the 17-year-old students is to study the differences in the volumes of water and iron in different temperature.
The education sector in Myanmar is in the midst of an upheaval. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has made the reform the education in the country and to improve its quality one of its main policy objectives. The standard of education in Myanmar is currently ranked as the lowest in Asia. Of the more than 380,000 teachers in the country, one quarter is unqualified. Only one half of Myanmar children finish lower secondary school, and in the countryside only one third. Seven percent of the population are highly educated, while in Finland, 30 percent of the population has completed tertiary education. Teacher training in Myanmar is expected to undergo a major reform, extending it from two years to four years. At the same time, the country will rewrite the core curricula for both schools and teacher training. Finland supports Myanmar in its reforms from development cooperation funds.
Learning English from films
Kyal Sin Tun, 17, is neatly folding his button shirt. He shares his small dorm room with two other teacher trainees. The room is full, because the number of males entering teacher training has been increased. Previously, only 20 percent of teacher trainees were men, but the government is planning to raise the figure to 50 percent.
“I want to become an English teacher in the secondary school. I became interested in English because my sisters played English-language music and showed me films,” says Sin Tun.
In six months’ time, he can apply for teacher qualification. He is on his second year in teacher training and has so far given one demonstration lesson in a class.
“Before this training, I did not know what teaching would be like. Now I can’t wait to start my work with children.”
Finland supports the development of institutes such as Thingungyun Education College through UNESCO. There is plenty of work still left to be done.
“The methods in teacher training are still mostly lecturing and learning things by heart. The students have very little practical training,” says Dagny Fosen, Teacher Education Specialist for UNESCO.
The students, usually 18 years old, typically end up in primary schools in the countryside with no experience in working with children. Often the teacher and the children speak different languages.
Teaching materials and equipment also leave much to be desired. Many of the textbooks are from the 1990s. Computers do not exist or they are broken.
“Much of our teaching materials are in English. The students’ English skills are not necessarily that great, so they can take ages translating the contents of the text books,” Fosen explain.
Finland supports education in Myanmar
Finland started supporting the education sector in Myanmar in 2014. Alongside peacekeeping and forest sector expertise, education is among the key development cooperation areas for Finland. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen visited Myanmar in early February on a trip promoting exports and development cooperation. The minister discussed ways to improve the quality of education with Myanmar’s Minister of Education Myo Thein Gyi, among other officials.
“High-quality education begins with teachers. Therefore it is important that Finland supports teacher training in Myanmar. We are known for our education and our expertise in the field is strong,” says Mykkänen.
Finland supports the education sector in Myanmar
Finland funds the UNESCO teacher training project with EUR 3.25 million between 2017–2020. The project is aimed at reforming the teaching, administration and quality of teacher education in Myanmar and at supporting human rights and equality in the country.
Finland is also supporting the World Bank education project with more than EUR 7 million up until 2020. The project focuses on increasing the number of children finishing primary school and moving on to lower secondary school and on improving learning outcomes.
The early childhood education project of Save the Children has been ongoing in Myanmar since 2015. It has succeeded in improving the quality in the education sector through, for example, training the education officials.
Minttu-Maaria Partanen
Writer works as an Editor-in-Chief in Kehitys-Utveckling magazine.