Myanmar Education Conference 2023 opens with an address by Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
NAY PYI TAW May 18
Opening ceremony of Myanmar Education Conference 2023 was held at Myanmar International Convention Centre-2 here this morning addressed by Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Also present together with the Senior General were SAC Vice Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the SAC joint secretary, SAC members, union level officials, union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chair, Chief of General State (Army, Navy and Air) General Maung Maung Aye, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, deputy ministers,
scholars, resource persons, professors of universities,colleges and institutes, rectors of universities, students, honoured guests and officials.
Vice-Senior General Soe Win, SAC member Deputy Prime Minister Union Minister for Defence General Mya Tun Oo, SAC member Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun,
Union Minister for Education Dr Nyunt Pe and Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Myo Thein Kyaw formally opened the conference.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing unveiled the conference archway by pushing the button.
At the opening ceremony, alinka song “Education Conference for National Prosperity” was sung by artists of Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture.
The Senior General said SAC is implementing the point “To promote multiple education systems in order to produce the necessary human resources for building a modern developed democratic nation” of the social objectives of the 12 objectives and held the present ceremony with the aim of developing the future education sector of the country. The conference cosponsored by 11 related ministries will also host roundtable discussions and paper reading sessions where means will be collectively sought to overcome hardships, problems and challenges that are obstructing the country’s education development and adopt future programs for the education improvement.
Education is defined in various ways, and one of the definitions said “Education is the intellectual knowledge, technological knowledge, general knowledge, proficiency, ability, qualification and values accrued through multiple means of learning.” Learning is a lifelong process which starts at the infant stage. Every human can build a perfect and successful life with the knowledge he pursued.
He will also help develop his and the surroundings’ socioeconomy and support human society.
In addition to providing subject wise and technological skills for every person, allround education also enhances personal skills, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, evaluation, analytical skills, collaboration, adaptability, social skills, emotional intelligence, justice, ethical behavior and leadership for every individual in a wide array of intellectual and technological sectors.
Well-rounded education is an important sector of developing countries. Human resources outstanding in multiple education fields have greater knowledge of the rights and duties of citizens. Hence, they will become the force that will render greater cooperation in the national democratization process. In this regard, the country has adopted an objective to promote all-round education that will bring about youths imbued with intellectual knowledge, technological knowledge, personal skill and energy in building a Union based on democracy and federalism.
According to records of the Education Ministry, of the 19.44 million enrolled at schools during the period from 1999 to 2014, 11.37 million or 57.29 percent reached fifth standard;and only 7.78 million or 40.26 percent reached eighth standard (middle school level). According to transit census data, of the 46.46 million over five years, 290,000 have completed vocational education and three million have completed degree courses. The Senior General said he had noted the rapid decrease in the number of students at higher classes since 2004 while he was the chair of Rakhine State Peace and Development Council. He also found a similar situation when serving duties in Shan State. After the SAC assumed duties, the Education Ministry was assigned to check the situation. The ministry has found the abovementioned situation. The 2009 transit census data indicated that only half of the 22.9 million people of the over-15s reached middle school education level. Seventy percent of the country's population is rural dwellers, and 45 percent of people of ages between 15 and above are engaged in farming, 9.5 percent in production.
They need good industrial and farming foundations. The number of people who completed technological school and vocational education, eligible for students who pass middle school or high school, and diploma courses in the whole country is just about 300,000. Hence, more opportunities must be provided to students who completed middle school education to attend technological, farming and vocational courses. 3000,000 is slightly more than 1 percent of the nation’s over 15 population.
According to the interim census collected in 2019 mentioned that the majority of students dropped out the school when the primaryschool education completed. Number of students started decline from 12 years old, and after 14 years old when they completed the middle school education, number of students remarkably was down.
In interviewing 10 persons who halt school learning, three of them needed to help their families and two of them did not affort to continue learning.
The main reason of halting school learning of the people between three and 50 years old were based on ailing, injuries and disabilities for 1.9 percent, unaffordability to continue learning for 21.5 percent, working household chores for 29.2 percent, doing agricultural tasks for 7.2 percent, loss in examination, weaking in learning and lack of interestin learning for 12.2 percent and too far distance in schooling for 4.5 percent.
These factors are based on poverty. The reasons which hiner to increasingnumber of students and high rate of passing the examinations should be solved by the current education conference.
Education is a foundation for building the State.The State can be built by intellectuals and intelligentsia to have development.
Everybody accepts that the country with many uneducated citizens and low grade education will not actually possess development. Human resources is crucial in shaping the continuous development of a country. Hence, it needs to initiate the improvement of education sector so as to develop human resources. Political stability, maturity and economic development directly reflected with number of educated persons. Hence, it is necessary to strive for increasing number of educated persons for improvement of the State.
As such, all the people need to create the learning opportunities for their school age children to have the modernized education.
They have to implement the motto: Education for All.
According to the observation, everybody needs to learn at least middle school education to have the skills for ordinationlivelihoods.
All parent citizens have to pave a strong way for their offspring in the future. In this regard, many examples can be seen in achieving successthrough the united strength.
It is no reason to face losses in efforts for serving the national duty in harmony to enable all school age children to learn education, at least middle school education under KG+9 scheme and to be better education sector in the future in Myanmar.
According to the research works, if the parents who are lectutant to enrol their offspring can be organized to understand the value of education and to believe that the society is ready to provide assistance for them, they will be keen to enrol their offspring.
The government is providing school textbooks, notebooks, pencils, ball pens and school uniforms free of charge to students and request the students who completed relevant grades to hand over school uniforms and books to needy students.
Moreover, the government presents stipends to actual needy students so as to reduce burdens from their parents so as to contribute to enrolment of children.
Parents wish to enroll their children at the schools capable of teaching quality education.
Hence, it is important for assigning adequate number of teachers, teaching skills of teachers in harmony with their degrees, enhancement of teacher capacity, welfare, improvement of curricula and development of the school structures. Moreover, it is necessary to provide requirements of school buildings, classrooms, school library, teaching aid, water supply, toilets, playground and equipment of physical training. Moreover, it needs to review the policy on upgrading the schools depending on transport facilities of students to the schools.
Aiming at implementing an objective from the economic objectives of the State Administration Council “ To assure support to the sustainability of Micro-, Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (MSME) that prioritize import substitution, export production and the use of domestically produced raw materials, in order to increase domestic production and generate employment opportunities”, plans are underway to open 61 technical, agriculture and livestock breeding high schools in 50 districts as from 2023-2024 academic year. Those who completed the KG+9 middle education can attend these high schools. To have the basic vocational skills, they will have the chance to take practices of agriculture, livestock and technical subjects in Grades 10, 11 and 12. In 2024-2025 academic year, 75 similar schools will be opened in remaining districts.
Upon completion of opening all schools, each class will admit 50 students and three subjects at basic education high schools will give completion of learning for 18,500 students per year. If it takes 10 years, number of students will reach 185,000. The persons with basic skills will contribute to the workplaces.
Further tasks must be done for those persons to continue further studies at universities, colleges and institutes.
If effective teaching and training on useful subjects and skills can be given to those students at these schoos to turn out human resources, they will have the qualification to produce import substituted products and value-added products so as to provide food sufficiency of their families as well as the State and reduce spending of foreign exchange. The Senior General urged the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology in addition to relevant ministries are to provide assistance for successful implementation of the plan. These schools have to teach students with knowledge and skills which will fulfill requirements of the State and private sector. It is necessary to teach students to have vocational subjects contributing to their livelihoods and to take trainingat workplaces through Public Private Partnership between the government and private sector.
There has been an aim to turn out lots of educated people to help build a modern, developed democratic country. University is a place where advanced subjects are taught so that students can have creative thinking by using their knowledge and skills. In the past, one joined university to become a civil servant.
But now with a multi party democratic system, market economy and knowledge age, they can do what they want to do in addition to becoming civil servants. There are various fields from medium management (manager) to social affairs, health, technology/vocation, economics, agriculture and livestock. Critical thinking, creative thinking, innovation and research are very important today and must be applied.
In the higher education sector, there are several ways of studying such as in erson day classes, online classes and correspondent classes. Whatever way, it is necessary to acquire real skills. It is necessary to study in a happy and healthy manner. Providing quality higher education requires appointing qualified teachers, conducting quality courses, ensuring syllabuses are modern, improving teaching methods, seeking and using new technologies, encouraging library and internet use, establishing online platform and digital libraries, providing enough teaching aid, lab equipment and research equipment, encouraging research and innovation, doing research in collaboration with businesses and government organizations, ensuring students have job opportunities, sending students abroad for further studies, and making a combination of sports and education.
If so, the set aim can be realized in a short time.
As universities need to have grandeur and a certain degree of its dignity. Likewise, officials concerned are responsible for making those universities a good appearance and keeping them neat and clean. There must be characteristics of a university.
They also should be equipped with necessary buildings, libraries and research centres to create a good and effective educational atmosphere.
Universities themselves need to review and upgrade the subjects they are teaching and provide more courses that have a high demand.
The higher education sector needs not only to teach students to obtain high skills in their respective branches but also to teach them to help improve their society. In various investments in the effort for national development, educational investment is crucial. Investment in education will generate good results for the future of the country.
The State allots and raises education budgets yearly. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, a budget of Ks-3,146.149 billion has been approved for the Ministry of Education and other related ministries. This amount accounts for 9.48 percent of the total Union budget and 2.18 percent of the country’s GDP.
Regarding the provision of student grants over the past two years since the SAC assumed State duties, Ks-30,000 each has been monthly provided for students doing doctoral degrees, Ks-25,000 each for those doing master’s degrees and Ks-10,000 for those doing post-graduate diplomas since October 2021.
For administrative allowances, since 1 April 2022, university rectors, degree college principals and basic education school heads have monthly been provided with a bonus which is 10 percent of their original salary. Since October 2021, daily wage earning teaching assistants have monthly been provided with Ks-130,000 up from Ks-96,000 and ethnic language teachers with Ks- 60,000 up from Ks-30,000.
Since August 2022, single teachers have monthly been provided with a bonus which is 4 percent of their original salary and married teachers with a bonus which is 8 percent of their original salary as house renting expenses.
In addition, in order to promote effective teaching and learning, the Ministry of Education appointed new teachers in accordance with the need for a balanced teacher student ratio and 13,903 primary, middle and high school teachers, 5,899 tutors and 333 education degree college instructors are appointed. A total of 7,537 teachers were appointed in various schools in other ministries. The BED (correspondence) degree course, which previously only opened at two educational institutions, is being opened at 25 educational degree colleges at the rate of two batches per year.
In addition to the construction of 5,835 new buildings and 125 libraries in the basic education sector, 21 new buildings, 22 student dormitories, 3 teachers' dormitories, 3 graduation halls, 5 research centers, 3 libraries, and 1 gymnasium in higher education sector, 23 new buildings, 40 student dormitories, 27 staff housings, 1 library and 2 gymnasiums in education degree colleges, teaching materials, equipment, furniture, laboratory equipment, and the reference books are provided in order to have the opportunity to teach quality education and to create a good teaching and learning environment. A total of 148 buildings were constructed in various schools in other ministries.
As the state allows increasing education expenditures every year and provides support from all sides to raise the education sector, the education staffs are also needed to make the best efforts in their respective sectors.
The Senior General expressed his belief that from today’s education conference, they will find a way to remedy the lack of transition in education levels, to increase the number of students attending school, to implement KG+9 education as a national issue in all regions and states, to teach agriculture, livestock breeding and industrial and technical sciences in KG+10, 11, 12 grades for basic livelihood, to produce human resources for effective teaching of agriculture, livestock breeding and industrial sciences that will be practical in the workplace, to teach the environment that will support the community in addition to subject expertise in higher education, to produce Arts and Sciences scholars and technicians, patriotism of young people and to find the ways that can be done to have love for the country which will be discussed and identified, and that good results will emerge from the process.
As the inquisitiveness, willingness to be creative, abilityto think rationally and patriotism love of country are being trained for young people by training the young generation well in order to access the world that is evolving with the innovative technologies of today, they must also guide and teach them to know and respect the law and behave in a dignified manner. In shaping the future of the next generation, schools, curriculum qualities, knowledge of teachers in respective subjects, teaching skills, the attitudes and values of the career will be important.
Therefore, at the Myanmar Education Conference (2023) that is being held now, the Senior General expressed his wishes for an educated generation and the building of a modern and developed democratic country that experts from various ministries can discuss and discuss openly from various perspectives for the betterment of Myanmar's education in the future. In the education conference, they can actively discuss and discover many good results of the process ahead. With the collective strength of all educational families and citizens, the socioeconomic life of the people can be brought to a higher level.
After that, the students and artists from the Department of Fine Arts performed with "Youth Festival Song" and "Pearl Devi Swing Dance".
After that, Union Minister Dr Nyunt Pe presented a gift commemorating the Myanmar National Education Conference (2023) to Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
After the ceremony, the Senior General, the Vice-Senior General and the guests took pictures together with the participants of the ceremony and toured the exhibits with interest displayed by 11 ministries related to education sector inside the hall.
After that, the Senior General and members attended the dinner ceremony to mark the opening of the Myanmar National Education Conference (2023) in the evening.
It has been reported that it is the first educational conference jointly organized by all ministries related to education sector and it will be held from May 18 to 20.
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