Higher Education in Post-coup Myanmar

The 2021 military coup has had devastating effects on Myanmar’s education sector, and students, teachers, youth platforms, and ethnic groups are coming together to emerge as alternative education providers. According to 2018 statistics, there were 28,851 teaching and office staff under the Department of Higher Education, and in May 2021, over 13,000 staff, nearly 45%, were suspended from their duties due to their involvement in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Sadly, two dozen teachers have been killed and over 200 others from the education sector have been arrested for their participation in protests and demonstrations. In April 2021,  two months after the coup, several interim education providers emerged to fill the educational vacuum for students and CDM academic staff in the higher education sector. These Interim Education Providers (IEPs) began offering short-term and diploma courses, mostly using online-based teaching methods and technological platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet.

This “Higher Education in Post-coup Myanmar” report aims to provide a nuanced picture of the emergence and development of interim education during the Spring movement in Myanmar, with a particular focus on the higher education sector. This report will categorise the profiles of education providers after the coup and address the challenges, difficulties, and experiences faced by IEPs, community leaders, students, and teachers. This project is part of the research work of the Spring University Myanmar and aims to provide comprehensive information about interim education to relevant stakeholders, thereby stimulating informed policy-making.