Department of Education

Background of the Department

    After the military coup on 1 February 2021, the administrative system of the military in Karenni State, along with the formal education system, collapsed entirely. In response to this situation, various efforts were made even before the formation of the Interim Executive Council to restore ongoing access to education for students who had lost their right to study. These efforts included establishing community-based schools, ethnic education school, private schools, independent schools, religious-based schools, and other educational organizations. After the Executive Council was formed, the Department of Education was established on 7 September 2023.

Education Vision/Goals

    To promote the language, literature, culture, values, and historical identity of the Karenni people, to ensure access to 21st-century knowledge and wisdom, to develop critical thinking skills and to guarantee a peaceful, inclusive Karenni society, while establishing a national education system that is accessible to all and aligned with a federal democratic framework.

Objectives

1. To implement a federal democratic education system.
2. To ensure the right to education and equal access for all.
3. To establish a guaranteed and quality education system.
4. To implement a mother tongue-based multilingual education system.
5. To develop an inclusive, compulsory, and free basic education system for all.
6. To develop balance in physical, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual development in the education system.
7. To promote a quality education system by developing a strong curriculum, effective teaching methods, reliable assessment systems, and professional teachers.
8. To grow knowledgeable, competent, and responsible youth who can contribute to building a federal democratic nation.
9. To develop a student-centred education system that encourages independent, critical, and creative thinking, enabling students to solve problems on their own.

Structure of the Department

    The education department is organized with one Head of Department and three Deputy Heads, who are elected and appointed gradually through relevant groups, such as township education boards, teacher unions, and Civil Disobedience Movement education staff members.

    The operations are managed through four Sub-departments: the Higher Education Sub-department, the Basic Education Sub-department, the Vocational Sub-department, and the Administration and Finance Sub-department.

Activities of the Department

    The Basic Education Sub-department is responsible for providing financial support to teachers, conducting field assessments, and appointing township education officers, conducting curriculum standard framework, teacher competency framework, teacher education, education in emergency, school infrastructure, school registration, child safeguarding training, teaching and learning material distribution, and education stakeholders coordination meetings.The Higher Education Sub-department works to expand opportunities for higher education within Karenni State by coordinating with schools that offer higher education and collaborating with experts and relevant stakeholders to develop higher education policies.

    Although technical and vocational education is still underdeveloped in Karenni State, the department is working to collaborate with existing alternative schools and support the local economy by developing training programs that promote reliance on locally available resources.