NORAD Child Centered Pathways: Advancing Child Rights, Child Protection and Education in Myanmar (2025)

Results show that most children are not meeting expected foundational learning standards: only 57.1% achieved Grade 2 literacy proficiency and 42.0% achieved Grade 2 numeracy proficiency. Learning levels were strongly associated with age, grade, gender, and prior out‑of‑school experience. Girls and over‑age children performed better than boys and age‑appropriate peers, while children with prior schooling gaps unexpectedly showed higher competencies than those with no gaps. Mother-tongue, disability status, displacement status, and geographic location showed no statistically significant differences, though sample sizes for some groups were small.

The study highlights systemic learning gaps, especially in numeracy and lower grades, alongside operational challenges such as language barriers, data quality constraints, and access limitations. Recommendations include targeted remedial support, strengthened teacher capacity, inclusive education measures for children with disabilities, improved data systems, and focused interventions for boys, younger learners, and multi‑age classrooms. The findings provide a critical evidence base for improving education quality and guiding adaptive programming in conflict‑affected Myanmar.