Civil society groups are among the most important private actors to fill some of the gaps that existin Myanmar’s education system. As the state-run education system deteriorates, civil society actorsdevelop alternative approaches to teaching and the provision of basic education materials. As itssubtitle suggests, this article argues that even though the military regime of Myanmar is highlyauthoritarian, spaces for civil society actors do exist within two areas of state weakness: firstly,within various sectors of the weak welfare state; and secondly, within some of the negotiatedspaces of relative ethnic autonomy in ceasefire areas. Against this backdrop, the emergence ofcivil-society-based self-help groups in the education sector provides but one specific example ofa larger trend that is taking place in present-day Myanmar: The military regime has started totolerate certain civil society activities in areas of tremendous welfare needs that the governmentis unable or unwilling to deal with itself.
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