1. Department of Myanmar Education Research
Providing quality, accessible and equitable Alternative Education for out-of-school children, youth and adults
Dr Khine Mye
Director General
Department of Myanmar Education Research
July 6, 2016

2. Introduction – Prioritizing Alternative Education
The new government has identified Alterative Education as priority investment area over the next five years
The new government is committed to providing quality, accessible and equitable Alternative Education to million out-of-school children and youth, and 3.5 million illiterate adults
Myanmar will not achieve sustainable and equitable economic growth unless it can provide educational opportunities for out- of-school children, youth and adults

3. Vision Statement for Alternative Education
To create alternative learning opportunities for school-age children, youth and adults who cannot reach formal education and do not complete basic education, to become good citizens and life-long-learners who can generate the development and sustainable Myanmar society with necessary knowledge, skills
and attitudes.

4. Mission Statement for Dept. of Alternative Education
The mission statement for the DAE is:
Through partnerships,
to research, test and successfully implement innovative, accessible and quality Alternative Education programmes, Non-Formal Education Programmes, Life Long Learning Programmes and Community Development Activities that meet the needs of out-of-school children, youth and adults.

5. Alternative Education Chapter of the NESP
To support the achievement of results the MOE will establish a new Department for Alternative Education (DAE)
Chapter 10 of the NESP explains the strategies and programmes the DAE will implement to expand access to quality Alternative Education
The DAE will focus on implementing 4 national AE programmes in all townships by 2021
Primary School Equivalency Programme (2 years, full-time)
Middle School Equivalency Programme (3 years, full-time)
National Youth Education Certificate (3 years, full-time)
Adult Literacy Programme (1 year, part-time)

6. The AE Pathways Maps shows how the DAEs 4 Alternative Education Programmes will enable children, youth and adults to access high school, TVET, higher education and better paying jobs
AE Prog. 3
AE Prog. 4
AE Prog. 1
AE Prog. 2

7. DAE Implementation Roadmap – 2016-21
The DAE commits to implementing 4 AE programmes in all townships in three phases over the next five years
Phase 1: Establishing a policy and partnerships foundation
July 2016 to March – 9 months
Phase 2: Developing and scaling-up 4 national AE programmes
2017/ – 1 year
Phase 3: Implementing, monitoring and improving 4 AE programmes
2018/19 – 2020/21 – 3 years

8. Under Phase 1 (July 2016 - March 2017) the DAE will focus on:
DAE Roadmap – Phase 1: Establishing a policy and partnerships foundation
Under Phase 1 (July March 2017) the DAE will focus on:
Establishing a national database of all organisations interested in a partnership with DAE to implement AE programmes in townships
Drafting & securing approval of an Alternative Education Policy
Establishing a Quality Assurance System for implementation of 4 AE programmes nationally (i.e. certification of AE service providers, quality standards for the MOE to measure performance)
Undertaking research to design the National Youth Education Certificate (including study tours to selected countries)
Implementing primary AE and literacy programmes in townships

9. DAE Roadmap – Phase 2: Developing and scaling-up 4 AE programmes
Under Phase 2 (April March 2018) the DAE will focus on:
Certifying DAE partners to implement primary, middle school and literacy AE programmes in townships
Contracting DAE partners and AE providing grants
Testing and refining the National Youth Education Certificate
Undertaking communication campaigns to mobilise funding for AE programmes
Undertaking research to strengthen AE programmes

10. Under Phase 3 (April 2018 – March 2021) the DAE will focus on:
DAE Roadmap – Phase 3: Implementing, monitoring and improving 4 AE programmes
Under Phase 3 (April 2018 – March 2021) the DAE will focus on:
Contracting DAE partners to implement 4 AE programmes in all townships
Undertaking M & E to strengthen AE programmes and measure impacts
Accelerating AE programmes to enhance the sustainable development
Undertaking independent Quality Assurance Assessments of DAE partners providing AE programmes in townships

11. The Way Forward
to provide AE to large numbers of out-of-school children, youth and adults,
At present, DAE have insufficient staff or capacity to provide AE programmes for reach 2.7 million out-of- school children and youth or 3.5 million illiterate adults
So DAE will contract non-government partner organisations (NGOs, CBOs, etc.) to implement one or more of the 4 AE programmes
All AE contractors will have to be certified by the DAE before they can provide AE programmes in townships, i.e. they will need to meet minimum standards set by the DAE

12. The Way Forward
DAE may establish an Alternative Education Grant Programme to cover costs for partner organisations to implement DAE programmes in townships
AE Grants will have a percentage amount that is performance- based – i.e. it will be paid upon students achieving minimum learning standards
DAE will publish and distribute AE prog. management, teaching and student learning materials to make it easy for partner organisations to successfully implement AE programmes (including demonstration, best- practice teaching DVDs)

13. The Way Forward
Internationally there is growing evidence that Scripted Lessons for teachers can greatly improve teaching and student learning
DAE will adopt this methodology and develop detailed Scripted Lessons for all 4 AE programmes
Detailed Scripted Lessons will make it much easier for teachers with less experience to successfully teach AE programmes

14. Co-ordination Framework
Since its foundation phase, strong relationships and partnerships are to be built up among different stakeholders including NGOs, INGOs and DPs. This felt need for strong and reliable partnership demands a comprehensive coordination framework in which the following principles are already defined:
Leadership Role of DAE,
Strong Partnerships
Ownership by all Stakeholders in the Alternative Education System,
Capacity & Resource Development
Well-defined Results/Outcomes
Transparency and Shared Responsibility
Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation(Quality Assessment)

15. Co-ordination Framework
Leadership of
DAE
Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation (Quality Assessment)
Transparency &
Shared Responsibility
Strong Partnerships
Ownership by
all Stakeholders
Capacity & Resource Development
Well-defined Results/ Outcome

16. Areas of Co-ordination
Adult Literacy
Literacy and Post-Literacy
Continuing Education
Income Generation and Vocational Education
Education for Out-of-School Children
Equivalency Education
Community development and CLCs
Early Childhood Care and Education for Women and Girls
ICT for flexible Learning

17. Concluding remarks
To reach hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children, youth and adults over the next 5 years the DAE must adopt practical approaches to Alternative Education service delivery
The DAE aims to implement in the delivery of AE programmes in all townships
The DAE will put in place a feasible working model that will deliver measurable results and help Myanmar achieve national goals and targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals

18. Thank you