Positive Forms and Stability of Linear Time-Delay Systems

We consider the problem of constructing Lyapunov functions for linear differential equations with delays. For such systems it is known that exponential stability implies the existence of a positive Lyapunov function which is quadratic on the space of continuous functions. We give an explicit parametrization of a sequence of finite-dimensional subsets of the cone of positive Lyapunov functions using positive semidefinite matrices. This allows stability analysis of linear time-delay systems to be formulated as a semidefinite program.Comment: journal version, 14 page

Development of Wearable Systems for Ubiquitous Healthcare Service Provisioning

This paper reports on the development of a wearable system using wireless biomedical sensors for ubiquitous healthcare service provisioning. The prototype system is developed to address current healthcare challenges such as increasing cost of services, inability to access diverse services, low quality services and increasing population of elderly as experienced globally. The biomedical sensors proactively collect physiological data of remote patients to recommend diagnostic services. The prototype system is designed to monitor oxygen saturation level (SpO2), Heart Rate (HR), activity and location of the elderly. Physiological data collected are uploaded to a Health Server (HS) via GPRS/Internet for analysis.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, APCBEE Procedia 7, 2013. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1309.154

The value of Bama-saga: minorities within minorities’ views in Shan and Rakhine States

Research across Myanmar’s ethnic states has shown that large and well organised non-dominant ethnic groups such as the Mon, Karen, Shan and Kachin would prefer Myanmar’s education system to offer MTB-MLE so that their children are able to start education in the mother tongue. This article engages with some of the overlooked voices of minorities within non-dominant ethnic groups relating their views on language, education, and Language of Instruction (LoI) and how this shapes their relationship both with other more dominant ethnic and linguistic groups as well as the ruling Burman majority. Using the Language Vitality Framework (Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor 1977), the article argues that while the minorities within non-dominant ethnic groups consulted work hard to preserve their language, they want Burmese to remain the LoI in order for their children to be able to get jobs and lift their families and communities out of poverty. Although much still needs to be done beyond language, the groups consulted believed that Burmese provides communities in multi-ethnic, multi-lingual settings with a level playing field they feel is fairer, than if Burman linguistic domination was replaced with another non-dominant language. These communities want multi-lingual local teachers who can explain the Burmese textbooks to their children

Myanmar’s Education Reforms: A pathway to social justice?

This book reviews the state of education in Myanmar over the past decade and a half as the country is undergoing profound albeit incomplete transformation. Set within the context of Myanmar’s peace process and the wider reforms since 2012, Marie Lall’s analysis of education policy and practice serves as a case study on how the reform programme has evolved. Drawing on over 15 years of field research carried out across Myanmar, the book offers a cohesive inquiry into government and non-government education sectors, the reform process, and how the transition has played out across schools, universities and wider society. It casts scrutiny on changes in basic education, the alternative monastic education, higher education and teacher education, and engages with issues of ethnic education and the debate on the role of language and the local curriculum as part of the peace process. In so doing, it gives voice to those most affected by the changing landscape of Myanmar’s education and wider reform process: the students and parents of all ethnic backgrounds, teachers, teacher trainees and university staff that are rarely heard

Language, Education and the Peace Process in Myanmar

This article analyses the relationship between the politics of education and language, and armed conflict and ongoing peace process in Myanmar. It discusses the state education system, which since the military coup of 1962 has promoted the idea of the country based on the language and culture of the Bamar (Burman) majority community, and the school systems developed by ethnic armed groups which oppose the military government. Ethnic opposition education regimes have developed mother tongue-based school systems. In some cases, the Mon for example, these broadly follow the government curriculum, while being locally owned and delivered in ethnic languages; in others, such as the Karen, the local education system diverges significantly from the Myanmar government curriculum, making it difficult for students to transition between the two systems. This article explores the consequences of these developments, and how reforms in Myanmar since 2011 — including the peace process, which remains incomplete and contested — have opened the space for educational reform, and the possible “convergence” of state and non-state education regimes. Ethnic nationality communities remain determined to conserve and [End Page 128] reproduce their own languages and cultures, adopting positions in relation to language and education which reflect broader state-society relations in Myanmar, and in particular ethnic politicians’ demands for a federal political settlement to decades of armed conflict. The article concludes that sustainable resolution to Myanmar’s protracted state-society conflict is unlikely to be achieved until elites can negotiate agreement on ethnic language and teaching policies

Comparative Perspectives on the Role of National Pride, Identity and Belonging in the Curriculum

In this Special Issue, Comparative Perspectives on the Role of National Pride, Identity and Belonging in the Curriculum, Pedagogy and Experience of Higher Education, papers explore how contemporary issues in democratic education play out in higher education curriculum policy, pedagogy, and the student experience within and across different national contexts [...

Teachers’ Digital Agency and Pedagogy during the COVID-19 Crisis in Delhi

This article discusses the digital agency of 110 Delhi government schoolteachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides insights on how home/indoor spaces affected the digital pedagogies used across Delhi government schools. Teachers’ voices revealed loopholes in the online education system as well as discussing some positive aspects of offline teaching and blended learning

Power dynamics of language and education policy in Myanmar's contested transition

This article examines the development of education policy in Myanmar/Burma at a period of “critical juncture.” There are two major strands to this article, regarding policy process and stakeholder voices that we bring together. We argue that powerful actors such as the government and international agencies frame policy in ways that often exclude the concerns and aspirations of education users and that there are often significant gaps between their positions and the realities of “ordinary” citizens. Such issues are of particular concern, given the importance of education and language as key elements of ethnic stakeholders’ identities and interests, in relation to the ongoing and still deeply contested peace process. As a result, opportunities opened by the critical juncture in the reform process are being missed. The article is based on data collected in interviews and focus groups with over 500 respondents between 2011 and 2016 in Myanmar

Higher Education reform in Myanmar: Neoliberalism versus an inclusive developmental agenda

Myanmar has been transitioning to a parliamentary democracy following a long period of authoritarian military rule, with higher education positioned as a catalyst of and for change. This paper explores the policy reform texts through discourse analysis and the process of their enactment by senior university leaders. Two discourses emerge, one of neoliberalism and the role of globalisation, competition and marketisation. Another adopts traditional Myanmar values and argues for an inclusive, developmental agenda based on local needs using culturally sensitive approaches. The article explores the complimentary and contradictory nature of these approaches and the consequences for reform efforts