Education lays the foundation for the skills and capability of its youth, determining their success and ability to deliver at the work place. A deficient education system indicates the need for capability building, vocational training, and helping students acquire the skill set that will enable them to contribute meaningfully at the workplace and beyond. This is Myanmar’s big need today and revamping the education system is imperative, though before that, an entire generation of students will have missed its benefits.
There is a huge disconnect between the level of education and the capability of successful students. This needs to be addressed by building world class institutions of higher education, vocational training and specialization to participate in the country’s progress. Seeking aid and assistance from neighbouring countries and others is a viable option, and many countries are voluntarily offering their expertise to build institutions that will educate and train the youth to become capable and qualified professionals besides the degree they qualify for.
As computers permeate into every field of activity, there is a need for specialists in the field of Information Technology to design, administer and support computer systems and the telecommunication network that facilitates access and exchange of information. Eventually, Myanmar must also be able to build a digital infrastructure that can facilitate its development and improve the quality of life of its people. It is precisely this need that led to the establishment of the Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT) at Mandalay in 2015 – a joint venture between the governments of India and Myanmar. India has made a significant commitment of USD 25 million to be spent on capacity building in IT in Myanmar. India and Myanmar have been close neighbours and share a long history of close interaction with numerous commonalities that bind them. The two countries stand to gain mutually from the core strengths of each side. In the field of education, India has a lot to offer, with a well-established, widely respected education system which has produced some of the top scientists, doctors, teachers and experts in nearly every field, who have made a name for themselves internationally. The schooling system, followed by world class undergraduate and post graduate education can be replicated in Myanmar or at least, collaborated with, to build institutions that can be customized to their specific needs. Thus the idea of setting up MIIT was born and it is now on the road to becoming a world class institute of higher learning in the field of information and communications technology and a wide range of other related fields offering undergraduate and post graduate degree programs. It will eventually become the hub of research and innovation, provide university – industry linkages and play a substantial role in the development of the IT sector in Myanmar. MIIT at Mandalay.
The first step was taken in May 2012 when a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two governments as part of the initiatives by the Indian government to offer developmental assistance to Myanmar. The principal idea behind setting up of MIIT being to inculcate and nurture information and communications technology (ICT) in the overall development of the economy. The MIIT was conceived along the lines of the well-established Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), and would be customized to the requirements of Myanmar. IIIT-Bangalore, was selected as the mentor institute that would build, operate and transfer MIIT over a period of five years.
MIIT has been set up as a Center of Excellence by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and both countries will contribute in setting it up. The physical premises, the land, construction and facilities is being provided for by the Myanmar government while the Indian government is bearing the expenses and responsibility for the IT infrastructure including the hardware, software, faculty and academic processes to be used at MIIT, being executed by IIIT, Bangalore. The construction has been largely completed in record breaking time, and an imposing 6-storeyed structure was inaugurated by the Vice President of the Republic of Myanmar on 31st October 2015. IIIT Bangalore – The Mentor Institute The Indian Institute of Information Technology Bangalore was set up in 1999 to focus on education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the IT sector. It has since, grown to become a world class institute and its graduates have been placed with top IT multinationals like IBM, Intel, Accenture, HP among others.
It is one of the 20 IIITs in India and each one of them have a distinctive model for education and research, which has made them highly reputed educational institutes both in India and the world at large. IIIT Bangalore is spending a sum of USD 4 million on building an IT infrastructure for MIIT with state-ofthe-art networking, a data center, laboratories with the latest equipment, technology enabled classrooms and so on.
MIIT, A Class Apart MIIT is unique to Myanmar and different from any other IT institute (there are 25 universities of Computer studies in the country), with a well formulated educational program and curriculum, methodology and infrastructure. Though still very new, it is providing students access to world class education at a fraction of the cost incurred elsewhere, and an opportunity to be taught by some of the brightest professors from IIIT Bangalore, who will keep visiting MIIT for the next five years. Subsequently Myanmar faculty, who will be trained at Bangalore, will take over. Four faculty members have completed their training and another four are undergoing the same training. The goal is to train 50 faculty members from Myanmar in various fields, and provide them the foundation for continuing research here.
MIIT is headed by Dr. KRV “Raja” Subramanian, who has been serving as a professor at IIIT Bangalore after having taught at BITS, Pilani (India) for two decades. His passion and commitment drives this institution and its people, and he is using every resource, personal and official to build a network with the best companies and professionals in the field.
MIIT is rapidly adopting the best practices of IIIT Bangalore and growing at an amazing pace. It has adapted these to the needs and requirements of the local students, catering to their needs for learning the English language, providing a transition from the local Matriculation system to bridge the two-year gap before they are ready for an undergraduate program. The institute is in start-up mode right now with the entire local and Indian faculty happily pitching in, to fill any gaps left in imparting knowledge and skills to students. The level of enthusiasm of the faculty and the students is what is going to set the pace of success eventually as they meet new challenges and overcome hurdles. Each student is provided a laptop with all the software and development tools needed, an e-reader with access to all the requisite books and references, and scholarships offered to meritorious students. The top students also get sent to IIIT Bangalore on a study tour, with an added visit to Bodh Gaya, the place where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment. The courses offered include a Post Graduate Diploma in Software Development (PGDSD) whose pilot batch of thirty students was sent to Bangalore for two terms. B.E.(Hons) degree courses in Computer Science and Engineering as well as in Electronics and Communications engineering, are being offered for the 2016-2017 session. There is a capacity of 60 students for each, for which MIIT has received over 900 applicants. The admission process is rigorous based on their marks and an admission test. The journey of transforming Myanmar’s IT sector has begun and it is only a question of time before MIIT emerges as one of the top institutes in Asia and worldwide, providing some of the best trained professionals in the field. MIIT is also trying to offer specialized Post Graduate Diploma courses like IT in Aeronautics and IT in hospital management. This will open new avenues for students who have been interested in these fields. The first batch of PGDSD students saw a record 100% placement and even in the current batch (the course is about to conclude), many have (so far about 50%) already been placed. This indicates the relevance of these programs and the need for such graduates in Myanmar.