Section 3 | RULES OF THE GAME Given the strength of the gender digital divide in such locations, it is imperative that TVET efforts consciously integrate digital skills into offerings for those with limited ICT access, skills, and experience with the benefits of online information, products, and services for personal as well as community development. Currently there are many donors and development partners providing assistance for TVET reform, including the World Bank and ADB; bilateral donors such as Switzerland, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, and the European Union; and multilateral agencies like UNESCO, ILO, and to a lesser extent UNDP. The MoE and these allies are focusing their support on 1. providing technical advice, capacity development, and training; 2. developing solutions as models for replication across the system; and 3. providing loans and/or direct funding for purchase of physical resources and capital development (buildings, equipment, and facilities).227 At least one past initiative was designed to increase opportunities for women: in 2013, the ADB supported pilots by what was then the Ministry of Science and Technology (eliminated in the 2016 reshuffle) and the Ministry of Industry to test new models of competency-based modular short courses, with specific targets for encouraging females to be trained and successfully employed in traditionally male-dominated skill areas.228 This could be a useful model for TVET courses that focus on or embed digital skills that are in demand locally. MONASTIC SCHOOLS In response to large areas of unmet need for basic education, there are nearly 1,600 monastic schools that serve more than 300,000 children,229 especially those in remote and conflict-affected areas, migrant children, working children, those in poor health, children from ethnolinguistic minority groups, and children with disabilities. Enrollment is open to boys and girls, with slightly more boys (except in Chin state and Thanintharyi region). Loosely regulated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs rather than the MoE, teachers (88 percent of whom are female) in monastery schools are not required by law to attain a certificate in education; many work voluntarily due to a lack of resources for salaries. Monastic schools also lack basic facilities, teaching and learning materials, and adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities.230 Some international donors, INGOs, and Myanmar philanthropists provide basic support.231 Data on the ICT capacity of such schools is lacking, but it seems plausible that it is extremely low. While monastic schools are well positioned to meet the needs of youth at the bottom of the skills pyramid, they are unlikely to be able to do so. However, they could tap available resources such as University of Washington’s mobile literacy curriculum, which was tested in Myanmar among mobiles-first users (see Annex D). UNESCO Bangkok, “Myanmar: TVET as Key to Educational Opportunities for All Learners.” ADB, Technical Assistance to Myanmar. 229 Myanmar Information Management Unit, “Monastic Education in Myanmar, 2015-2016,” August 30, 2016. 230 Burnet Institute and Monastic Education Development Group, Monastic Schools in Myanmar—A Baseline Study (Prahran, Australia: Burnet Institute, 2014). 231 Burnet Institute, “Strengthening Monastic School Education in Myanmar,” n.d. Accessed January 2017. 227 228 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 67