Section 4 | HERE AND NOW
by their own internalization of gender norms. One key informant noted that most teachers
are women who themselves tend to lack experience and confidence using—and creatively
exploring—technology in the classroom. In part, this challenge is related to the rote learning
methods of the past, in which the educator was a position of authority who dispensed
knowledge, unquestioned. To some extent, it can be addressed as UNESCO is doing, by
introducing technology to teachers along with interactive pedagogical methods in which the
educator is a guide who facilitates learning by doing.
“Public libraries have
educational value—
they offer useful skills
like debate and critical
thinking, as well as
opportunities to practice
and expand digital skills.”
—Urban CSO representative
In addition, most students and youth—Myanmar’s first generation of digital natives—are
incentivized to promote digital development, as they reasonably stand to benefit from
tech-enabled educational and employment opportunities for which older generations
lack preparation or exposure. Since adolescence involves exploring social norms as part of
negotiating the transition to adulthood, youth also tend to be more comfortable with shifts
in or challenges to traditional norms, including gender-based roles and expectations. It is
worth noting that in Myanmar university students in particular have historically played a
very visible role in demanding social change. To the extent that digital access and skills are
seen as entitlements or tools of empowerment rather than means of increased government
surveillance or state propaganda, students can be broadly expected to champion them.
At the same time, there will be subsets of marginalized youth for whom digital development
may remain an unobtainable luxury indefinitely due to cost, linguistic barriers, or
geopolitics. For others, particularly adolescent girls and young women, it may remain a
tightly controlled family asset in line with normative, socioeconomic, or security concerns.
Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment
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