THE government will introduce new curricula and syllabi for grades 10 and 11 starting in the 2008-2009 academic year with the aim of boosting the quality of education in Myanmar, including teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills, said a press statement from the Department of Education Planning and Training.

The statement from the department under the Ministry of Education was released after a meeting of the Myanmar Education Committee (MEC) held earlier this month in Nay Pyi Taw.

During the meeting, MEC chairman and Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant General Thein Sein said, “The education level indicates the dignity and standard of the nation and the people. The nation can be built only with the ability of qualified intellectuals and intelligentsia.”

“The new syllabi, which are to be taught starting in the 2008-2009 academic year, have been drafted … by professors at local universities who have been working on them since May 2006,” the statement said.

The statement also said the curricula were updated to keep pace with recent findings in science and technology, and the lessons were also tailored to help students apply their learning to practical, everyday life.

Myanmar had changed the basic education high school curricula twice before, in the 1984-1985 and 1994-1995 academic years.

The Department of Education Planning and Training has also said that special courses for teachers would be offered from the middle of this year until the 2008 summer holiday, with the aim of improving the quality of general education.

Trainings for teachers were also held in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 academic years.