In a small village tucked into the rugged hills of Myanmar’s borderlands, the sound of a bell doesn’t just mark the start of a school day. It’s an act of defiance. It’s a scene repeated across territories controlled by ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs) and contested by a brutal military junta, in areas where education has been taken out of the hands of the state.
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For decades, Myanmar’s schools served as the primary tool of “Burmanization”—a top-down system focused on enforcing a single language and narrative. But since the 2021 coup, that system has collapsed. In its place, a fragile yet strong new system is emerging—a bottom-up federalism driven by local institutions known as Local Education Boards (LEBs).
A new landmark study by the Institute for Peace and Social Justice (IPSJ), led by Dr. Daisy, reveals that these boards are doing more than just keeping classrooms open. They are establishing the de facto foundation for a future federal democracy, one village at a time. (Dr. Daisy is a Burmese scholar; her real name is being withheld for security reasons. Originally established in the US, IPSJ moved to Myanmar during the brief democratic opening in the 2010s, but has now relocated outside the country. It plans to publish the report soon.)
Death of the center
When the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) pulled thousands of teachers out of government schools after the coup, the junta’s education system collapsed in many areas. The National Unity Government (NUG), operating secretly and remotely, stepped in to provide an alternative. But as the IPSJ research highlights, “policy awareness” remains a major challenge. High-level directives from the NUG’s Ministry of Education often struggle to reach the front lines of the conflict.
“We don’t wait for the NUG to tell us what to do,” one teacher from a resistance-controlled zone is quoted as saying in the study. “If we waited for a signature from a minister in a hideout, our children would be illiterate by the time the war ends.”
This vacuum has been filled by the LEBs—groups of parents, monks, local elders and CDM teachers. They serve as the “interpreters” of policy. They take the lofty goals of federalism and turn them into a schedule that considers the timing of military airstrikes and crop harvesting.
Gift model
Perhaps the most surprising discovery of the IPSJ study is the financial resilience of these local boards. In traditional systems, schools are funded by taxes. In Myanmar’s liberated zones, schools are funded by gifts. This resilience, however, comes at a cost.
In what the researchers caution is a “dependency on gifts,” villagers—many of whom have been displaced or lost their homes—regularly give small amounts of rice, vegetables or cash to support stipends for teachers. It is a system entirely based on social oversight and radical transparency. In these communities, every kyat is publicly tracked during meetings. Since the money comes directly from neighbors’ pockets, the pressure to perform is intense. However, the study warns that this is a “long-term unsustainable” model. Teacher attrition is high, and educators living on the edge of poverty while risking their lives for a “social gift” are beginning to burn out.
Coordination Headache
The shift toward a federal system has encountered resistance. In areas with a long history of ERO governance, the formation of new NUG-aligned resistance boards has led to a “role overlap.”
The research highlights five key thematic areas where LEBs must navigate this political minefield: Governance, access, finance, teacher development and state-building. In some regions, the LEB is a direct extension of an ERO education department. In others, it is a new entity trying to determine if it reports to a local commander or a distant NUG official.
The study refers to this as the “localization” of policy—the idea that a school in a mountain village shouldn’t look exactly like one in the Bamar heartland. The LEBs are currently modifying national policies to suit local environments, a practice that the researchers view as the essence of decentralization.
Teachers as agents of peace
The responsibility for this revolution falls on the “CDM backbone.” These teachers are the heroes of the IPSJ story. They have traded government salaries and pensions for a life of uncertainty.
The study highlights a critical gap: “uneven availability of short-term training.” While these teachers are highly dedicated, their professional development remains fragmented. Some have access to international digital training; others are teaching from memory under a mango tree. The report calls for a “coordinated system for teacher development” that recognizes the diversity of these educators and bridges the gap between volunteer parents and career professionals.
Why it matters
The IPSJ study provides a clear warning to international donors and political leaders: Stop searching for a single, central solution. The “top-down” era has ended. Myanmar’s future federalism depends on formalizing what is already happening locally. This includes recognizing LEB certifications, providing “matching grants” to support the gift-based economy, and allowing local boards to maintain their 20 percent curriculum autonomy.
The quiet revolution in Myanmar’s schools isn’t just about teaching math and science; it’s about shaping a new generation that sees authority as belonging to the community, not the state. If the LEBs survive the war, they will have already won the peace.
Key data
- Participation: 42 key informant interviews conducted across four diverse conflict regions.
- The “Awareness Gap”: Fewer than 40 percent of local board members believed they had a “strong” understanding of national NUG policies, instead relying on local innovation.
- The Resilience Factor: 85 percent of communities surveyed preferred local board management over reverting to a centralized state model.
Khin Maung Win is a freelance journalist. This article was adapted from the “Strengthening Bottom-Up Implementation of Local Education Boards” research study (IPSJ, Dec 2025).
