MYANMAR. Myitkyina. September 30, 2009. These elementary school students at a private Chinese school in Myitkyina will likely attend longer than eight years, the national average for Burmese students, whose families have little money to spend on schooling. The government has starved public schools of funding and support, leaving private schools or monasteries as the only places where children can get good instruction. The move "intentionally undermined the education system," says the National Endowment for Democracy's Brian Joseph.