Computer enthusiasts test laptops on display at Yangon's Myanmar Information and Communication Park last January. Pic: Aye Zaw Myo

ACCESS to computer training centres continues to be limited mostly to Myanmar’s cities but some facilities have begun to spring up away from Yangon and Mandalay.

Fifteen percent of Myanmar’s population lives in the two largest cities and they provide the best markets for IT operators to set up business.

They are also gifted with greater technical support, better transportation networks and, generally speaking, a more reliable electricity supply.

In the past, the gap between these two cities and other provincial towns and rural areas was enormous and the location of most IT training centres reflected this disparity.

One official from the Myan-mar Computer Company, which has 46 franchised centres around the country, says establishing similar centres in rural areas is an effective way to extend IT into the countryside.

He says Myan-mar Computer Company aims to aid this process by providing courses, trainers and certifications to interested parties, but the locals must provide the entrepreneurs.

U Maung Maung Oo, director of Ayeyarwady International Business Institute, says people's awareness of IT in a given area often depends on the region’s economy.

In Pathein, capital of Ayeyarwady Division, U Maung Maung Oo says at least five large computer training centres have emerged in the past year.

He estimated that two hundred people per month visit the centres to use the internet and take various IT courses – double the numbers seen in previous years.

“Most of these people come from Pathein and nearby villages. The most popular classes are in computer literacy, where we teach the most basic computer and internet skills. W also offer instruction in Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook. Image editing and Desktop Publishing courses are also popular because desktop publishing businesses are booming in rural areas,” says U Maung Maung Oo, who is also president of Ayeyarwady Division’s Computer Industry Association.

He says the extension of Government Technical and Computer Universities to rural provinces has also increased demand for IT training centres.

Last year, 52 varied new universities emerged around the country, and students at these schools require excellent computer skills to cope with the demands of their educations.

“Government Technical College (GTC) students demand computer-aided design (CAD) application courses, while computer students enrol for computer programming subjects. Their need for computer skills are the major force driving the emergence of new training centres,” he says.

Meanwhile, many IT graduates become owners or trainers at these centres because of the lack of jobs for IT professionals in rural areas.

“In Pathein, there are five large IT training centres and scores of small centres, most of them run by local computer graduates,” says U Maung Maung Oo.

U Ye Tun Aung, director of the Yangon-based Service Plus internet cafes, says setting up a government certified internet centre, or Public Access Centre (PAC), is a good way to establish a training centre.

“The facilities that you set up for a PAC can easily be upgraded and used to train students to use computers,” he says.

Unfortunately, despite the recent growth in PACs, most of them are in highly urbanised areas and not the countryside.

“If a businessperson were to calculate it commercially, they would never set up a PAC in a rural province. It’s important that locals set up these centres to help themselves,” U Ye Tun Aung says.

One successful example of a rural computer training centre can be seen in Sagaing Division, U Ye Tun Aung says.

The centre is inside a monastery near the city of Monywa and is run by a monk who installed computers, a network connection line and the generator.

He introduces internet access to local youths and only charges people for the fuel used by the generator. U Ye Tun Aung says the monk also asks advanced students to train new students.

Today, it has become a medium-sized training centre with 40 computers that offers internet courses taught by numerous attendants from nearby villages.