Opening a Pandora’s box

Since the opening up of its economy and its democratisation process, Myanmar’s government has understood the importance of education, including higher education, in supporting the country’s national development plans especially in sustaining economic development.

As such, in partnership with international development partners, the Myanmar government has undertaken a comprehensive education sector review, drafted and adapted its national education law, and will hopefully do the same to their higher education and private education laws in the near future.

Two of the latest developments that need to be discussed and addressed are the results of Myanmar’s 2015 national elections and their recent decision to grant institutional autonomy to all its higher education institutions.

Tug of war over reforms

Although higher education has been deemed important by both Myanmar’s administration and opposition ministers of parliament, it has also become a political battleground, as seen with the drafting of the national education law and its subsequent sub-sector laws.

Prior to the recent national elections, the administration and opposition highlighted higher education reforms within their respective political discourses. This engagement with higher education and its reforms within the political struggle between the administration and the opposition has significantly reduced the momentum, effectiveness and efficiency of Myanmar’s higher education reform process.

It is not the lack of qualified people at ministry or institutional levels, but rather the uncertainty and consequences of actions that prevent existing and future challenges from being discussed fully, and excellent ideas or recommendations from being proposed, and that deter or delay the implementation of Myanmar’s much needed higher education reforms.

With the official results of the 2015 national elections, the new government has the opportunity to focus on what truly matters, “ensuring the prosperity and welfare of its constituents” and “restoring peace and unity” in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

Higher education’s role in Myanmar should not be limited to supporting sustainable development, but rather expanded to support peace-building and unity within Myanmar, the Southeast Asian region and the rest of the world.

Higher education reforms, done properly, should serve as one of Myanmar’s key foundations in national development which should include peace-building and strengthening national identity formation. As such, it is in the best interests of Myanmar that a stronger focus and implementation of Myanmar’s much needed higher education reforms prevail within a political environment focused on mutual cooperation in the near future.

Institutional autonomy

With all of Myanmar’s 169 higher education institutions preparing their respective charters for the next academic year, it may appear that the advent of institutional autonomy in Myanmar’s higher education institutions is close.

The lack of a consensus about its higher education governance structure and the lack of awareness, capacity and limitations of institutional autonomy in Myanmar higher education, however, opens up a Pandora’s box within its higher education sector.

With Myanmar’s 169 higher education institutions under 13 ministries, including the Ministry of Education, the absence of a higher education law makes for lack of clarity around current and-or future higher education governance structure in Myanmar higher education.

Furthermore, it shows a lack of consensus in shaping Myanmar’s higher education governance structure, which has implications for its higher education institutions’ institutional autonomy. Although charters define the nature, powers and responsibilities of an institution, higher education institutions and their respective charters fall within the regulatory powers of the nation state.

Indeed, how does a higher education institution draft their charter? What powers, limitations and responsibilities would they have? What is the capacity of these higher education institutions with regard to self-governance? What is the overall national higher education governance framework that regulates these institutions? What is their relationship to their former ministries? Will they be financially independent or fully or partly funded by the government or their respective ministries?

On the other hand, is Myanmar’s higher education sector ready for 169 self-governing institutions? How will they ensure accountability, transparency and quality in self-governed (or semi-self-governed) higher education institutions?

The above questions are just some of the relevant questions that need to be addressed.

Usually, a broad governance structure – normally at national level – is properly defined prior to granting institutional autonomy. Capacity building of higher education management and staff is usually undertaken prior to granting institutional autonomy. A performance-based system is in place prior to a major governance reform such as granting institutional autonomy to higher education institutions.

Lastly, awarding of institutional autonomy is usually granted initially to selected higher education institutions and eventually expanded, as seen in Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam and other countries.

As such, the challenges and uncertainties of granting institutional autonomy to Myanmar’s entire higher education sector puts it in uncharted and untested territories, given the current state of the higher education sector, governance system and individual higher education institutions.

Light at the end of the tunnel

With the national elections over and the national government granting a degree of institutional autonomy to all its higher education institutions, a light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. It signifies an increased awareness to move forward with higher education reforms, to increase the democratisation and decentralisation of Myanmar’s higher education system.

There remains an urgent need to constructively seek consensus and draft Myanmar’s higher education law (and private education law) and its corresponding national higher education governance structure and system.

Myanmar’s higher education governance system needs to reflect international best practice which incorporates transparency, accountability and a performance-based financing system to ensure equitable access to quality and relevant higher education in Myanmar.

Furthermore, Myanmar needs to reflect on its readiness to regulate a higher education sector composed of independent and – to a certain degree – autonomous institutions lacking awareness, clarity and capacity with regard to the powers and especially the responsibilities of being an institutionally autonomous higher education institution.

Dr Roger Chao Jr is an independent higher education consultant. Aside from being the former international consultant for UNESCO in Myanmar, he has been engaged with several consultancies related to higher education with UNESCO. His research focus is on regionalisation of higher education, higher education reforms and comparative and international education.