Education and Democracy in Burma

Dr Thein Lwin and BEST scholar Nan Lung, have been organising foundation teacher training in Chiang Mai since 2001. In 2001 the training programme was affiliated to the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC) - an umbrella organisation coordinating health and education along the Burma border.

The 2001 training was a three-month course with 31 students completing the training. After this training, two UK academics provided ‘training for trainers’ workshops in Chiang Mai. Six graduate students from the 2001 training intake and two Kachin teachers also joined the trainers’ workshop.

In 2002, the training programme began working independently of any political organisations and has since focused purely on education under the name of Teacher Training for Burmese Teachers (TTBT) – now the “Thinking Classroom Foundation” - and has been supported in part by BEST since 2005.

The students are selected from different ethnic nationality groups of Burma. The selection tries to ensure an ethnic and gender balance, but in the past, most were Karen nationals because the majority of applications were from Karen refugee camps.
Almost all students (approximately 80%) went back to their communities and now work there as teachers.

The innovative training programme provides teaching strategies in literacy, numeracy, social studies and sciences across curriculum. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 the training included strategies for Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) as part of an ongoing, rolling programme of training, appraisal and support for schools along the border and more recently inside Burma.

Presentation to Reagan-Fascell Fellowship Institute on Education and Democracy in Burma by Dr Thein Lwin in Washington, July 2007.

Burmese community based organisations promote education for Burmese migrant children in Tak province, Thailand, because they believe that by increasing their knowledge and education they can help lessen the effects of poverty. They organise training and assistance with funding and support for migrant learning centers and through them, provide quality education to children from nursery to grade twelve.

With support from BEST, three Scottish Primary schools have now developed a partnership link supported by the DfID/British Council's Global Schools Partnership Programme, with three migrant learning centres in Mae Sot on the Thai side of the Burma border. Teachers from the schools involved have developed joint teaching materials and have shared expertise in development of all schools’ curriculums. Teachers have been able to travel to each other’s schools and have developed strong personal and professional links which have been integrated into schools’ learning plans throughout their schools.

Art and personal writing has lead to the creation of two exhibitions, shown in both Edinburgh, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, and the production of “Our Burma Book” with images and text devised by both Scottish and Burmese schoolchildren.

Joint curricular areas have been: Emotional Literacy; Teaching and Learning Critical Thinking; Health and Hygiene and have proven to be of enormous enrichment to the schools involved, informing professional practice throughout each school.

The DfID/British Council Global Schools Partnership programme runs for up to four years and has proven to be an innovative means to link and raise awareness and understanding of human rights across each schools’ curriculum.