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This study aims to provide an overview of the attitude toward mobile banking among early adopters in Myanmar. By conducting exploratory interviews with ten bank employees, factors that are important for the adoption of mobile banking were also identified. The qualitative method allowed factors beyond the existing technology adoption frameworks to emerge. From the results, it was concluded that the attitude toward mobile banking is overall positive among the early adopters. Findings were aligned with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), suggesting that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are important factors for the usage of mobile banking. Social influence did not show any consistent results, but external barriers such as regulations and cash-based society were evidently important factors for adoption. Moreover, experience showed to have an impact on the participants’ attitude and the adoption of mobile banking. The findings from this paper could work as a foundation when formulating future hypotheses for mobile banking adoption in Myanmar. Regarding practical contributions, banks can get an insight into what is important to focus on when designing a strategy to increase the rate of mobile banking adoption. For future research, it would be of interest to extend the sample and collect data from both users and non-users. / Denna studie syftar till att ge en övergripande bild av attityden mot mobila banktjänster bland tidiga användare i Myanmar. Genom explorativa intervjuer med tio bankanställda, identifierades också faktorer som är viktiga för att anamma mobila banktjänster. Den kvalitativa metoden möjliggjorde faktorer som ligger utanför de befintliga teoretiska ramverken att vara del av studien. Från resultaten drogs slutsatsen att attityden mot mobila banktjänster är övergripande positiv bland de tidiga användarna. Resultaten låg i linje med modellen Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), vilket tyder på att uppskattad användbarhet och uppskattad användarvänlighet är viktiga faktorer för anammandet av mobila banktjänster. Socialt inflytande visade inga konsekventa resultat, men externa barriärer som regleringar samt kontantbaserat samhälle visade sig vara viktiga faktorer för anammandet till mobila banktjänster. Dessutom påverkade erfarenhet deltagarnas attityd mot och anammandet av mobila banktjänster. Resultaten från denna rapport kan användas som en grund vid formulering av hypoteser i framtida forskning inom implementering av mobila banktjänster i Myanmar. Vad gäller det praktiska bidrag från denna studie, kan bankerna få en inblick i vad som är viktigt att fokusera på vid utformning av strategi för att öka användningen av mobila banktjänster. För framtida forskning vore det intressant att utöka urvalet av deltagare och samla in data från både användare och icke-användare.

The Chinese, Indian and Myanmar governments share the borderlands in the corners of their respective territories where East, South and Southeast Asia meet. In this region of common concern the capacities of these three systems of post-colonial government are regulated so as to prevent excessive political conflict and discourage territorial fragmentation. My research focus is how the governments seek to exert spatial control in areas occupied by the closely-related Jingpo, Singpho and Jinghpaw peoples. As part of their efforts to shape interactions with the central governments, local elites among these peoples have defended and expanded elements of their Jingpo, Singpho and Jinghpaw cultures, particularly their annual Manau festivals. Seeking a way to analyse the relationship between governments and those they govern I draw on the illustrative potential of these large-scale events. It is the symbolic politics of these festivals that suggest an argument about spatial control that refines the state-repelling “Zomia” model proposed by van Schendel (2002) and Scott (2009a). I argue that nodes of control are sites where the governments concentrate power in order to manage their geopolitical ambitions. These nodes succeed when they encourage the acquiescence of local economic and cultural elites. By opening up opportunities for such collaboration, the nodes buttress the strategic links—cultural, political, economic, transportation and communications—that are the main interests of all central governments. It is, moreover, the intrinsic limitation of government ambitions, and their willingness to allow creative ambiguities, that suggests the direction in which ideas about spatial control at the intersection of China, India and Burma can be re conceived.

Based on multi-method research with Class 11 students (aged 15-17) and their teachers at three English-medium, co-educational secondary schools in Delhi over nine months in 2013-14, this thesis explores how young people's understandings and experiences relate to national and international understandings of gender, sexuality and education. The thesis examines the interplay between institutional practices and students' agency within schools (drawing on Connell's 2000 framework), while I use the concept of ‘sexual learning' in order to consider young people's experiences both within and beyond the classroom (Thomson & Scott 1991). Study findings indicate the influence of concerns about adolescent sexuality on school curricula and on disciplinary practices, which sought to maintain gender segregation in co-educational spaces. The thesis also reveals the ways in which narratives of girlhood and masculinities shaped young people's lives; particularly in the wake of the December 2012 gang rape case in Delhi, these gender narratives were both contradicted and reinforced by seemingly ubiquitous stories of sexual violence. Stories of sexual violence also formed a source of gendered, risk-based sexual learning, which reinforced risk-based narratives of sexuality within formal and informal sources of sexual learning accessed by young people. The thesis also reveals heterosocial dynamics within school peer cultures as an important source of sexual learning. Students proved adept at negotiating assumptions about ‘appropriate' interactions such as idealized rakhi (brother-sister) relationships, and formed less restrictive heterosocial friendships and romantic relationships. In particular, stories about peer romances emerged as an alternative source of sexual learning, which undermined dominant risk-based narratives of young people's sexuality and offered more positive understandings of pleasure and intimacy. A key methodological contribution is the use of a narrative analytical framework in which Plummer's (1995) sexual stories are considered in terms of Andrews' (2014) political narratives. Using this framework, the thesis examines the text and context of ‘small stories' told within research encounters, and the interrelations between these micro-narratives and macro-narratives of gender, sexuality and education in post-liberalization India. This framework facilitates the examination of interrelations between local experiences and national and international understandings in the thesis. A key substantive contribution of the study is to address a lack of research on how young people learn about gender and sexuality in Indian schools. As the study largely captures the experiences of urban, middle-class young people, the thesis also contributes to the existing body of literature on middle-class experiences in post-liberalization India (e.g. Gilbertson 2014; Sancho 2012; Donner & De Neve 2011; Lukose 2009), and specifically underlines the importance of education as a site for middle-class young people's negotiation of gendered and sexual politics.

This thesis describes a collaborative Action Research project that works to improve the quality of English language teaching (ELT) and learning in a public sector university in Pakistan. It demonstrates how teachers and students can take responsibility for engaging in active learning and teaching by developing their roles beyond traditional models of teaching and learning. The findings of the study are validated through critical thinking, the active critique of colleagues and students who participated in the study, reflection on critical aspects of data collection and by contextualising findings within existing literature. The thesis comprises eight chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction. It presents the overall organization of the thesis. This includes the aims of the study, rationale of the research, brief overview of methodology and the structure of the thesis. In chapter two, the literature review focuses on the defining factors of large class teaching and learning. Much of the research on large classes is written in the context of the West and has limited application to the problems of developing countries. Existing literature suggests a need for further work on large class teaching and learning in the developing world. In chapter three I present the Context of the Study. I provide an historical overview of language policies in Pakistan which have influenced the educational structure and the development of the country. The status and importance of the English language in Pakistan is highlighted. I outline the classification of various English language teaching institutes in Pakistan. The chapter concludes with an account of teaching and learning and the sociopolitical conditions that affect the educational process at University of Sindh, Jamshoro Pakistan (UoSJP), the site of the project. Chapter four discusses the methodology of the study. It is divided into two sections. In section one I outline the rationale behind the choice of Action Research as a methodological framework for an intervention strategy. In the second section, I discuss the research design, and various data collection tools used for the study. In chapter five, I discuss the first reconnaissance phase of data collection. This has several foci: the teaching methods currently used in large classes at UoSJP; the students and teachers perceptions of ELT and the socio-political conditions that affect teaching and learning. Overall this chapter exposes the complexities involved in teaching at UoSJP and provides the basis for developing an intervention strategy. Chapter six presents the intervention phase of the action research strategy aimed at introducing cooperative practices. It contains the narrative of how a new teaching strategy was planned and collaboratively conducted in two different classes. Chapter seven focuses on the findings of the research and the analysis of data. I also reflect on the key emerging themes of both phases of the project. Evaluation criteria in action research are also discussed along with the monitoring strategy. The final chapter looks at the future implications of the study and offers practical guidelines on the management of large classes. There is a concluding reflection on critical issues that might affect future research. The thesis promotes ‘learner-focused' teaching through critical reflection on professional practice. The study also suggests how students can be empowered to take control of their own learning, by giving them autonomy and, by creating a socially just and democratic atmosphere in class. It also shows how large classes, exceeding a hundred students, can be managed by changing teaching methods and by increasing students' participation through group learning and the deployment of group leaders.

The focus of this study is to understand how policies to decentralize governance have affected the primary education sector in Bangladesh with specific reference to non-state schools. Decentralizing education has emerged as an important strategic tool to reform and enhance education quality globally. The study analyzes the relationship between the state and non-state primary education providers in the context of education reforms delivered via decentralization. The investigation used a qualitative case study approach with respondents residing and working in Gopalpur, a small township 125 km away from the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. Three categories of school-level actors were interviewed - School Management Committee (SMC) members, head teachers and teachers within two types of schools: Registered Non-Government Primary Schools (RNGPS) and Quomi madrassas. A primary focus of the study is to explore what the basic comprehension of the respondents regarding concepts and the implications of decentralization. The findings indicate that most of the school-level actors interviewed in the Gopalpur area were in fact familiar with the concepts of decentralization and related to it as an act of transfer of power and participatory education processes. The study further revealed that most of the RNGPS respondents supported policy guidelines and directives from the state, which is based on deconcentration, while the Quomi madrassas preferred delegated space. The research also explored the operational relationship between state and non-state providers in terms of two specific aspects. The first aspect was the relationship between state and non-state providers in three specific areas: the SMCs, monitoring activities and the training of education personnel with a focus on teachers. The other aspect involves the extent of trust and respect displayed from the center towards the school-level actors. The SMCs apparently do not feel motivated to be proactive in schools‘ affairs due to limited scope as dictated by the state and lack of authority to hold the school administrations accountable for their actions. However, Quomi Madrassa Management Committees (MMC) is very involved and act as effective mediators on behalf of the community as well as madrassas. In regards to monitoring and training inputs, the state‘s centralized system does not produce far-reaching enough results according to the RNGPS respondents. This study also investigated the mindset of officials belonging to the DPE (Directorate of Primary Education) and MOPME (Ministry of Primary & Mass Education) towards the school-level actors, which are characterized by lack of mutual trust and respect. This study reveals that given the diverse nature of non-state providers, each category of non-state providers has its own historical origins and its own understanding and approaches towards the state. The study also shows that SMCs, monitoring and training sub-systems within the governance play an important role in defining operational relationship between the state and non-state providers. The findings and analyses included herein contribute to the current policy discourse on decentralizing education in Bangladesh within the context of non-state providers and their relationship in operational terms with the state. It adds to more informed and participatory policy formulation and planning processes. Along this process, it serves to inform policy makers, school-level actors and researchers about the value of collective ownership of the policy discourse through meaningful dialogue.

This thesis explores the development of a multi-stakeholder partnership model using a multiple case study research design. Specifically this study examines the rationale for the launch of the Rajasthan Education initiative, its development and its impact on educational development and reaches conclusions about the scalability and sustainability of multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) in the context of Rajasthan. The literature review shows that there is insufficient independent research evidence to support the widespread claims that public private partnerships (PPPs), of which MSP is a new ‘avatar', are able to deliver results in terms of developmental gains and added value. This paucity of evidence and profusion of claims is partly explained by the fact, that the research that has been commissioned is not independent and its conclusions have been shaped by vested interests of those promoting the organisations they claim to evaluate. In particular organisations associated with the World Economic Forum (WEF) have been projecting PPPs and programmes of corporate responsibility as a way to engage for-profit organisations and enhance the effectiveness of external support for the delivery of services to basic education. Alongside this not-for-profit PPPs are seldom scrutinised in terms of public accountability, value for money, scalability, or sustainability partly due to the voluntary nature of such inputs to the public system. I believe my research makes a new and unique contribution to the independent evaluation of state enabled, not-for-profit MSPs in action. The research selected eight formal partnerships for case study which were selected using a matrix of organisational characteristics, scale and scope of interventions. The case studies are organised into four thematic groups i.e, School adoption, ICT based interventions, teachers' training and universalisation of elementary education in underserved urban localities. Each case study is examined using a framework which highlights three dimensions. These are i) the design of the partnership, ii) stakeholder involvement and intra agent dynamics and iii) the Governance of the partnership. A cross case analysis of the eight partnerships is used to arrive at conclusions about MSPs in Rajasthan. This uses the concept of double contingency of power (Sayer 2004), and specifically the concept of causal power and causal susceptibilities and Stake's (2006) multiple case analysis, to discuss the commonalities and differences across partnerships and emerging themes while cross analysing the partnerships. I have engaged in interpretivist inquiry and sought to understand the workings of an MSP which involves businesses and CSR groups alongside NGOs and government agencies with an aim to place Rajasthan on a fast development track. Rather than looking for an ideal type MSP, I problematise the MSPs in Rajasthan as I explain the workings of an MSP model in action. Given this methodological perspective, I have used semi structured interviews, observations of the partnership programmes in action, and document analysis as methods to collect and corroborate data for this study. The study concludes that the exiting MSP arrangements in REI are not scalable, unsustainable and have very limited impact. Moreover, the MSPs are unstable and reflect fluid inter-organisational evolution, as well as ambiguous public accountability. There was no purposeful financial management at the REI management level. In addition the exit routes for partners supporting interventions were not planned, resulting in the fading away of even those interventions that showed promise in accruing learning gains for children, and by schools and teachers. Non-scalability and lack of sustainability can be inferred from the fact that the partners do not have a long term view of interventions, lack sustained commitment for resource input and the interventions are implemented with temporary work force. The instability of the partnerships can be explained through the absence of involvement of government teachers and communities. Also economic and political power dominated the fate of the programmes. In this MSP it was clear that corporate social responsibility (CSR) was a driving force for establishing the MSP but was not backed by continued and meaningful engagement. The ‘win-win' situation of greater resources, efficiency and effectiveness, which formed the basic premise for launching the REI was not evident in reality. MSPs are gaining currency globally. This research points to the fact that much more intentional action needs to be taken to ensure that partnerships such as these have a sustained impact on development. The problems and issues of education are historically, politically and socially embedded. Any action that does not take this into account and which is blind to the interests of different stakeholders in MSPs, will surely fall short of achieving what it set out to do. Further independent research examining the ambitions and realities of other MSPs is needed to inform policy development and implementation. This is essential for achieving the goals of education for all before investing further in what appears to be a flawed modality to improve access, equity and outcomes in education.

This study examines China and the United States’ sanctions vis-à-vis the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea and Burma. The central research question is: Given China’s historical stance on sanctions is it possible to encourage China to further support the sanctions regimes against North Korea and Burma? If so, how? And if not, should the sanctions regime be modified by the sender states in order to achieve the original goals of the sanctions given China’s unwillingness to support the regime? Using all UNSC cases from 1997 to the present this study explores the likelihood of China’s involvement in sanctions by identifying what factors make China’s involvement in sanctions more likely, referred to in this study as China’s sanctions parameters. After applying China’s sanctions parameters to the cases of North Korea and Burma it is found that in North Korea, China could more rigorously uphold the spirit of the UNSC sanctions. Specifically, it is recommended that China tighten its restrictions on the export of luxury goods and further restrict and inspect DPRK planes flying over Chinese airspace. Furthermore, this thesis suggests that the US apply pressure on China to change its behavior in these two areas as well as apply consistent sanctions rhetoric towards the DPRK. These recommendations are feasible as they do not overly stretch China’s sanctions parameters or overtax US capabilities. In the case of Burma, it is found that US sanctions vastly overstretch China’s sanctions parameters making it highly unlikely China will participate in the sanctions regime. Thus, it is recommended the US modify its sanctions regime to achieve the goal of liberalization in Burma.