Title: Relationship between non-formal education programs and employment opportunities : a case study of trainings on development in Yangon, Myanmar
Author: Eaimt Phoo Phoo Aung
Year: 2012
Keywords: HUMAN RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT/HUMAN CAPITAL/COMPETENCE/LABOR FORCE/NON-FORMAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS/SOCIAL SCIENCE-DEVELOPMENT RELATED TRAININGS
Theme: Human Development and Human Security
Advisor(s): Supang Chantavanich
The full thesis available here.
Abstract: Myanmar’s shift towards a democratic country entails an opening of the country to the rest of the world, and this all has directed attention to policy makers and experts indicating need for educational reforms to move forward human resource development agenda. One of the important sectors to be scrutinized is formal education sector; the government school system. This is because employment prospects for university graduates, comprising 2.7% of total economically active population, are very challenging at present. Within this context, role of non-formal education (NFE) programs which focus more on practical learning than formal education comes to be focused. However, there are limited studies how NFE programs can fill the education-employment gap. Thus, the research explores how NFE programs, particularly not given by government universities, make the connection between educations to employment which formal education fails to achieve. This research uses combination of qualitative and quantitative methods using semi-structured interviews, surveys, key-informant interview, documentaries, and content analysis. It is found out that the alumni are satisfied with development of human capital and information network provided by selected NFE which play a gatekeeper role towards civil society working sector. Ultimately the overall employment of university graduates after attending the trainings increased and this process is sustained by job information distribution services, regardless of their first bachelor degrees. Overall it is hoped that this research would be a useful preliminary study for the private, non-governmental organizations as well as for government education systems.