FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

The Chargé d’Affaires in the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, Susan N. Stevenson, stated that Myanmar lacks educational opportunities for students at the launch of the Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program in Bangkok, Thailand on Feb. 29.

“With 45 percent of the country’s population under age 25, Myanmar risks creating a lost generation of youth,” said Stevenson. The Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program was launched last year and is available to over 1,000 students from Myanmar to pursue studies in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. There are also online programs offered through the University of Arizona in the U.S. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 military coup has impacted the ability to pursue academic studies in Myanmar. Only 56.8 percent of six to 22-year-olds in the country were enrolled in education in 2023, according to the World Bank. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated that the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) reached nearly 2.7 million.