In divided Myanmar, graduates of a parallel education system struggle for recognition

MAE SOT, Thailand – A 2021 coup d’etat drove a wedge through Myanmar, setting the military and its opponents at bloody odds and dividing society in many walks of life, including education.

University students have been at the forefront of opposition to rule by the generals for generations and young people were out on the streets again after the military overthrew a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.

After the military largely crushed a civil disobedience movement, many angry young people have refused education under its auspices. Instead, they look to independent institutions including ones run by a parallel government in exile, the National Unity Government, or NUG.

The NUG supports numerous independent institutions in cities under junta control, teaching subjects such as nursing and medicine, teacher training and technology to thousands of students. It also provides online courses.

In addition, social organizations, often those supporting ethnic minority causes, have set up colleges independent of both the junta and the NUG.

But the independent schools are not recognized by Myanmar’s junta and young people graduating from them lack recognized certificates, posing problems when they pursue further studies abroad in places like Thailand.

“It’s very difficult for them to study in Thailand,” said Ponnya Mon, the chancellor of Mon National College in southern Myanmar, referring to some students who have studied in colleges affiliated with the NUG.

“It’s not because they’re not qualified, it’s because of politics,” he said.

Keen to maintain relations with Myanmar’s military rulers, Thailand does not recognize the NUG and Thai educational institutions are mandated to work only with accredited institutions. So they usually decline to recognize qualifications issued by independent Myanmar colleges.

“The Thai government has to make a very difficult choice. Even though they would like to accept it, sometimes it’s the politics, right? If you accept a student from the NUG, that means you recognize the NUG,” said Ponnya Mon.

But change is afoot.

Thailand’s Payap University has set up a partnership with the Mon National College to offer a joint bachelor’s degree, said Michael Meallem, director of the International Relations Office at the Thai university.

“What we did differently, maybe to other universities, is now the Thai government is actually a little more lenient in terms of the recognition that universities can offer to prior learning,” Meallem said.

Kaung Khant, a student representative at an NUG-affiliated medical school, said he knew of one person who was accepted by Thailand’s prestigious Chulalongkorn University with credentials issued by the NUG. But the person in question had graduated before the coup, though he had not been issued with a degree so had to rely on an NUG-issued certificate.

“He explained to the university the current situation and how he finished his studies. He hasn’t received a graduation certificate but he was accepted,”

he said.

‘Fake and illegal’

But others have landed in trouble.

Chulalongkorn University contacted Myanmar authorities in November to check on degrees issued by an NUG-affiliated university to two students applying to study there, alerting military authorities to their bid.

The junta’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services said in a statement the students’ degrees were fake and illegal and their applications had been rejected.

The two students “will be blacklisted, identified and arrested,” the military office said, adding that the notaries and translators who helped them with their applications had been arrested.

RELATED STORIES

Myanmar parents fight for their children’s right to learn in Thailand

Myanmar’s working distance students losing time to study

Thailand closes 6 schools for Myanmar migrant children in southern province

The NUG said the students’ degrees were valid and it denounced the junta for its attempt to block education for those who reject military rule.

“They are trying to destroy the future of young people who are free of their control,” said Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the NUG’s Office of the President, adding that the students had been able to continue their studies at the Thai university.

Chulalongkorn University did not respond to calls from Radio Free Asia seeking comment.

A Myanmar student studying at Chulalongkorn, asking to be identified as Lincoln, said the affair could put off some students from independent colleges thinking of studying abroad.

“The security risk has been raised. Students will be worried about applying for master’s or Ph.D.s abroad this way because of what happened, if the same thing might happen to them,” he said, adding that students should be prepared to handle the application process diplomatically.

“Not every university, not every country, is very well aware of our situation,” Lincoln said, referring to Myanmar’s turmoil since the 2021 coup.

“So whether or not they accept our degree certificates or academic transcripts depends on a case by case basis.”

Edited by Taejun Kang.

RFA Burmese contributed to this report.