Teachers must work for five years before they receive any formal training and therefore two thirds of Burma s primary school teachers have no training. Those who have been trained are unlikely to be offered any extra instruction to improve or upgrade their skills. Many teachers, no matter how committed, are having to leave their jobs as they are not able to manage adequately on their salaries. Many teachers can earn 10 times their government salary through private tutoring. Given the high drop-out rate of children in primary school, many fewer students continue their education at middle and high school levels.
Ethnic minorities make up about a third of Burma s population.
They have suffered persistent and gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Burma army during its attempts to unify the country by force. The teaching or research of any ethnic minority language is not permitted in any secondary schools or tertiary institutes. Critics of the system allege that the policy of teaching only Burmese and no other languages in government schools is simply a means of imposing discipline and control. Two other groups in Burma that have historically been denied educational opportunities have been children of Chinese and Indian ancestry. Under a strict 1982 Citizenship Law, people of Chinese and Indian ancestry must prove that their ancestors have resided in Burma since 1824 during the first British annexation, a requirement which is almost impossible to fulfil.