September 8 (NMG): In an occasion of “the International Literacy Day” on September 8, the director of education from the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC), Saw Barnabas said the NHEC was implementing education projects in the border areas where the military government had neglected.

“The education project by the military regime could reach regions well-inside Burma and the NGOs also operating in the refugee camps. That’s why we have chosen our target area for the displaced persons who were neglected by both parties,” Barnabas said.

NHEC is a health and education committee formed to help refugee population and internally displaced persons along the borders of Burma.

In the occasion, he explained that the education projects of NHEC had been implementing in various ethnic regions of Burma such as Mon, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Lahu, Wa, Palaung, PaO, Kachin, Chin, Arakan and Naga.

He also added that NHEC was providing educational assistances for a total 140,000 students, salaries for 5000 teachers and facilitating over 1500 schools all over Burma.

Although there had been several initiatives by NHEC, the future carriers and profession of the students who were getting assistance by NHEC were still dimmed, Barnabas admitted.

In Burma under the successive military regimes, the lives of young generations even for the graduates are not certain and are facing difficulties for their livelihoods despite of heavy burdens for the cost of education by the parents.

“I have to depend solely on my parent’s financial support when I was in schools. Again, my parents have to give me money even when I got a job. At least, my mother scolded me that ‘my son, I had to give money not only while you were in schools but also after you’ve a job. Will you quit your job or shall I sell out our house?’ After hearing these words, I quit my job,” one exile Burmese, graduated from Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) who is currently working in education related NGO, said.

Although students in Burma who completed high school usually went to jobs, they were not competent in the fields and needed to be trained again by the seniors. “For regular students (day students) in the Universities, we have to attend only ten days for whole semester and we are instructed to learn by heart to those questions which will be included in the question papers. By this way, we passed our exams. We know only these and nothing more than these lessons,” one lady, graduated from Burma’s distance University who recently arrived Thai-Burma, border said.

However, in the lengthy policies of military government claimed that their education policies aimed to envisages not only to fulfill work forces of country’s need but to become competent citizens in all-round factors such as fluencies in languages, arts, sciences and technology, getting analytical thinking, senses of innovation, taking responsibilities and decision making, leading professional lives by respecting civil ethics in order to serve for the well-being of peoples.

Some analysis said there is huge gap between the facilities for ordinary people and military personal at the universities and that makes weakness in the education system of military regime.

Network Media Group