Lining up for private schools – Myanmar
By Phyo Wai Kyaw | Monday, 18 May 2015
When private schools were first allowed in Myanmar in August 2012, for the first time in half a century, Myanmar’s public education system appeared to be letting down its students: not just in quality but in quantity. The system offered five years of primary school, four years of secondary school and two years of high school. Singapore – ranked at 26th on the UN’s Human Development Index that year, compared to Myanmar’s 149th – offers a 6-4-3 system, with education mandatory to the high-school level. And while systems in Australia and the US differ by district, on average students in those countries receive two more years of schooling than children do in Myanmar.
Students write exams at KMC private school in Mandalay. Photo: Supplied
The decision to allow private schools back into Myanmar, for the first time since private schools were nationalised in 1965, was therefore an important shake-up to address inadequate educational opportunities stifling the country’s children – its future leaders. While international schools, teaching foreign curriculum, had been operating for some time, only the ultra-rich could afford them – and for those unlikely to pursue further education or jobs abroad afterward they made a poor bet. Private schools, on the other hand, offered an alternative, teaching the required core Myanmar curriculum but also offering extra focus on English, as well as more diversity in teaching enriched subjects such as music or sport, plus smaller class sizes (and hence lower student-teacher ratios) than their public counterparts.
All this happens, on average, at a fraction of the cost of international school fees: A year of private enrollment costs around K500,000 for primary school, K800,000 for secondary school and K1,000,000 for high school. It’s still too much for most, but reasonably accessible for the urban middle class.
In the first year of allowing private schools, 66 schools opened nationwide. The next year, 46 schools opened, with a further 69 schools the next. In addition to the 160 now operating nationally, for the coming year Yangon Region alone has received 100 applications to open new private schools – a sign of the swelling demand for these institutions.
KMC private school in Mandalay was among the first batch of private schools to open, having been granted a five-year permit, the longest offered (two-year permits and one-year trial permits may also be awarded to institutions, with reviews happen at the end of the term to assess renewals).
KMC founder U Khin Maung Cho told The Myanmar Times last week that private schools should be more than just private equivalents of public schools. Rather than just preparing students to pass exams with distinction, he said, private schools should also guide students toward becoming good people who can better serve their communities.
To this end, KMC offers not only core curricular subjects but also classes for sports, music, personal relationships and so forth, he said.
“There are some children who are outstanding players at sports and music despite not earning applause in curricular subjects. But first place is not just for class or for curricular subjects; you can be a winner in other areas,” U Khin Maung Cho said.
“A school is a place where children are developed and raised beyond their natural talents, even when they have difficulties learning.”
He said a teaching system which focuses on exam grades alone disrupts the true potential of education, which particularly needs to be nourished in younger years. “We try to have our students earn distinctions in the high-school level, but we give priority to multi-role development in earlier grades,” he said.
With English as a dominant global language, private schools are focusing on it increasingly, to enrich students’ opportunities by creating bilingual graduates.
“English is the focus in the teaching. The higher the grade, the more obvious this is. In big private schools, it becomes quite obvious they give more priority to English than before. Some private schools sign memorandums of understanding with international schools. Although local teachers were once the only teachers hired in my school; now native English speakers are being hired also,” said U Khin Maung Cho.
In handing out permits, the government is known to assess a number of factors, including facilities such as the playground, the library, student numbers, teaching equipment and laboratories. Private schools are supposed to have at least 300 students, though U Khin Maung Cho said enforcement on this metric is sometimes lax, something he criticises.
“If a school does not reach the stated requirements, I wish they would not allow that school to open. I wish they would not give permits easily to increase the number of private schools.” Another controversy in private schooling, he said, is that some students enroll for show without attending in reality. “These are facts which could destroy private schools. Schools should warn each other,” he said.
Some private school founders told The Myanmar Times said they face trouble getting permits in time for the enrollment period.
At the same time, the inverse problem also occurs, in which some new schools hire premises and equipment before securing a permit, then continue to accept enrollments in advance, not giving families sufficient notice if they do not receive a permit to open, leaving students high and dry when it comes to taking exams at the end of the semester.
Ma May Thu Myint, founder of Pan Pyo Khin private primary school in Taunggyi, said schools should not just be taking money – no matter how good the potential of private schools may seem to be.
Source: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/special-features/207-education-2015/14525-lining-up-for-private-schools.html