Myanmar Military Builds New Pipeline to Recruit High School Students

Nearly two months after General Ye Win Oo assumed command as Myanmar’s new armed forces chief, the military has rolled out a fresh program to indoctrinate and recruit high school students into its ranks.

Last month, Ye Win Oo announced plans to operate military-run Youth Education Training Schools starting from the 2026-27 academic year. Applications for these schools have already begun in several regions.

Unlike existing military-run basic education schools, these new institutions directly target civilian high school students. Applicants must undergo strict screening procedures, including medical examinations, and apply under rules similar to those for officer training at the Defense Services Academy (DSA). According to official announcements, one school will open in Naypyitaw and another in Yemon in Yangon’s Hlegu Township, with recruitment aimed at Grade 10-12 students aged 16 to 19.

Former Major Swe Taw, who defected from the military, said the initiative is essentially about building a new recruiting pipeline. “It’s about creating a source of manpower for the army. There are already basic education schools and institutions like the DSA and Defense Services Technological Academy. Now they are expanding the military education system to capture high school students,” he explained.

Education officials note that the military has long operated 12 schools exclusively for soldiers’ families. But Ye Win Oo’s new program differs by directly targeting civilian students outside the military education system.

Ye Win Oo claimed the initiative would bolster national defense. Analysts, however, argue it is a clear attempt to spread military propaganda among the country’s youth.

Military academies such as the DSA were once popular among young people, especially under former dictator Than Shwe. But since the 2021 coup, public hostility toward the military has grown. Parents in rural areas who once encouraged their children to enlist now openly reject the idea, prompting the regime to enforce the long-dormant Conscription Law to fill its ranks.

Myanmar military defectors point out that changes in the education system have raised the age at which high school students graduate to 18 or 19, making officer recruitment harder. Ye Win Oo’s program seeks to capture students earlier, between ages 15 and 19, through these new schools.

Education experts warn that the plan to set up new schools is a strategy to indoctrinate teenagers with military ideology and funnel them into the army. A retired Education Ministry official described this group as being at the “golden age” for shaping minds: “At 15 to 17, they will absorb anything. By 18, it becomes harder. The military wants to catch them young.”

During former military dictator Than Shwe’s era, military academies thrived, attracting thousands of officer cadets each year. Poor job prospects from degree courses at civilian universities and limited opportunities to work abroad made military academies and training schools—which offer food, accommodation and salaries—appealing to many young people.

While the Myanmar military has always achieved a degree of recruitment success through propaganda emphasizing the “heroism” of a military career, institutes like the DSTA and Defense Services Medical Academy have long attracted students who simply lacked other educational opportunities. Today, worsening economic hardship, widespread instability and high unemployment since the coup are reinforcing the latter pipeline. Observers fear that struggling youth may feel compelled to enroll in these new schools.

Former Major Naung Yoe said families with few choices will be drawn in: “For families with no alternatives, these schools will appear as a lifeline.”

The military has promised free food, lodging and allowances for students joining its schools. Another incentive is the direct pathway such schools provide to officer or senior NCO training after graduation. Analysts say the initiative is designed to quickly replenish ranks while tightening enforcement of the Conscription Law, leaving young people with no choice but to join the military.

U Aye Lwin of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front warned: “We see the future of our youth being destroyed. Forced recruitment ruins their lives, and when their future is gone, the country’s future is destroyed too.”