The military council has issued an order to strictly regulate the sending of Non-CDM staff for foreign studies and has instructed to scrutinize overseas travel for subjects that can be studied in Myanmar. On March 26, 2025, the council issued an order modifying the duties and authorities of the Foreign Scholarship Selection and Dispatch Committee, implementing tight restrictions on sending Non-CDM staff abroad. Under the military council’s subordinate ministries and organizations, Non-CDM staff are no longer allowed direct foreign study opportunities and can only study abroad through scholarships allocated by the Foreign Scholarship Selection and Dispatch Committee.
If the military council is to fund the studies, the committee can only proceed after receiving expenditure approval from the Ministry of Finance. Non-CDM staff selected for foreign studies must comply with the ministry’s established rules, policies, and guidelines, and their compliance will be thoroughly vetted. Additionally, monthly reports on all foreign study deployments must be submitted to the military council. For military personnel under the council’s armed forces, foreign study arrangements can only proceed after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Defense.
Notably, the council will scrutinize and likely reject candidates proposed by foreign countries for scholarships. Non-CDM staff are prohibited from applying for scholarships without prior approval from their respective ministries. The council has directed that postgraduate study permissions should only be granted for subjects that require special endorsement from union-level organizations and ministries, particularly for courses that cannot be adequately taught by educational departments in Myanmar. For Non-CDM staff currently studying abroad, extensions for master’s and doctoral programs are limited to maximum periods of 6 months at a time, with a total maximum extension of 1 year, as per the council’s restrictive order.
