Reporting from Chiang Mai,
Thailand and New Delhi, India

January 23, 2008 – Forty-six years of brutal and incompetent military rule have all but destroyed Burma's education system. A proud culture of learning and literature has been replaced, critics say, with a 'socialist' education system which aims to churn out obedient, unthinking citizens, loyal to the ruling junta.

Schools and universities are grossly underfunded, standards are extremely low and corruption is rife, with rich students paying bribes in return for top grades or entrance to the better universities. Government censors determine what everyone, not just students, can read.

UNESO found that in 2005, just 43% of both girls and boys attended secondary school. According to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, "Government spending on health and education combined is less than 1% of GDP - among the lowest in the world." ...