Myanmar sits three and a half hours ahead of our original teaching base, which makes it one of the easiest markets we timetable — a child finishes school, has a break, and joins a live class, which is the configuration most parents actually picture. And because we run two teaching teams in different time zones, the rest of the day is available too, so a family here chooses the slot that suits them rather than accepting the only one on offer.
Three and a half hours, in the right direction
Myanmar runs UTC+6:30 with no seasonal clock changes — the only half-hour offset in our coverage — and our teaching base runs UTC+3. So Myanmar is three and a half hours ahead of us, which means a four o’clock class in Yangon is half past twelve for our teachers, a six o’clock class is half past two, and an eight o’clock evening class is half past four. Every one of those is an ordinary teaching hour here. A child finishes school, has a break, and joins a live class — which is what most parents picture when they imagine supplementary teaching and what most of our markets cannot deliver.
And Cambridge is already familiar
Myanmar private schools have offered IGCSE and A-Level for many years, so families here already understand what an internationally examined track is and where it sits beside the national record. That shortens the conversation considerably. It also means the demand is usually specific rather than exploratory: a family knows their child needs Further Mathematics, or a third science, or Computer Science at A-Level, and knows their school cannot run it for four students. That is a teaching-capacity problem and it has a clean answer.
Where the map thins, which is most of the country
Yangon holds the deepest international provision and the fees to match. Mandalay is the second city with a fraction of it, six hundred kilometres north. Naypyidaw has very little and is laid out as a planned city with long internal journeys. Taunggyi anchors a productive highland agricultural economy — tea, coffee, horticulture — with none at all. Mawlamyine carries a southern port and rubber region with none. In four of those five places we are not competing with a campus; we are reaching where campuses are not.
Examinations, planned earlier than usual
One operational commitment specific to this market. The country is large and journeys between regions are long, so we raise the examination question at enrolment rather than in the term before a series. Yangon holds the deepest capacity and is checked first, Mandalay serves central-region families, and arrangements for Naypyidaw, Taunggyi and the south are planned several weeks ahead of each window. Where a domestic sitting is not practical for a particular series, we discuss alternatives in good time rather than at the entry deadline.
And what I will not claim
That we are a registered Myanmar school — we are not. That we teach the matriculation examination — we do not. That I know Myanmar’s home-education position — we could not verify it and say so rather than guessing. And that Myanmar education needs my opinion — the country has a deep scholarly tradition and universities with long histories. What we offer is narrow and specific: subject specialists teaching live toward externally examined qualifications, in the hours your child is actually free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does after-school teaching really work from Nairobi?+
Here it does. Myanmar is three and a half hours ahead of our teaching base, so a four o’clock class in Yangon is half past twelve for our teachers and six o’clock is half past two. It is the natural configuration in this market.
Our school already offers IGCSE — what would we gain?+
Usually a subject it cannot staff for a small cohort: Further Mathematics, a third science, or a clashing set. If your school covers what your child needs, we will tell you so.
Is there international schooling outside Yangon?+
A fraction of it in Mandalay, very little in Naypyidaw, and essentially none in the highlands or the south. Live delivery reaches all of them identically.
Where would our child sit examinations?+
We plan it at enrolment. Yangon is checked first, Mandalay serves the central region, and Naypyidaw, Taunggyi and the south are planned several weeks ahead.
