Motivation | Distance learner
Helping change lives in Myanmar
From earthquakes to internet curfews and a military coup, AAT students in Myanmar have faced some big challenges in recent years. Yet they have come out shining by scoring excellent marks in their assessments
Words Christian Koch
AT A GLANCE
1
Creating opportunities
Students in Myanmar are able to gain internationally-recognised qualifications and embark on a career in finance.
2
Transforming lives
Despite instability and a major earthquake, students have been able to complete their studies, with the vast majority passing on their first attempt.
3
Improving prospects
Many students have landed permanet jobs or internships with audit firms, software companies and property developers in Myanmar, while other have found roles abroad.
When Khin Kant Kaw passed her AAT Level 3 assessment last year, it marked a turning point in her fortunes. Just a few years earlier, the Burmese student was forced to abandon her studies after her parents fell into financial difficulty.
With the help of UK sponsorship funding her fees, Khin was able to sit her assessments and has since landed a full-time role at an audit firm.
“It’s helped bring my dreams closer to reality,” she says. “My vision for the future has become much clearer.”
Khin is not alone. The achievements of her classmates – many of whom also passed with flying colours – are even more extraordinary given the challenges they have faced in recent years.
Learning in troubled times
Khin and her classmates live in Myanmar. The south-east Asian country dazzles foreign visitors with its golden pagodas, friendly locals and traditional villages where life has barely changed in generations.
In 2021, the military seized power in a coup. Since then, this regime has been accused of bombing schools and hospitals, torching villages and torturing opponents.
The military also controls internet usage, banning social media and enforcing nightly curfews where people cannot get online. This, along with the regular power cuts and poor wi-fi connections, makes online learning difficult for students such as Khin.
If that wasn’t enough, some of the AAT modules aren’t taught in Burmese but in English (a second language spoken by only 5% of Myanmar’s population).
“Doing the report writing for business awareness in a language that isn’t my mother tongue was a real challenge,” says Level 3 student Nyan Min Htet. “To have succeeded in that on my first attempt makes me feel very proud.”
Many students travel several hours from remote rural areas to sit the assessments in the country’s largest city of Yangon and in Mandalay. Some have faced profound personal struggles, such as one student whose mother passed away before her final assessment.
“In April, I had a conversation with my mum who told me I had to finish my last AAT module,” Nyan Min Htet remembers. “The very next day, when my mum passed away, suddenly the thought I had to take this exam stuck with me.”
In March 2025, an earthquake that claimed more than 5,000 lives also interrupted studies, with many students returning home to help their families rebuild houses.
“To have succeeded in that on my first attempt makes me feel very proud.”
How AAT has helped forge new futures
Despite these setbacks, the students have left many people overseas marvelling at their resilience.
“The dedication and resilience of these students has been incredibly inspiring,” says Laura Ward, Partner Account Manager (International) at AAT. “It is remarkable how well they have performed, especially given the challenges they face that we do not encounter in the UK. Their commitment to their studies clearly highlights how easily we can take access to education for granted in the UK."
AAT has worked in Myanmar since 2016, partnering with MAS Education Center. The local training provider, which also won AAT’s International Training Provider of the Year award in 2024, has gone above and beyond to support learners, hosting extra online revision classes ahead of assessments.
Unfortunately, AAT’s assessment fees have more than doubled in recent years due to the military meddling with foreign exchange rates. As a result, AAT identified an opportunity to bring in one of its UK partners. Through further discussions, Glasgow-based ICS Learn stepped in to cover the fees for 40 of these students to sit their final AAT assessment. Remarkably, all but one of these students passed first-time.
In no time at all, the AAT students in Myanmar have been snapped up by companies. Nyan is interning at an accounting firm in Yangon and set his sights on being chartered. “[Before AAT] I was unsure what to do next and felt quite lost,” he recalls.
For Hnin Wai Wai Lwin, studying AAT opened doors to a new career path after feeling she was stagnating in a previous role. “I had an IT degree and got a job where I wasn’t progressing,” she remembers. “Even though I had zero knowledge of accounting, I intended to focus on the accounting software sector.”
She is now working in an accounting role at another software firm, Innovix Solutions.
Other students have used their AAT qualifications to secure jobs in Bangkok and Dubai, which may also mean they avoid mandatory military conscription in Myanmar.
Their success stories illustrate the collective power of education, sponsorship and hard work to help transform lives in some of the world’s most challenging circumstances and places.
“The thing that struck me was that these students didn’t lack motivation but opportunity,” says David Macfarlane, CEO at ICS Learn. “Helping them with that first step into the profession has given them a more stable pathway when their wider circumstances unfortunately remain uncertain.”
As Thura Shein, principal at training provider MAS Education, puts it: “The support of AAT and ICS Learn has reminded us that when an education community stands together it can truly change lives.”
What the students say?
Zin Kyaw Kyaw Myo, AAT Level 4 student
“During my spare time, I was looking for a course to study, to learn something new. I didn’t know which long-term career path to pursue or where my passion lay. [Since then] my analytical ability, problem-solving skills and critical thinking has significantly improved thanks to AAT’s materials.”
Mya Thinzar Lwin, accountant, Yoma Land Group
“Since ICS Learn offered to provide financial support for the exam fees for my final subject, I was absolutely delighted. The opportunity to obtain this UK diploma has seen me receive many opportunities… My position has changed and my salary has increased as well.”
The Association of Accounting Technicians. 30 Churchill Place, London E14 5RE. Registered charity no.1050724. A company limited by guarantee (No. 1518983).
