Free computer training offers opportunities for Ye Township youth

IMNA

In over to improve students computer stills in technology deprived Burma, an abbot in Ye Township has been working to provide funding so that area students will have access to computers and a summer training before returning to school.

Recently graduated 9th standard students in Tamort-kanin village will now have the opportunity to participate in an intensive computer training course. The abbot who orchestrated the course has insured that the course will be free to all of the village’s 50 9th standard graduates, according to a Tamort-kanin villager.

“To do the training, five villagers who are currently working in South Korea, donated money,” explained the abbot, who preferred to remain anonymous for his own safety. “However, at this time we cannot buy the new computers because we have not enough money yet. I have had to borrow [computers] from other villagers I. Right now we have ten computers total. We have plan to buy the new computers for the next years training.”

The training will take place over the public school summer holiday, starting on April 9th and go till the start of the state school in the 1st week in May. The trainer for the course will come from the Myanmar Computer Company (MCC) in Moulmein.

While the training itself will be free the certificate, issued by the MCC, will not be. “To get the training certificate from the MCC, each student has to pay 15,000 kyat. If students do have this certificate of computer training, it will support them when they apply for jobs,” the Abbot said.

The students who are able to pay will be entering their last year, 10th standard, equipped with an MCC certificate, which is often considered the gold standard of computer certification in Burma, and opens the possibility for numerous job opportunities.

Even without the MCC students will still benefit from the experience the course will bring. A youth from Tamort-kanin explained to IMNA that because students have never learned about computers and some have never even seen a computer before, the training will be particularly useful for the students. He continued saying that with this training they’ll be able to understand about computers functions and how they can use one.

Burma is reported to severely lack in modern computer technology. There have been efforts by military government to increase its computer tech capacity such as the development of the Yadanabon Cyber City near Mandalay, a technology park for computer and software development. However a student who attended the Moulmein University for a degree in computer science, recounted how for their program of 500 only 100 computers were available for the 3 year course, and most of the classes were spent repairing old an broken computers.