In Lahe Township, the administrative headquarters of the Naga Self-Administered Zone, the school year is almost halfway through, but parents are expressing concerns about their children's education due to the unavailability of textbooks.
The absence of textbooks has led to some students discontinuing their education due to learning challenges. "My son, a Grade 12 schoolboy is forced to photocopy textbooks to study, and some kids are considering quitting school because they can't study properly. We know one child who is leaving school because there are no textbooks, making learning difficult for him”, a parent said.
Myanmar's basic education system has undergone recent changes, including the expansion and inclusion of Grade 11 and Grade 12 in the academic curriculum for this academic year.
Lahe is a township known for its lack of public transportation, and the ongoing political instability has resulted in a delay in the arrival of Grade 11 and 12 textbooks. One teacher who did not want to be named, mentioned that the shortage extends beyond student textbooks, as even teaching guides for educators are currently unavailable.
"Due to transportation and political issues, we are facing significant challenges with textbook availability, making it tough to teach our children. The problem is especially severe in grades 11 and 12, where we lack complete textbook sets. We only have a few biology and physics textbooks, and there's almost nothing for other subjects. It's a rare achievement to have a complete set of textbooks because we can only order them from Nanyun. As for teaching guides, we have to download PDF files from the internet and print them, which costs us a significant amount for A4 paper”, he told NMG.
A parent of a student mentioned that while some students resort to using photocopied textbooks, the majority cannot afford this option, because of the high cost of photocopying fees.
"Copying all the textbooks can be really expensive, more than 40,000 kyats. So the kids are taking pictures of other people's textbooks with their phones to study. There are no big issues up to Grade 10, but Grade 11 and 12 students are having a tough time”, she said.
In the Naga Self-Administered Zone, there's a shortage of teaching staff, leading to situations where secondary level teachers have to instruct junior level students, according to locals.
“Because there are not enough high school teachers, middle school teachers have to take over and teach high school students. That demand also burdened them too much. In Grade 12, the curriculum has become very difficult. The courses are very advanced. The problem is that there are no teachers who can teach these courses”, an unnamed teacher also acknowledged.
Secondary school teachers are generally well-equipped to handle teaching up to Grade 10. However, as Grades 11 and 12 encompass the foundational elements of a university-level curriculum, there is a growing concern among parents that students may not receive comprehensive instruction due to potential shortages in skilled teaching staff and adequate textbooks.
During the 2022-23 academic year, Lahe Township had 239 students who matriculated, with 81 of them successfully passing.
