9 - Reviewing Reforms in the NLD’s Fourth Year – Education, Citizenship and Peace

Summary

The NLD-led government has faced many challenges since it assumed power in April 2016. This has included the need for constitutional, education, legal and land reform, the demand for capacity building in many sectors, further economic reforms, and an unfinished peace process. During the first 100 days of its administration, the NLD government completed a number of projects and policies initiated by the previous government, offering – contrary to expectations – more continuity than change. Continuity across the reform process has been a good thing when it came to the policy work that had been completed earlier, allowing the ministerial administration to continue with their work. However, over the past two years there has been a gradual slowing of the reforms. As the NLD ends its fourth year in power the overall mood across Myanmar has changed from hope to stagnation. The list of challenges confronting the government seem almost unchanged from when the NLD took power. In many ways, the country appears to have stopped moving forward, stuck in quagmires that don't have easy solutions.

The transition from a military dictatorship to a more participatory democratic system was never going to be smooth – as could be seen for example in the Eastern European and former Soviet states (Turk 2014). Education plays a key role as countries move on from crisis and conflict, with the concept of “transition” capturing the change, reforms, innovation and development that occurs (Mitter 2002). In Myanmar issues pertaining to education reform are also deeply embedded in the peace process (Lall and South 2018) and questions of belonging and citizenship (South and Lall 2017).

A key issue for The NLD government has therefore been how to link the wider reforms with the peace process, since without a lasting and just peace, the reforms are unlikely to be sustainable. The lack of decentralisation means that ethnic states still do not have the required mandate to engage with issues specific to their state or their ethnic groups. This is underpinned by the lack of ethnic voices in parliament and in wider politics. Whilst the NLD did put up ethnic candidates in certain areas, they have not been able to speak up specifically for local and ethnic issues, as ethnic parties have done in the past.