| dc.description.abstract | This master thesis examines the driving forces and the process of change in Myanmar’s Higher Education Policy towards strengthened university autonomy. The study aims to understand the main problems impacting changes from 2014 to 2015 in the (Higher) Education Law of Myanmar in the area of university autonomy, the agreed upon policy objectives with respects to identified problems and the underlying policy theory, ideology or knowledge basis for the identification of the problems with respect to 2014 (Higher) Education Law. To do this, an analytical framework based on Kingdon’s Multiple-Streams Approach, a framework to understand policy change process by identifying policy window through problem, policy and politics streams and Gornitzka’s Policy Framework, a framework used to identify problems, underlying policy theory and the policy objectives, were used. Using the analytical framework, a document review and interviews with key stakeholders from students, teachers, policy consultants and staff from Ministry of Education were made. The study reveals that the initiations and discussions regarding the change process were not entirely based on capacity issues, but more on underlying political issues. The government understood the law as a functional tool that would allow for a better management of the universities, while the students and teachers viewed it as an important step towards an education system based on democratic principles. Such differences in core beliefs and perspectives between two groups has led the process of change in Myanmar’s Higher Education Policy in the area of university autonomy. | eng |