IT is school holidays but a long line of cars are parked in front of one private school in Yangon. Inside the school, children are reciting poems, singing songs and dancing to music.

“I hope my child can one day become a famous educated musician,” says Daw Mi Mi Oo while her six-year old daughter recites a poem on the stage.

The attitudes of Myanmar parents are changing. They are now more likely to turn to education as a means of creating a brighter future for their children.
And so they send them to summer schools.

“I think most of the parents are now coming to know the benefits of summer schools. We can say this because there are more parents making enquiries about summer school and also more students enrolling,” said Daw Than Than Myint, vice principal of First Choice International School (FCIS), in Kamayut township.

The FCIS will start its summer school program on March 4, with tuition fees of K120,000 for the three month program. “We will teach the children from seven to 13 years, with a syllabus from Singapore textbooks,” she said.

In Yangon, many private summer schools have begun offering summer courses for children with a focus on English, Science, Mathematics or Music.

Summit International Learning Centre in Alone township is one such school. For its summer program, it is offering a level-four English course with fees set at K75,000 per month.

Principal Daw Win May Than said of her school’s summer program: “Children gain many benefits from the summer schools, from basic general knowledge to specific intellectual skills.”

She said she understands some parents’ may be unable to send their children to summer school for financial reasons but thinks the programs are worth the cost. Despite the shorter course, students can improve both their knowledge and social skills.

The Nelson Language Centre at Sangyoung will commence its summer courses on March 8 for children aged from six to 15. Classes for older students run from 4pm to 6:30pm while the course for new students will be from 2pm to 4pm, Monday to Friday. The course fees are K135,000 for three months.

Classes are also timetabled for Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 12 noon and from 3pm to 6 pm.

The official from Horizon International Learning Centre said its summer school provided small, air-conditioned classes taught by expatriate and local staff.

Their 8-week courses are priced at US$250 for children aged from three to six and US$300 for six to 17-years-olds.

U Than Lwin, 45, a drinking water distributor from Dagon Seik Kan township, said he believed his 11-year-old son benefited from summer schools and enrolled him every year.

“If my son stays at home in summer, he will leave to game shop and his friends without doing any homework. So I send him the summer school,” he said.

The number of enrollments at summer school in 2007 was double the number in 2006, according to the private schools.

While there are many summer schools in Yangon to select from, the parents’ choice usually depended on the course fees.

Regardless of the cost, parents believe the summer schools are one step on the journey to a brighter future for their children.