Private Education

In Myanmar all schools are financed and administered by the State and there are no private schools. There is, however, a proliferation of privately-run, single-subject tuition classes and non-curriculum subjects tuition classes such as foreign language studies, computer studies, accountancy and business studies, etc.

With the liberalizing of the economy and increasing job opportunities, many young people have turned to privately-run courses. The private sector concerned with education enjoyed a “boom-time” dealing with computer studies, foreign language studies and studies in business management and administration, accounting and secretarial training.

There is a pressing need for the education and manpower training systems to be adequately geared to meet the demands of a modernizing economy. The Ministry of Education has responded by initiating the Human Resource Development Programme, which represents a more flexible and varied form of post-school examination and training which makes optimal use of the existing resources. The National Centre for Human Resource Development (NCHRD)—based at the Department of Higher Education—was established in June 1998. There are Centres for Human Resource Development located at the universities, institutes, degree colleges and colleges under the Ministry of Education. These centres offer a wide variety of options in the form of certificate, diploma or degree courses in such diverse fields as foreign language studies, computer science, computer engineering, accounting studies, business management, environmental studies, multimedia arts, cosmetic technology and teaching. These courses are in addition to the regular courses offered by these institutions.