Luxembourg start-up signs deal with Myanmar Education Ministry

A Luxembourg start-up has signed an agreement with the Education Ministry of Myanmar to provide digital-education tools to students and teachers across the country.

Edoo Education first entered talks with the Myanmar government around two years ago.

The company has now been awarded a contract, for which financial details were not disclosed, that will run for the next 10 years.

Edoo's programme seeks to provide digital tools, such as tablets and computers, to schools and children in rural areas to help improve resources and access to modern education.

General counsel for Edoo Education, Lars Svenningsson, based in Mamer, said he hoped to extend the programme, a "complement to traditional teaching", to other countries in future.

Edoo's devices are to be distributed across Myanmar in a docking briefcase that provides electricity, acting as a transmitter to enable children in rural areas without power to access its learning app.

The app covers all primary and secondary age groups.

Educational material – delivered by video and followed by questions to test student comprehension – will be adapted to the national curriculum.

"It also allows the Education Ministry to collect data about the progress of schools and students," Svenningsson said.

"It will give them an opportunity to address issues at an early stage if certain schools' results deviate from the desired outcome."

The tool can also be used to provide training for teachers in specific subject areas.

"This tool will hopefully help reach students who are out of school, as well as reduce dropout rates," Svenningsson added.

"Keeping students in education once they start is equally important."

The three-person Luxembourg team will be working alongside the sister company's distribution business in Myanmar.