ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the trend toward privatization of higher education in Myanmar/Burma during nominal democratization from 2010 to 2021, and its implications for equity and justice. I also analyze the impact that the 2021 military coup may have on this trend. I use critical discourse analysis to examine documents including government policies (such as the 2016 National Education Strategic Plan), media and social media publications by private higher education institutions (HEIs), and news articles that cover education reform and student activism. To interpret my findings, I use Henry Giroux's work on the impact of neoliberalism on higher education, as well as Gita Steiner-Khamsi's concepts of “reception” and “translation” in “policy borrowing” to interpret how private colleges and universities in Myanmar have developed over the past decade. I find that private HEIs such as Parami University, Myanmar Metropolitan College, and Adhipati Education Group have engaged in policy borrowing not only in adopting discourses of critical thinking, but also in embracing neoliberal funding models such as university foundations, seeking out corporate partners/sponsors, and embracing strategic communications on social media. Yet access to these private institutions remains limited, especially to Myanmar's most economically and socially marginalized students. These developments are connected to similar trends toward neoliberalism, privatization, and marketization of higher education in the US, Europe, and other former colonial powers.
