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