State budget to be increased up to 15% for the Ministry of Education, says President

State budget will be increased up to 15 percent for the Ministry of Education, according to the fiscal year, said the State President. State President U Min Aung Hlaing said this in his 100-day State Basic Address of the State Government, attending the 12th day of the second regular session of the third Union Parliament on July 31. The State President said that human resources, which are the main driving force in building a nation, are the most important, and education is a solid foundation for the development of these resources. If we examine the educational situation in our country, Myanmar, in 2024, the literacy rate of the population aged 15 and above was 92.1 percent, and the numeracy rate was 92.3 percent. Although the literacy rate is high, the school enrollment rate of the public is still low, and the educational qualifications are still low. According to the 2024 census, only three out of five youths aged 15 are currently attending school, and only one out of six youths aged 20 are continuing their education, indicating a high dropout rate at the middle and high school levels. Among the population aged 25 and above, the highest completed grade/educational level was 49 percent for no grade and primary school completion, 23.8 percent for middle school completion, 14 percent for high school completion, and only 11.5 percent for graduates. Looking back at previous census data, those who completed only no grade and primary school were 90 percent in 1973, 84 percent in 1983, and 61 percent in 2014, indicating that the majority of Myanmar's population has completed only primary education, he said. Therefore, our government has changed the education system to KG+9 as a compulsory education system to promote the nation's education sector and has invested more state funds in the education sector to develop the nation's education sector. To develop our country's education sector, 6.92 percent of the state budget will be used for the Ministry of Education in the 2026-2027 fiscal year, and 9.22 percent of the state budget, including the education sector of other ministries, will be used. In the upcoming 2027-2028 fiscal year, more than 10 percent of the state budget will be increased and used for the Ministry of Education, and plans are underway to increase the state budget for the education sector up to 15 percent in the next year and a half, the 2028-2029 fiscal year, the State President said. According to the current statistics of the Ministry of Education, approximately 4.9 million students are attending primary education, over 2 million are attending middle school, and over 600,000 are attending high school, totaling over 7.5 million students in the 2026-2027 academic year. Comparing this with the total enrollment of over 7.1 million students in the 2025-2026 academic year, it can be seen that the number of students has increased by approximately 400,000 this year. However, compared to the 9.4 million students enrolled in the 2016-2017 academic year, it is still a decrease. Therefore, efforts will continue to be made to ensure that all school-aged children can attend school. Special plans will be formulated for educationally disadvantaged regions to provide education up to KG+9, and 92 industrial, agricultural, and livestock high schools have already been opened. Efforts are also being made to upgrade suitable specialized schools from agricultural and livestock institutes to university/college level and to expand the opening of polytechnic institutes and universities. Among the current 15 agricultural and livestock institutes, the agricultural and livestock institutes in Pyu, Thayarwady, Thaton, and Heho, which are suitable in terms of school area and infrastructure, are being prepared to be upgraded to agricultural and livestock colleges, and the necessary teachers and staff are being appointed, the State President said.