Academic Success

Academic success is the aim of a student who attends a college or a university in his country or abroad. Many students around the world might not probably fulfill this purpose, especially students in under developed countries such as Myanmar (former name was Burma) are not fully expected to have such qualifications since the education system in such countries has been ran under the strict government control.

There are some criteria which a student must demonstrate if academic success is expected to achieve. A student must be able to analyse and evaluate information, able to effectively communicate with others, proficient in the information technology (IT), adequate for language skills and having global awareness.

Many students in Myanmar, for example, are deficient in the mentioned criteria for various reasons. There are two principal backgrounds why they are lack of those qualities. The first main reason is “poverty”. The other one is “corruption”. The vast majority of households, particularly in the suburbs are in need. Children born to those families could not reach their final educational gain which is to complete at least undergraduate levels, BA, BSc, for example. Only a small minority of families are wealthy enough to provide full support to their children. However, many of them have no the firm aim to achieve the academic success. To have a degree from a college is their final goal.

Furthermore, the students at the colleges in Myanmar largely seek for the right answers by memorizing them without analyzing whether they are logical or not. Studying by-heart is one of education systems which has been generally adapted nationwide. One of big problems is that most college teachers are there not well trained. In addition, if one of students fails the exam, the teachers are inquired by the government education officers by putting diverse questions. Consequently, the teachers being scared such questions let the students pass their exams without checking even the answers right or wrong. Thus, a number of students there could not well demonstrate their qualities to obtain the mentioned achievement.

By contrast, the students in the United Kingdom, particularly in the colleges and universities could be expected to have such an academic achievement because the second and the third stages, reported by Perry (1968) who scrutinized the intellectual development of Harvard undergraduates during four years at college, can be applied in the UK where the students are discouraged from seeking right answers to study by heart but heartened to think and analyse. The technical development is another supportive aid for them. As a result, global awareness, which is one of standards to have the academic success, could be demonstrated.

It is, according to my own experience, obvious that a student to obtain the full academic success needs to be at appropriate environments where all necessary facilities are available. To have a good educational system, which can produce the academic success of students depends on a good government who can equip all necessary facilities for the better education.