Villagers living in the
vicinity of the pipeline expressed strong aspirations in the area of education.
The priorities defined jointly by the villagers and the project teams were
to:
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Provide schooling in good material conditions for all children. |
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Support middle school students with a tuition program leading to a high
school diploma (20% success rate at the national level). |
An extensive program to improve the region's educational
infrastructure was launched in 1996, enabling the construction
of over 44 schools and the renovation of over 20 others. Each
village now has at least one school. Teaching materials have
been
supplied
and a school
library program has been established at 16 schools.
The measures designed to support education were implemented in cooperation
with the government in line with local practices and programs. The teachers
are civil servants paid by the Ministry of Education. To enable teachers
to maintain
an acceptable standard of living and encourage them to serve in remote
regions, salaries are supplemented with financial aid granted over 350
teachers and assistants under the Socio-Economic Program. The student population remained rather stable (8,500) for the third consecutive year whereas there was a 6% increase in the number of teachers. The teacher/student ratio is now 1/25.
The measures implemented have helped to double student enrollment in the
region between 1995-1996 and 2002-2003.
Increasing school attendance
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School year |
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Primary school
(5-9) |
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Middle school
(10-13) |
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High school
(14-16) |
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Total |
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1995 |
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4,053 |
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1999/2000 |
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5,140 |
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1,586 |
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246 |
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6,972 |
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2000/2001 |
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4,881 |
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1,732 |
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410 |
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7,023 |
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2001/2002 |
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5,312 |
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1,911 |
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496 |
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7,719 |
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2002/2003 |
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5,495 |
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2,245 |
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574 |
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8,314 |
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2003/2004 |
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5,428 |
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2,260 |
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652 |
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8,340 |
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2004/2005 |
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5,613 |
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2,236 |
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755 |
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8,664 |
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2005/2006 |
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5,697 |
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2,288 |
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666 |
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8,651 |
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2006/2007 |
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5,651 |
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2,319 |
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570 |
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8,517 |
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Now children in all relevant age categories, boys and girls alike, can attend
school regardless of whether their families are affluent or poor (over 2, 520 students have been supported since 2000/2001). The
improvement of facilities had a clear positive impact on the conditions in which
education is provided, by enabling students to be grouped by class and
level.
Although initial priority was given to primary school education, special
attention was subsequently given to high school students, many of whom
were leaving school without graduating. A special tuition program was
set up in 1999
to allow high school students who had failed their final exams to start
over, benefiting 1,050 young people since its inception.
Once they have their high school diplomas, however, young people who
want to continue their studies have to move to cities. Scholarships
have allowed some
students to go on to higher education in Yangon and Dawei.
In
addition, the Socio-Economic Program introduced technical education
at the local level with introductory computer training courses
completed by 411students since 2001 when the program was first implemented, of which 40 students in 2006.
Educational support provided in the region through the program has enabled
many contacts among SEP team members, teachers and students through
inaugurations, school fairs, award ceremonies, and inter-school sports
events.
