Students concentrate on their computer studies during a computer skills training course at the Myanma Timber Enterprise in Yangon. Pic: Aung Tun Win

GETTING a top-notch education is often seen as the best way to for people to guarantee themselves an enjoyable job and lucrative salary.

Many institutions in Myanmar offer internationally recognised educational qualifications or can assist students in gaining entrance to universities abroad.
The Myanmar International Education Centre (MIEC) opened in 1994 and provides a range of services to students who wish to study overseas.

Students from MIEC study in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
Students who pass the entrance test for MIEC’s Asia-Link program are given the opportunity to study both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 25 European Union countries – with zero tuition fees.

The British Council is also an invaluable resource for anyone planning to study or work abroad.

Vital information, including current reference materials and prospecti from UK institutions can be obtained from the council or on the www.educationuk.org website.

The majority of Myanmar students who travel overseas to study choose to go to Singapore and RV Centre in Yangon has more than 10 years experience in helping students gain entrance to the city-state’s excellent polytechnic universities.

RV Centre offers a number of preparation courses and language classes to prepare students for the entrance exams at Singaporean institutions.

“We provide foundation programs, international diplomas, preparation courses for languages and a number of academic subjects,” says Argus Ang, managing director of RV Centre.

There is an array of executive training courses for those in the workplace who want to upgrade their skills in human resource management, sales and marketing or management.

Mr Ang says the centre also assists parents to send their children to top high schools in Singapore.

“RV Centre is known for helping students enroll in polytechnic universities in Singapore but we do more than that; we also send students to top schools in Singapore as well,” Mr Ang says.

Over the past 11 years, RV Centre has helped more than 1500 students enter overseas institutions and has trained more than 2000 corporate executives.
This year RV Centre has been appointed as an exam centre for the Singapore Exam Assessment Board.

“This means we will be able to run an International Primary School Leaving Exam, which is exactly the same exam for those who have finished sixth grade in Singapore's government primary schools. This will ensure international-level certificates,” he says.

Another one of the better-known educational services companies in Myanmar is the Thames Group, which runs the Informatics Computer School and Thames Management Centre. Both schools provide consultancy for international education and also offer classes in Myanmar.

U Khin Maung Myint, assistant country manager for Thames, said the school offers a diverse range of possibilities in business, languages, computing, IT and management.

He explains how students progressively gain qualifications by earning diplomas, higher diplomas and finally advanced diplomas.

“Someone who attends a four- month course in human resource management, accounting or IT must successfully pass eight subjects. The cost for each class is K35,000. Those who finish the diploma course and pass the exam – which costs $45 – are eligible to continue onto higher diploma classes, which also run for four months,” U Khin Maung Myint explains.

Those who then successfully attain higher diplomas, which cost K35,000 per subject and require another $45 exam, are allowed to study for an advanced diploma. Costs for higher diploma subjects increase to K42,000, while the exam is $52. At the completion of their advanced diploma, students are eligible to apply to international universities.

“We have links with many foreign universities and offer our students lots of options,” U Khin Maung Myint says.

YIUS, which offers courses to both locals and foreigners in Myanmar, provides further educational possibilities to Myanmar's growing number of students.
The centre offers courses in business and communications that incorporate a dual-curriculum focus. This approach sees graduates learn both practical skills they will need in the workplace and gain the theoretical underpinnings required to understand the tasks.

“After completing courses at YIUS, students will be able to communicate in English confidently and will be eligible to attend universities in Australia and Singapore without other qualifications, such as a General Certificate of Education,” a YIUS spokesperson tells The Myanmar Times.

For internationally recognised qualifications available in Myanmar, students should consider Adam Institute Myanmar (AIM), which offers a variety of management and administration courses starting with a basic three-month certificate course and progressing all the way through to Master’s and Doctorate programs.

All the courses are conducted in Yangon by visiting lecturers and professors from Asian campuses of Adam University in Colorado.

The programs are facilitated by local entrepreneurs and academics and target candidates who want a world-class education in Myanmar.