Primary and Secondary Education in Myanmar 173
After independence in 1948, the Burmese administration launched the
“Simla Scheme”, a policy that brought various types of schools under a
single system under the central government. Education was made free,
with the entry age set at age six. The Simla Scheme continues to influence
basic education. When General Ne Win took over the country in 1962
in a military coup, a new University Act decreased the size of Rangoon
and Mandalay Universities by having them focus on specialized courses
of study. Since then, school matriculation examination results determine
students’ choices of course of study.^14 Myanmar Language and Literature is
the lowest-ranking course of study. Over the decades, the government has
enacted policies to restrict the ethnic make-up of certain courses of study,
such as medicine, in which people of Chinese descent were considered
over-represented.
In 1965, as part of a larger campaign, General Ne Win nationalized all
schools, including mission schools and schools operated for the Chinese
and Indian communities. Many of the buildings that housed missionary,
Chinese, or Indian-run schools serve as public schools today, including
some that we visited on our research trips.
Contemporary Provision of Education
Overall, the education system is characterized by poor quality, out-
dated pedagogy and insufficient geographic coverage. Rural and border
areas are poorly served.^15 According to the recent Human Development
Index, the mean for years of schooling in Myanmar is just under four.^16
Roughly half of Myanmar’s children do not complete primary school.^17
When viewed against the benchmark of “Education For All” (EFA),^18 to
which Myanmar became signatory in 2001, the government system does
not address the core needs of students or society. Enrolment levels are
low; transition rates from primary to middle school are low at about one
quarter, although with dramatic regional variation; and of those who do
continue through the final year of high school, only 50 per cent pass the
matriculation exam.
In addition to the government system, there are community-based
schools, monastic schools, and in areas with non-state armed groups,
ethnic education departments, such as in areas of Mon State that are under
the control of the New Mon State Party. Throughout the country, local
communities often bear the burden to provide education, which while in