Building a New Future: Opportunity and TVET in

Myanmar

Dr. Sai Kyaw Naing OoDDG, Department of Technical and

Vocational EducationADB, Manila, 1-2 Dec 2015

Outline1. Myanmar’s Dramatic Transformation2. Myanmar’s Daunting “Skills Challenge”3. Reform Directions and Achievements4. Case Study: Shifting to Competency-

Based Approaches

1. Myanmar’s Transformation

Myanmar has embarked on a dramatic transformation:• Political: a new

democracy• Social: people-centered

development and more open society

1. Myanmar’s Transformation (cont.)

Myanmar’s economic model also undergoing major transformations:

From To

Closed/isolated Open and engaged in regional/global markets

Dependent on natural resource exploitation

Balanced development (including industry and service sectors)

Competing on cheap/low-skill labor

Modern, higher skill and value-added

2. Myanmar’s Daunting “Skills Challenge”• A “new Myanmar” will require a huge array of soft and hard skills• Myanmar’s education/training system resembles many neighbors,

but is it meeting skill needs?

The Pre-Reform RealityThe problem: Many workforce entrants and young workers are poorly educated and lack hard and soft skills:

• “Quantity” issues• “Quality” issues

Constrains: • Business• Growth model• Inclusiveness (e.g., • access to modern sector work)

(i) Quantity Challenges: Myanmar’s “Missing Million”

Most youth complete primary but fail to complete secondary education

(i) Quantity Issues (cont.)Equity dimensions: gaps dividing urban/rich vs. rural/poor

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(i) Quantity Issues (cont.)ADB-supported CESR analysis shows exiters don’t enter training:• Of 16-19 year-olds, 1 in 9 are in university but only 1 in 60 are in any training (less than 1% if

exclude university students also taking a training)• Concentrated in urban areas, computer courses, and languages • Partly because most forms of TVET require passage of high school matriculation exam

Human Capital Base for a Modern Economy?

… and only 1.7% of 16-19 year-olds are enrolled in training.

• SES will continue to bear the biggest burden in the near- term • TVET needs to expand• Both need quality-side reforms to produce skills (soft & hard)

(ii) Quality Challenges

Workers and employers need skills (not diplomas):• “Soft skills” (e.g., critical thinking, communication,

etc.)• “Hard skills” (e.g., welding, computers, etc.)

Key quality and labor market relevance issues in:• Secondary education:

– largest share of workforce entrants, but rote-based/outdated

– “lack of interest” #1 reason reported for dropout

• Higher education (claims of “worthless degrees”) • Technical and vocational education and training

(TVET)

TVET Quality Challenges

Prior to reforms, key quality issues have included:• “Top-heavy” orientation,

leaving unmet skill demands (by workers & employers) at base of the skill pyramid

• Supply-driven (weak industry dialogue/engagement)

• “Academic” approach, not based on delivering skills/competencies needed in workplace

• Weak/outdated facilities for applied TVET

Result: Vicious Cycle of Weak Skills BaseMost employers:

• complain that education system (including TVET) fails to equip youth to work…• … but don’t train their own workers, partly viewing them as “un-trainable”

Source: ADB staff analysis of 2014 Enterprise Survey dataset

3. Reform Directions and Achievements

Government’s people-centered development push:• Resources: e.g., education budgets tripled from

FY2011-FY2013 alone (though still low at just above 2% of GDP)

• Evidence: Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR) initiated in 2012 to inform reforms

• Legislation: e.g., – 2013 Employment and Skills Development. Law (supports

new basis on skill standards system; proposes skill development levy, etc.)

– Draft 2015 TVET Law (strengthens TVET’s overall role)

Reform Directions and Achievements (cont.)

Planning: CESR feeding into National Education Sector Plan (NESP) 2016-2021. Key TVET thrusts to include: • Establishment of new TVET

Council• Reorienting TVET toward demand-

driven, competency-based approaches (e.g., continued development of skill standards and new program curriculum)

• Expanding access for disadvantaged youth/workers

• Increased private sector role• Strengthening learning pathways

4. Case Study: Competency-Based ApproachesCESR called for development of new model of competency-based modular short courses (CBMSCs) as a priority “quick win”:• Government sought ADB and JFPR

support via TA 8634: Skills Development for Inclusive Growth ($2.0 million)

• Close multi-agency cooperation• Core focus: development & pilot testing

of 3-month CBMSCs to equip disadvantaged young adults with job-ready, highly demanded skills

• Also provides “on-the-ground” support to broader TVET reforms planned under NESP (with further ADB support planned)

Pilot Test Sites and Skill Areas

In 3 MOE Govt. Technical High Schools (Mandalay, Naypyitaw, and Yangon), competency-based modular short courses on building and construction:

• Bricklaying• Bar bending• Concrete shuttering • Road construction (Culvert, Dirt Road, etc.)

In 2 MOI Industrial Training Centers (No.2 Mandalay and No. 4 Pakokku) courses on welding and repair of small rural-use machinery:

• Arc welding • MIG-MAG welding• Farm equipment maintenance and repair • Motorbike maintenance and repair

Courses to be launched starting January 2016

5 Key Innovations to Date

From humble beginnings…

… a TVET revolution has begun

(1) Industrial attachment of GTHS teachers participating in the pilot—a “bottom-up reform” linked to a much bigger shift toward demand-driven, labor market-linked TVET

5 Key Innovations (cont.)

(2) Promoting multi-ministry cooperation to construct a multi-dimensional but cohesive TVET subsector, while leveraging more impact out of existing facilities

(3) Helped develop conceptual framework for high-quality, demand-driven TVET

Industry skill demands, National Qualification Framework, etc.

5 Key Innovations (cont.)

(4) Helped NSSA develop Myanmar’s new national skill standard template/format, & supporting development/revision of skill standards

(5) Introduction of competency-based modular short courses (CBMSCs) as a new approach, included as a major focal area of the NESP for 2016-2020

Conclusion

Based on the current status of TVET in Myanmar and building on recent progress, the National Education Sector Plan (2016-2020) will implement the following strategies to achieve a “Transformational Shift” for TVET:• Expanding access to TVET for various target groups

including ethnic and disadvantaged populations and people with disabilities

• Strengthening the quality and relevance of TVET• Strengthening TVET subsector management

Thank You

Dr. Sai Kyaw Naing Oo