A research on “Challenges for the Development of Education in Rural Areas of Myanmar” issued by Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy (BJSEP) states that a lack of resources and qualified teachers are pressing issues for the basic-education schools in rural areas of Myanmar, where two-thirds of the population reside in.
Having a very limited access to state-of-the-art learning materials, internet, and technology, sports facilities as well as the guidance of competent teachers, those disadvantaged students in remote villages of Myanmar are lagging far behind their urban counterparts in terms of English language skills, digital literacy skills, and other soft skills - all of which are of paramount importance for the academic growth and career prospects in this 21st century.
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
A Solution to this Pressing Problem
To help bridge disparities in education between urban and rural students, in 2019, “The 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education Movement” was initiated by a group of university students from Mandalay University along with other students and graduates from over twenty different universities in Myanmar, with the mission “Every Child has the Right to Dream”. The term “Ah-Thone-Lone” comes from the Burmese language – which refers to English (အင်္ဂလိပ်စာ), Information and Technology (အိုင်တီ) and Sports (အားကစား).
“The 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education Movement, in fact, is named after, and the upgraded version of “Ah-Thone-Lone (3As) Movement” implemented over 50 years ago by university students in Myanmar – which promoted three basic literacy skills: writing, reading, and numerical skills of the Burmese population, illiterate rural dwellers in particular. Similarly, in this “The 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone (3As) Education Movement”, a number of university student volunteers go to basic-education schools in remote villages, and teach the underprivileged rural students English, computer skills and other soft skills as well as providing trainings and facilities for sports and extracurricular activities.
“I’ve been taking part in volunteering activities since my freshman year at Mandalay University. In a free course on English Language skills conducted for the secondary students in Myit-Nge village in 2018, I noticed their notable improvement at the end of the course, and realized it is beneficial indeed to teach children in summer holidays. Since then, I’ve had a burning desire to conduct large-scale training programs. Soon after this, I was selected as a Participating Youth (Goodwill Ambassador) for the 45th Ship for Southeast Asia and Japanese Youth Program. As part of this program, I got a chance to take part in a discussion section on Quality Education, and also, visited Japan, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and witnessed what their universities and high schools have been up to. Such experiences were thought-provoking and I asked myself what I should do when I was back in Myanmar. Then, "Ah-Thone-Lone Education Movement" which happened over 50 years ago popped into my head. This made me think of an issue which is holding most of the Burmese students back - incompetence in English Language and Computer skills as well as not having adequate sports facilities in governments' schools. So, I got an idea and decided to provide the rural children with training programs on English skills, Computer skill, and Sports.” explained Chan Myae Maung (Mandalay University), the Project Leader of “The 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education Movement”, on what inspired him to initiate this movement.
Chan Myae Maung giving training to the recruited volunteers on how to implement the project.
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
How Far the 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education Movement Has Gone?
In order to maximize effectiveness of the project, the volunteers, prior to providing training courses, researched ground situations of the children in target rural areas through conducting surveys and interviews with the local students, teachers, parents and village administrators on the topics of English, IT and Sports. They also tested the current levels of the students in these three areas. Then, they analysed the data and developed the relevant curriculum accordingly. After that, the training courses are conducted employing student-centered pedagogy and creating a friendly and supportive learning environment.
Starting with English Language skills, four different levels of courses: Pre-starter, Starter, Mover, Flyer have been offered. Students are located in the courses which meet their current levels of proficiency based on the results of the level testing.
The rural students in computer skills training class
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
Similarly, taking level test results into account, students are put in the suitable courses on IT skills training, which suit their prior knowledge. The courses are divided into four different levels as follows:
Level 0: Introduction to “Computer terms, Paint and English Typing”
Level 1: Basic Knowledge of Computer terms, Paint, English and Burmese Typing, Introduction to Microsoft word
Level 2: Microsoft Office: Word, Powerpoint, Excel
Level 3: Data Storing and Sharing process, Different Functions of Printer: Print, Copy, Scan, Maintenance, the ways of using Projector, how to use the Internet and Google effectively and efficiently, G suite functions, Graphic Design: Canva, Adobe, Spark, Gravit, Designet, etc.
In addition to the afore-mentioned four levels of courses, the team is currently planning to offer Level-4 courses for students who have accomplished Level-3 courses.
The rural students who participated in badminton competition
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
Regarding Sports, students have been provided with football, badminton, and table tennis training courses according to the survey results on sports.
This 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education project has, so far, been implemented in three rural areas in Ye-nang-chaung, Magway region in 2019. “We could provide four-month monitoring courses in project areas twice at the end of the implementation period in 2019. We conducted five-week summer training programs on English, IT, and Sports to a total number of 1028 students. The two trainees of this project could manage to participate in National ICT Awards 2019 (Education Project and Skill Competition) on a regional level” said Kyawt Kyawt Khin (Mandalay University), the Education Admin of this movement.
The 21st Century Ah-Thone-Lone Education movement is also committed to other soft skills development of the rural students. The students have been trained to develop presentation skill, public speaking skill, teamwork, communication skill and so forth throughout the training periods. Moreover, the university student volunteers established a school library in Mau-auk-seik village, Yezagyo, Sagaing region, so that the students can acquire worldly knowledge, which is vital to become well-informed and cultured citizens. Furthermore, to better nutrition of the children, snacks and drinks are also occasionally provided.
A rural student participating in debate and poetry recitation contest
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
“We are trying to the best of our abilities to nurture the students to grow as capable, well-manned and all-round adults. Because, we believe the future of a nation hinges on how the children are raised, and only skilled human resources can raise the standards of the nation. Likewise, the development of a village depends on how the local youth are raised. I’m very delighted to be a part of such an impactful education movement, which is shaping a better future for the Burmese rural youth community”, Swann Lin Htet (University of Medical Technology, Yangon), a secretary of the project, expressed his views.
The volunteers of this movement also contributed to other community work in addition to educating the children. “Our project is not confined to only the education development of the children. We also provided local teachers and young people with training on how to use learning resources. Besides, we picked up litter and planted trees to make a clean, green, and enjoyable environment in rural areas. On the first day after the Burmese New Year, we paid homage to the local elderly in the manner of maintaining Myanmar’s tradition and culture,” Aye Myint Zaw Cho (Mandalay Technological University), the Project Area Admin of this movement, explained additional contributions they have given to the wider rural community.
The rural students who received training throughout this project
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
Challenges along the way and Plans to tackle them
Despite the fact that this education movement has succeeded to a notable extent, it does not necessarily mean there were no obstacles or challenges along the way.
“Firstly, the local elders of a village out of the three rural areas where we implemented the project are not very willing to cooperate with us. Thus, we plan to do project orientation first in the target rural areas for the future programs. Secondly, we couldn’t provide enough numbers of laptops in our project in 2019 due to financial hardships, and thus two or three students had to share a laptop. That’s why we also provided four-month computer training courses again. And, for this year’s project, we have purchased more laptops to provide a laptop per student and conduct more effective training.”explained Myat Mon Hsu (Mandalay Technological University), Press and Media Admin of the movement, on the challenges they faced in the implementation process of the project in 2019, and how they planned to solve them.
Chan Myae Maung giving a certificate of completion to a student who finished the computer skills training
Source: The 21st Century Ah- Thone-Lone Education Movement
A Ray of Hope for the Future of the Burmese Rural Children
“We’re always analyzing and upgrading our performance, and planning to come up with better and more effective versions of this project in the near future, which can have an optimum impact on the children and youth in the rural areas of Myanmar” said Aye Min Thwe (West Yangon University), the Assistant Secretary, on the future ambitions of the movement.
As Nelson Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, it is crucial that people from all walks of life have access to better education and quality learning resources. Because, poverty reduction and the sustainable development of countries depends on the knowledge and skills that people acquire. Therefore, it can undoubtedly be said that such a youth-led initiative on education of less fortunate rural children could help increase human resources, which could, in turn, lead to the development of the country.