In the shadow of Myanmar’s military junta, where conflict and censorship have shattered formal education for millions, a resilient wave of EdTech innovations and counter-revolutionary learning systems is rising to bridge the digital divide and empower the next generation, proving that poverty eradication in Myanmar hinges on harnessing emerging technologies such as mobile apps, offline platforms and community-led digital initiatives to deliver access to knowledge and skills amid chaos.

Myanmar faces persistent poverty exacerbated by civil conflict, economic instability and natural disasters, with nearly half the population living near the subsistence level. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist to reduce poverty through investment in education and the adoption of educational technologies (EdTech). This article examines Myanmar’s poverty landscape, the obstacles confronting its education system and the prospects for poverty eradication through EdTech-driven reforms.

Myanmar’s Poverty Context

Between 2005 and 2017, Myanmar reduced poverty rates from 48% to 25%, largely due to manufacturing growth. However, the 2021 military coup reversed these gains, causing significant declines in household consumption and in job quality. Conscription, insecurity and recurring disasters have further weakened the labor demand. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that the middle class has shrunk by more than 50%, with 76% of people living close to subsistence level. Consequently, poverty rates doubled to nearly 50% between 2017 and 2023.

Barriers to Educational Access

Myanmar’s education system is fragmented and strained following the 2021 coup. The Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (2018-2030) underscores education as central to human capacity development, aiming for greater access and quality. However, ongoing conflict and instability have led to widespread school closures, teacher shortages and attacks on educational facilities. As of 2024, approximately 5 million school-aged children remain out of school, and parallel education systems have emerged in areas outside the junta’s control, run by the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (ERO). These federalized multilingual initiatives reach approximately 1 million children but face chronic funding and resource limitations.

The junta’s centralization efforts and amendments to the National Education Law have restricted the use of ethnic languages, deepening ethnic divisions. Violent incidents against schools have increased, with more than 174 documented attacks in 2024. Officially reported at more than 6 million for 2024–25, widespread dropouts linked to safety, inflation and corruption have occurred. International support is essential to promote teacher development and rebuild educational capacity, but ongoing conflict and centralized control continue to constrain progress.

The Emergence and Challenges of EdTech

EdTech startups in Myanmar offer innovative approaches to counter such educational disruptions. Companies such as 360ed leverage AR/VR platforms for interactive learning, targeting more than 4 million primary students, which is 38.5% of the school-age population. Offline EdTech products help bridge digital divides, and platforms such as MyanLearn, MMTutors, Laelar and MYEO provide tutoring, online courses and workforce preparation. For instance, the MYEO has trained 21,000 students in digital and soft skills, addressing an 8% youth unemployment rate.

Despite these advances, the adoption of EdTech faces significant barriers. Internet and computer access remain limited, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas, with 46% of university students resistant to online learning. Access to continuous electricity is another challenge. Affordability and weak funding further limit EdTech’s reach; only one startup, eSchool, secured a major investment of $700,000 in 2019. Systemic issues, including rote learning traditions, teacher-centric pedagogy and insufficient government support, also impede broad EdTech integration.

EdTech and Poverty Eradication: Pathways and Prospects

The World Bank positions EdTech as essential for expanding educational access and combating intergenerational poverty in the country. Its 2020 report highlights the importance of networking teachers, fostering data-driven ecosystems and leveraging technology to promote human connection in education. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways framework identifies five pillars of digital readiness – leadership, technology infrastructure, education delivery, workforce capacity and EdTech market models – as crucial for effective interventions in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Myanmar.

Digital learning tools, including radio, TV, SMS and virtual tutoring, can mitigate teacher shortages and reach marginalized communities. Such interventions are foundational for bridging educational disparities and promoting upward social mobility among Myanmar’s rural and ethnic minority populations. Personalized digital learning, especially in foundational literacy and numeracy, is linked to improved lifetime earnings and, therefore, can help with poverty eradication in Myanmar.

The World Bank’s Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project (IAQE) exemplifies targeted investment with a $100 million grant to improve education among marginalized groups and conflict-affected communities. Serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers across 15,000 schools, the IAQE demonstrates how technology and inclusive interventions can break poverty cycles and address food security challenges.

Investments in EdTech

Burmese food insecurity presents dual challenges: an unstable economic infrastructure and a fractured populace facing inadequate education, fragile agriculture, unstable energy provision and limited economic opportunities. Improving education is vital for poverty eradication in Myanmar as quality education drives human-capital development and economic growth. Myanmar’s poverty rate of 50% post-coup is worsened by the education crisis, perpetuating intergenerational poverty through dropouts and skill shortages. The military junta’s “Burmanization” policies have devastated education, with 245 school attacks in 2022-23 and 31.5% of facilities damaged. EdTech has emerged as a solution, fostering decentralized learning that supports poverty eradication. Through offline mobile apps and AR/VR platforms, startups like 360ed (targeting 4.2 million primary students) and MYEO (training 21,000 youth) bypass censorship and Internet blackouts, bridging the digital divide in rural areas.

This EdTech approach contrasts with the junta’s monolingual model, aligning with the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations’ (EROs) parallel systems, which educate up to 1 million children through multilingual approaches. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways report (2024) shows that EdTech improves literacy and numeracy for low-income students, enhancing employability amid a 50% poverty rate surge post-2021 coup.

The Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project allocated $100 million to integrate ICT for marginalized groups, serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers. Reimagining Human Connections shows that sustained EdTech investment through partnerships can rebuild human capital and drive equitable growth for poverty eradication in Myanmar.

– Christopher Michael Pellant

Christopher Michael Pellant is based in Evansville, Indiana and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Unsplash