campusreview. com. au international education young people have streamed out of the country, fleeing a repressive state, civil war and economic decline, and searching for education. Most languished in refugee camps on the border with Thailand or worked in low-skill jobs across South-east Asia. However, for those fortunate enough to have family money behind them or host-government scholarships, an overseas qualification is life-changing.
UNESCO data shows there were more than 7254 Burmese students in universities abroad in 2012, as steady growth averaged nearly 15 per cent a year over the previous decade. The leading destination was Russia( 1799) – surprising for a South-east Asian country – followed by more predictable places, such as Thailand( 1481), Japan( 1139), the US( 782) and Australia( 641).
In addition, there are many thousands more Burmese students abroad in intensive language courses, foundation programs and diploma programs, who are not included in UNESCO’ s figures. Another group of Burmese students not counted by UNESCO are those studying in Singapore, which is probably the top destination. Singapore is one of the few countries in the world that is secretive about where its international students come from, which is a shame, given its regional importance.
Myanmar is a bigger country than many might think, with a population somewhere between 50 million and 60 million, and its university students abroad represent just 0.2 per cent of the country’ s tertiary-age population. That rate of overseas degree study is on par with some large, low-income countries such as India and Indonesia, but is less than half the rate of nearby Thailand, Vietnam and China, whose economic development Myanmar hopes to emulate.
The 0.2 per cent rate is also much lower than for other former British colonies in South-east Asia – Malaysia and Singapore. It’ s a pretty safe bet that outbound student numbers will continue to grow rapidly as long as the economic recovery persists. Those students will play a key role in rebuilding the country, using what they have learned abroad to help Myanmar make up for lost time.
MYANMAR international students in Australia The number of students in Australia from Myanmar tripled between 2006 and 2010, reaching a peak of 1200. Since then, enrolments in Australian universities have remained fairly flat, around 700, whilst there has been a decline in vocational education enrolments, which are down by more than half since 2010. Enrolments in foundation programs have been growing at about 30 per cent annually, for the last couple of years.
These students’ level of study in Australia reflects Myanmar’ s poor state of domestic education provision. Five out of six students from Myanmar in Australia’ s universities are in undergraduate or sub-degree programs, with few going on to postgraduate study. The largest proportion are studying business programs, followed by engineering, health, science and information technology – all areas of expertise that are in high demand in Myanmar.
The total number of Myanmar students shows every indication of continuing to rise, as continued economic growth, particularly in the urban centres, expands the number of those with the means to study abroad. So why has the number in Australia stalled in recent years?
The main reason is cost, which the lower Australian dollar will help with, slightly. The growth destinations, it seems, are Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, which are attractive given the lower tuition fees, cost of living and airfares.
ASEAN integration will only strengthen the pull of those regional hubs. Foundation programs are now offered by private colleges in Yangon in association with Pearson and Navitas, providing students with simple pathways into linked diploma and degree programs offered by private institutions and transnational providers in those countries.
Transnational education in Myanmar? These conditions – huge demand, limited capacity to quickly increase the domestic supply of quality education and low percapita incomes – suit the development of transnational programs and campuses in Myanmar more than recruitment to study in Australia. In many ways, these conditions for international education in Myanmar resemble Malaysia and Singapore in the early 1980s and Vietnam in the early 1990s, before the transnational education booms in those countries. A similar trajectory is likely over the next couple of decades if the political conditions remain stable. So far, no foreign educational institution has been brave enough to take the plunge, but many are circling.
The main impediment to collaborative provision is that local partners are thin on the ground. Partnerships between Myanmar’ s public universities and foreign universities to jointly deliver programs would make good sense and would help build capacity and quality over time, but the country’ s universities are struggling with bureaucratic oversight by many ministries and limited ability to innovate.
A recent promise by the government to increase university autonomy may help, but only time will tell. In the meantime, there are urgent needs for collaboration to develop modern curriculums, strengthen institutional management and build research capacity. The large donor countries are investing by supporting such linkages and, hopefully, there is room in Australia’ s dwindling aid budget to do the same. TAFE Directors Australia recently received funding from Austrade’ s Asian Business Engagement Plan to support linkages with Myanmar’ s government technical institutes; more projects like this are needed to build productive connections that will be important as the country emerges onto the world stage.
In Malaysia and Singapore, early transnational education developed through partnerships between foreign universities and local private colleges. However, in Myanmar there are no private universities and the few private colleges that have emerged in recent years to provide English academic preparation and foundation programs are still small. The most likely foreign entrants into the Myanmar education system are private education providers with experience in developing countries, which could fill the void by providing either international foundation, credit transfer and degree programs or vocational programs in high-demand areas such as construction, tourism, information technology and so on.
As long as the democratisation and liberalisation processes continue in Myanmar, international educational links have enormous scope to develop, but it will take decades for the country to recover and it is early days still. For example, the lifting of trade embargoes has allowed Visa and MasterCard in, so you can at last pay your hotel bill with plastic. But you still can’ t easily transfer funds across the border or use a foreign phone. So the growing numbers of educators and students moving in and out will need to carry wallets full of greenbacks and pockets full of SIM cards for a while longer. n
Associate professor Christopher Ziguras is deputy dean, international in RMIT’ s School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, and vice-president of the International Education Association of Australia.
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