The UDNR’s 40-year journey
Okkar66127
Wednesday, 20 October , 2004
The UDNR’s 40-year journey
The University for Development of National Races will become a 40-year-old
institution on 20 October this year. As the university was founded for progress
of the whole Union, its aims are noble and its teaching programmes profound and
significant. The UDNR has been training its students and trainees to become not
only qualified teachers but also junior leaders and good organizers having
strong Union Spirit. The university is conducting master’s degree courses for
education and philosophy (education), qualification examinations for master’s
degree candidates, one-year basic education courses, bachelor’s degree
courses for education, a two-year education bridge course, diploma courses for
teachership, junior teachership courses, primary teachership courses, and
special primary teachership courses. Trainees and students of the university
have studied the subjects including teachership subjects in accord with the
curricula drawn by the Education Ministry.
The university has used electronic teaching aids including e-learning centres,
language labs, overhead projectors and multimedia projectors to train the
students and trainees to become education staff on whom the State can rely.
When it was only the Academy for Development of National Races in 1964, it
admitted 150 new trainees for its four-year course every year. Thus, the total
trainee strength then was only 600. Now it is admitting 250 trainees and
students a year for its four-year education courses. As various kinds of new
courses have been extended, over 1,400 trainees and students are attending
classes at the university now.
As the number of students and trainees has increased, its staff organizational
set up has been enlarged. It was opened as the Academy for Development of
National Groups in 1964 with a director, an assistant director, 20 teachers and
15 other staff to run it. Now it has become a university which is being run by
184 administrative staff led by a pro-rector (admin) and 348 teaching staff led
by a pro-rector (teaching) under the management of the rector.
The university has included the subjects on development in its teaching
programme. It is teaching development subjects covering physical education,
music, agriculture, art, mechanics, domestic science, history of independence
struggle, morals and manners, ethnic languages and culture, traditional martial
arts, basic military, basic health, school health, farming, traditional
medicine, and computer science to turn out junior leaders who will serve the
interest of their region and people with brilliant efforts.
In addition, the university has been giving priority to national unity and
amity and to strengthen Union Spirit among the trainees and students. To enable
the students to have the good spirit of working in unity and organization-wise,
they have to join one of the four companies — Kyansittha company, Bayintnaung
company, Alaungphaya company and Bandoola company — as a member as soon as
they have enrolled at the university. The university has made arrangements for
a company to be formed with various national races of various courses. As the
students have to take part in the annually-held company-wise competitions, they
achieve the spirit of unity among themselves to strive for the victory of their
own company.
The university has also adopted the system of fixing or solving problems
through the combined efforts of teachers, parents and students. The system is
also called parental guardianship system as its main aim is to look after and
guide the students in a way parents do. Teachers are closely watching, helping,
guiding and teaching their pupils, who come to the university from far away
places, with goodwill and loving kindness like their parents. In this way the
bonds between the teachers and their pupils become stronger, leading to the
flourishing of family spirit at the university. Based on the family spirit,
Union Spirit to live in weal or woe in the Union also flourishes. As the
students have already been equipped with Union Spirit, they have the ability to
strive to further strengthen Union Spirit among the locals at the places they
are assigned to after completing their studies. In this way, the university is
helping further cement national solidarity.
In addition to producing good education staff and organizers, the UDNR has also
made arrangements to enable them to pursue their further studies from the
places they are assigned to. Apart from primary assistant teachership courses,
the institution is conducting junior assistant teachership courses, degree
courses for education and master’s degree courses. After completing a
one-year service, a primary assistant teacher can attend the junior teachership
course conducted by the university. As Myanmar has become a continuous learning
society, they can pursue arts and science courses through the universities of
distance education. After completing a one-year service as a junior assistant
teacher or head of a primary school, a teacher can attend the one-year course
at the UDNR to get bachelor’s degree in basic education. Students who have
completed a three-year course under new system can attend the one-year
education diploma course at the UDNR after discharging duties for a period of
one year. And then they will have to discharge duties for one more year, before
attending a two-year education bridge course to get a degree in basic
education. National races in the entire nation who have passed the
matriculation examination can attend the four-year education course at the
university if they pass the entrance examination.
While the UDNR is nurturing and producing education staff, it has also selected
30 outstanding students from among their counterparts of the courses from No 30
to No 35 to allow them to sit in the entrance examinations of the technical
universities. The Government is providing stipends to students who have passed
the examination to pursue education at the universities. A total of 101 are
attending classes at the universities and 15 have got a degree or completed a
diploma course, and are now discharging duties in various sectors of the border
areas that are changing and developing at present.
All in all, during the period of 40 years, the University for Development of
National Races has produced 8,905 efficient education staff who have the
ability to strive for further strengthening of Union Spirit among the national
races, and further improvement of their socio-economic standard. After
completion of their studies at the university the students are striving without
fail for human resources development in the border areas, regional development,
progress of the socio-economy of the national people, and promotion and
propagation of Union Spirit among local people in accord with the guidance of
the Head of State.
Thus, I firmly believe that in the future also, the UDNR that has performed its
duties well for 40 years, will continue to stand as an institution training and
producing good education staff and organizers on whom the nation can rely.
Author : Htay Lwin (Development)