THE Myanmar saying, ‘Education is the only treasure that cannot be stolen by a thief’ is reflected in the importance that parents and teachers place on providing an education that will equip children with the tools they will need to succeed in the working world.

Daw Khin Myint Myint, one of Myanmar’s most successful businesswomen and the managing director of Aung Aung Enterprise, Ltd., said that giving her children a good education allowed her to rest assured that they were ready to face the real world when they grew up.

All six of her children are university graduates, three of whom are doctors and one of whom earned a master of business administration (MBA) in the US.

She said that when her children were in the fourth, eighth and matriculation standards, she reduced the amount of time she dedicated to her business to spend more time on their education.

Those three grades are particularly important for children in Myanmar as they are the transition periods from primary school to middle school, and then to high school, and then to university, respectively.

Daw Khin Myint Myint epitomises parents who try to provide their children with the best possible education.

“At the start of every academic year I tried to size up the relationship between the private home teachers I hired and my children, to determine whether they suited each other by observing them while they were teaching,” she said.

She said that she made her children complete their education even when they become interested in starting businesses.

“I have some difficulties in my business life because I did not finish my education, so I didn’t want my children to face the same problems when they grew up,” Daw Khin Myint Myint said.

As the country takes steps towards joining the global economy, Myanmar entrepreneurs will need to be more well educated to succeed in the international business community, so a growing number of people will be interested in attaining the highest levels of business education, she said.

“We do not need to worry about children who are outstanding achievers in school because I think they can have better careers and attain a higher standard of living than we have,” she said.

It is worth putting money into a child’s education because it is an investment in the future, said Daw Khin Myint Myint.

The desire that parents have for a good education for their children is not limited to the wealthy.

One married couple living in the lower-class township of North Okkalapa in the outskirts of Yangon hopes to see their son – now in ninth grade – become a civil engineer when he grows up.

“We want our son to be like his father (who is a carpenter) – a person who builds houses – but not in the tiring way that his father does,” said 36-year-old Ma Tin Win, who spends her days washing clothes in other people’s homes.

“As an engineer our son can earn a lot of money and make a better living than his father,” she said.

Ma Tin Win said she will not give up on her expectations to provide a good education for her son just because she is not wealthy. She and her husband already have plans to rent out part of their small house for extra income when their son is taking his matriculation exam next year.

“All of my son’s friends go to private tuition after the end of the normal school day, which is something we cannot afford right now, but we have started cutting costs to save money to send him next year in preparation for his matriculation exam,” said Ma Tin Win.

“We always hide our financial difficulties from him so he can concentrate on his studies without worry,” she said.

She said that she and her husband will continue to work hard after matriculation so their son can attend university without having to work his way through school.

Ma Tin Win’s willingness to sacrifice everything for her son’s education is rooted in her own past. Although she had a passion for learning when she was young, her parents could only afford to support her until she reached seventh grade, when she was forced to stop school.

“I won’t let my son be like me,” she said with confidence.

Educators and parents of all social classes in Myanmar recognise the crucial role that education plays in the development of the country.

“We must make sure that the next generation is better, more outstanding and more intellectual than the present one because the future of the country is in their hands,” said Daw San San Wai, an eighth-grade teacher at Basic High School (3) in Bahan township.

“To do this we must provide a good education to every child, and all parents must have the attitude that their children deserve a good education,” she said.