EDUCATION is a fundamental human right, a public good and a public responsibility. It transforms lives by driving economic and social development. It promotes peace, tolerance and social inclusion. It is key to eradicating poverty. And it enables children and young people to fulfil their potential.
It was to reaffirm these fundamental principles and to recognize the capital role of education in “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, that in December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as the International Day of Education.
Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to which the international community, including Myanmar, has committed itself calls for universal early childhood, primary and secondary education for all. To achieve this goal, we must expand access to quality education for every child and youth, end discrimination at all levels in the education system and dramatically improve the quality of education and learning outcomes.
Myanmar continues to face challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. At least 12% of primary and lower secondary age children are out-of-school, with over 30% out-of-school children in Rakhine State making it the highest in the country. These are usually the poorest, most marginalized children living in remote areas and impacted by protracted conflicts and crises. One-fourth of those who are 15 years and older (around 9 million) are unable to read and write . Only around 17% completed upper secondary education.
Despite these somber statistics, there is also good news. Myanmar has been implementing a wide range of reforms for its education system in alignment with SDG4 since launching its National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) 2016 – 2021 which comprises nine transformational shifts for reforming each sub-sector of education. With the development of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) in 2018, Myanmar has also integrated the SDGs in the country’s national development priorities.
With a view to making quality education work for everyone, it is imperative for global cooperation and collective action, by promoting inclusion and equity at every level, to leave no one behind. This calls for special attention to girls, migrants, displaced persons and refugees; children and youth with disabilities; to support teachers and make education and training more responsive to the needs of the learners. It urgently requires scaled up domestic resources and international aid, because the cost of not investing in education will lead to greater divides, inequalities and exclusion across societies.
In particular, it cannot be emphasized enough that teachers are key to achieving quality education for all. To ensure that all children, regardless of their backgrounds and abilities, are prepared to learn and take their place in society, teachers must receive effective training and support that equip them to respond to the needs of all students, including the most marginalised.
The upgrade of pre-service teacher education from two-year diploma programmes to four-year degree programmes in Myanmar is an important initiative that UNESCO has been supporting the Ministry of Education to implement. Teachers must receive quality initial teacher education, effective induction into the profession, and have opportunities for high-quality professional development to hone their skills throughout their careers. They must also demonstrate to the public that teaching is a valued profession by providing decent salaries and improving working conditions for educators at all levels of education.
In addition to a strong and qualified teaching force, a well-designed curriculum is equally important in ensuring quality education. In pre-service teacher education, a competency-based curriculum, which is in line with international practice, will be implemented to help student teachers not only learn the subject content but also acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to situations they encounter in everyday life. This learner-centered curriculum strengthens the competencies of student teachers to prepare them for the effective delivery of the new basic education curriculum impacting nine million basic education students.
Viet Nam, which performed above OECD average in the Program for International Student As sessment (PISA) in 2015, underwent a key shift in education policy relating to teacher professional development and competency-based curriculum development in 2000s . Their experience can shed light on the importance of investing in teachers and curriculum to improve quality of education.
On this International Day of Education, UNESCO calls upon the Government and the people of Myanmar as well as the international community to make education a leading priority for sustainable development, so that all children and young people, no matter their circumstances, can secure their right to quality education and a better future.
Each and every one of us have a stake in education, let us act together to fulfil its promise for all children of Myanmar.
