Education deputy minister reportedly recite what he learned by rote at parliament session

Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint has censured the Education Ministry in comments that come amid growing demands for wide-ranging reforms to make teaching more effective.

The criticism came after Deputy Education Minister Dr San Lwin responded on October 10 to a question from U Nu, who represents No. 10 constituency in Yangon Region.

U Nu had asked about mismanagement, teaching methods and problems arising from teachers who work at government schools but provide private, after-hours tuition.

Expressing strong dissatisfaction with Dr San Lwin’s reply, Khin Aung Myint likened the deputy minister’s answer to “rote learning”.

The reply amounted to proof that the education system was mismanaged, the Upper House speaker said.

Khin Aung Myint said rote-learning was contrary to the student-centred system used in other countries.

“They (the Education Ministry) claims that they are using a student-centred system but their system is not centred on students at all,” he said.

The education system needed to be changed so that students were taught about problem solving and critical thinking, the Upper House speaker said.

In response to U Nu’s question about what the ministry was doing to eliminate the practice of teachers providing private tuition, Dr San Lwin said: “Orders have been issued to all school teachers not to provide private coaching.”

Khin Aung Myint said government teachers provided private tuition because they needed to supplement their incomes, an issue he urged the ministry to address.

“The teachers need to keep their rice pots fully filled,” he said.

“The parliament has increased budget allocations to the Education Ministry and this has resulted in teachers being promoted.”

The government needs to ensure that teachers are adequately paid so that they “may work in this noble profession with dignity,” Khin Aung Myint said.

His comments reflect concern by many parents that students who do not attend private tuition provided by their teachers will be at a disadvantage.

The parent of a child at a state primary school in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township said teachers discriminated against children who did not attend private tuition classes.

The child was sent to tuition class run by one of her teachers so she would not be discriminated against, the mother told Mizzima.

“Even among the students who are attending her private classes, she favours the students who pay more,” she said.

Observing that the current curriculums were “not so bad”, Khin Aung Myint noted that there were errors in the Grade 5 geography textbook, with maps giving incorrect locations for some landscape features.