Why a boycott of universities does not make sense

As a result of the ongoing challenges related to the Rohingya situation in Myanmar, there have been calls from academics to cut ties with Myanmar’s higher education institutions. At a time when Myanmar has just started to open up to the international community, progressed towards a more democratic governance system and started reconstructing its entire education system, this call to cut ties is not at all helpful.

Myanmar’s higher education sector has no control over the Rohingya situation. Furthermore, the country has just started rebuilding its higher education sector, which should be the core infrastructure that supports socio-economic development, democratic development and peacebuilding.

Myanmar higher education and the Rohingya crisis

Myanmar’s higher education sector deteriorated as a result of the country’s decades long isolation from the international community and a lack of investment in both hard and soft infrastructure.

Over the past years, however, Myanmar has been engaged in updating its education, higher education and private higher education laws, restructuring its higher education governance structure, adjusting its matriculation and university entrance system, developing a National Qualifications Framework and establishing a quality assurance agency.

This is on top of various institutional changes that are being or will be adopted over the coming years, which include granting more institutional autonomy, improving programme and curriculum offerings, engaging in international partnerships and slowly increasing research infrastructure and productivity.

Given the tasks mentioned above, Myanmar’s higher education institutions and its higher education community and stakeholders are heavily engaged in reconstructing the sector’s foundations to provide increased access to quality and relevant programmes to young people.

In spite of the fact that Myanmar’s higher education sector and community could raise their voice on the Rohingya issue, theirs is a voice which is newly acquired in an infant semi-democracy at a time when a significant amount of their energies are directed towards reconstructing the foundations of the higher education sector.

Understanding the situation

In relation to the Rohingya crisis, the international community, and especially international media, should focus on understanding the historical, cultural and religious roots of this challenging situation.

Although I sympathise with the challenges in every humanitarian crisis, I do believe that lasting solutions should be the priority rather than short-term solutions. The latter usually results in recurring issues and challenges, as seen in the Middle East and Afghan crises.

In fact, finding sustainable solutions to complex challenges, such as the Rohingya, Middle East and Afghan crises, may require non-traditional and creative solutions – the kind of solutions that universities could foster.

Myanmar higher education has its hands full with the massive task of revitalising the entire sector to support the country’s socio-economic, cultural and political development.

Instead of blaming universities and academics for not significantly raising their voices to dictate what their leaders – in particular Daw Aung San Suu Kyi – should do, the international community should understand that the Myanmar population, including its higher education community, is adjusting to recent democratic developments and building the foundations for an effective, equitable and quality education system that fits the country’s context and developmental needs.

Building an effective, equitable and quality education system takes time and requires empowering the country’s populace through education, especially higher education. In spite of Myanmar’s challenges, including insurgency and the Rohingya issue, sustainable peace and prosperity in the country – and indeed worldwide – can only be addressed through a process of dialogue, compromise and empowerment.

As such, the importance of education, and higher education in particular, in inculcating a culture of acceptance and awareness of and compromise with other cultures and religions among the population is a necessary foundation to building peace in the nation.

Increasing support for higher education

Given the fragile state and condition of Myanmar’s higher education system, the international higher education community should be increasing support for the reconstruction of the country’s higher education sector.

Without international support, initial progress made by Myanmar in reconstructing higher education risks going backwards. I cannot stress enough the importance of building the right foundations for Myanmar higher education.

Without the right foundations, the sector faces the risk of inefficiency and irrelevance in addressing its ongoing socio-economic and democratic transition.

Furthermore, without input and support from the international higher education community, its higher education reform process may not be sustainable and barriers may increase, making it more difficult to support Myanmar’s socio-economic and democratic transition. This could end up reducing the country and its population’s capacity to contribute to a common agenda of building a peaceful and prosperous world order.

International higher education institutions and academics should sustain and even increase their support for building the foundations of Myanmar higher education. This is the constructive way of dealing with the country’s national and global challenges, including the Rohingya crisis, as opposed to removing support when it is most needed.

We don’t give people an umbrella when the sun is in the sky and take it away when it starts raining. We should all focus on what can be done to positively bring about change rather than increasing our focus on the challenges. Sustainable socio-economic and democratic reforms are achieved through a long and painful process and the role of an effective, equitable and quality higher education sector plays a major role in this.

As someone who has worked with and is still following the development of higher education in Myanmar, I urge the international higher education community to look beyond what is portrayed in international media and understand that sustainable and even increased support for Myanmar’s higher education sector is the way forward to tackle the country’s challenges.

Dr Roger Y Chao Jr is senior consultant for UNESCO International Center for Higher Education Innovation, China. He was formerly the higher education specialist for UNESCO Myanmar. Researching various aspects of higher education, he has been actively publishing on regionalisation and internationalisation of higher education, higher education reforms, comparative and international education, teacher education and recently on refugee education.