A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF BARRIERS & ENABLERS OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN MONYWA, MYANMAR Photo by Capturing the human heart on Unsplash RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Myanmar has In Myanmar Overall, irrespective of Cost and location For parents, Proactive school been successful society, socioeconomic status (distance) were concerns about administrators in in closing the parents play parents in both rural two barriers that safety and the community gender gap an influential and urban Myanmar parents perceived location of school and the availability between girls’ role in perceive education as as common emerged as a of hostels were and boys’ children’s important for both girls barriers for barrier specifically found to be two education continuing and boys and related schooling for both for girls’ continued significant enablers with younger education. to their aspirations for boys and girls education. for impacting generations. successful future for girls’ continued their children. education. Dr. Khin Thida Nyein, Department of Economics, Yangon University of Economics Dr. Thida Htay, Department of Economics, Yangon University of Economics Daw May Zin Oo, Department of Economics, Yangon University of Economics Daw Khin Mar Cho, Department of Economics, Yangon University of Economics 1 Parental perceptions of barriers and enablers of girls’ education The gender gap in lead to increased labor force participation and educational attainment subsequent expansion of the economy. However, gender inequalities in both learning and earning outcomes persist (Tembon and Fort, 2008). Ac- cording to Cin (2017), education allows wom- en more freedom and economic independence, Education is very im- especially in cultures where there is inequality. portant for all people. Accordingly, there should Education contributes to women’s capacity to be no difference in the educational attainment of participate in democratic life, develop authentic boys and girls. And yet, girls in some countries and expressive voices, and to construct a life they are still denied educational attainment. “Despite value living. progress, as many as 48.1 per cent of girls remain out of school in some regions. Gender gaps in pri- In Myanmar, the female population exceeds mary and secondary enrolment rates have nearly the male population. The overall literary rate is 90 closed, on average. Yet 15 million girls are not in primary school right now, compared to 10 million boys. In adolescence, higher numbers of girls of- Currently, in Myanmar, there are no ten drop out of secondary school for reasons in- significant gaps in literacy rates for boys cluding early pregnancy and the expectation that and girls in the age group 15-19 years and they should contribute to household work.” (UN educational attainment between boys and Women, SDG 4). girls at the primary school level. However, the gender gaps are more prominent in high Education is key to economic development school and university completion rates. After and also a peaceful life. According to the World primary school the percentage of girls who Bank (2006), investment in female education can never attend school is higher than that of boys who never attend school. Photo by May Kyi 2 Parental perceptions of barriers and enablers of girls’ education percent: 93 percent for males and 87 percent for females. Half a million children 7-15 years old Methodology have never attended school (the rate of non-at- n This study uses qualitative methodology tended is 2 percent in urban areas and 6 percent to investigate parental perception of the in rural areas). For those 25 years and above, the importance of education and girls’ and boys’ no-schooling rate for males is 13 percent and for schooling in Monywa, Myanmar. females is 19 percent. For 70-year-olds, the liter- n The study covered one village and one city. ary rate for males is 87 percent and for females is n Primary data was collected through 67 percent. For the young, however, the literacy in-depth interviews using open-ended levels of boys and girls are almost equal (MOLIP, questions. 2017). Clearly, Myanmar has been successful in n Snowball sampling method was followed closing the gender gap between girls’ and boys’ to recruit parents of school-age children. education with newer generations, especially at n Secondary data was collected from relevant the primary school level, although the gap per- government ministries and departments. sists and widens with older generations. In Myanmar, there are no significant gaps in Respondents literacy rates for boys and girls in the age group In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 15-19 years. However the gap gradually increas- fathers and mothers (12 in rural area and 6 es after the age of 19. Given that both boys and in urban area) . The criteria of selection of girls access the same education system, it seems the respondents included: external factors (e.g. family) may influence girls’ higher education choices more than internal fac- n Mothers/fathers of children aged 5-24 tors (e.g. education system). The table shows that years. there is no gap in educational attainment between n Having either sons or daughters or both boys and girls at the primary school level. After (the number of children is not limited). primary school, however, the percentage of girls n Parents who may be married or who never attend school is higher than that of widowed or divorced. boys who never attend school. Additionally key informant interviews were conducted with respondents who Globally there has been much research done were community members and specialists on the role and attitudes of parents towards girls’ with relevant knowledge on the issues education. For instance, research in India by covered in the study. They included: Chingtham and Guite (2017) found that parents n Teachers (working in both public and from urban area of Manipur have more positive private schools), village leaders, elders view on the girls’ education than the parents have and other knowledgeable people. from rural area. Additionally, parents who were n Township education officers (for their uneducated themselves were found to be less experience and especially as sources of likely to see the importance of education for their secondary data). daughters (Chingthanm & Guite, 2017). There was no discrimination on the basis of religion, occupation, age or ethnic group. Similarly, in Ethiopia , Regasa and Taha (2015) 3 Parental perceptions of barriers and enablers of girls’ education found that the perception, attitudes, and opinion plore parents’ attitudes towards girls’ and boys’ of parents towards female education negative- schooling in Monywa, Myanmar. More specifi- ly affected the academic performance of female cally, it tries to: students and academic achievement. Parents’ per- ception was that daughters will be married at her n Understand parental perception of the impor- early age and therefore they were typically only tance of education; interested for her to learn housework rather than attending school. In other words, parental percep- n Examine any differences in parental percep- tions have been identified as one of the influenc- tion of girls’ and boys’ schooling; ing factors, for girls continued education and is a focus of this study to understand parental atti- n Analyze parental perception of the enablers tudes and perceptions of enablers and barriers to and barriers to girls’ and boys’ schooling. girls’ schooling. Parental perception of the Objectives of the study importance of education among In Myanmar society, most parents decide school-going children whether their children go to school or not. It is Overall, the findings show that education was therefore important to identify the factors, es- universally perceived as important among both pecially parental perceptions, influencing girls’ rural and urban respondents and especially ac- schooling and continued education, as these may knowledged as important by parents who were go on to shape their choices in adolescence and unable to complete their own education. Addi- adulthood. tionally, community norms appear to play a sig- nificant role in influencing parents on the impor- The general objective of this study is to ex- tance of education. 4 Parental perceptions of barriers and enablers of girls’ education Photo by May Kyi All respondents said they wouldn’t hesitate to Sithar village, which is an agricultural village, not send their children to school, even when faced a traditional loom-weaving one. I didn’t need to with challenges like low family income. They be- at first because my husband worked as a manual lieve education alone can upgrade their children’s laborer. But when my daughter was one or two life. As one female respondent from an urban area years old, I had to start working. There are fewer says: “I don’t want them to drop out. Even if there jobs than before so now people need to be educat- are difficulties, I will try my best to send my chil- ed to work.” dren to school. If my income is low, I would pri- oritize sending them to school.” The majority of respondents in this study have not completed their own schooling, dropping out Several respondents discussed how they felt of school at an early age due to various factors. education was important to be able to get jobs They accept that their lives have been challeng- and live a comfortable life. One male respondent ing because they had no education and, therefore, from a rural area said: “Nowadays, I think educa- they want better for their children and recognize tion has become more important among people. the importance of sending their children to school. The educated can certainly get comfortable jobs. As one female respondent from a rural area says: The lives of educated persons are pleasant. So, I “My parents did not allow me to continue school. want my children to be educated.” In our time, most parents sent their son to uni- versity, but girls were allowed to study till the One female respondent from a rural area said: 10th standard.