Safety Nets

For tens of thousands of children from Burma in Thailand, accessing education is filled with challenges. Many migrant families frequently need to move to find work, and many children and youth are required to support their families with household chores, childcare, or paid work. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. Since the start of the pandemic 1 in 5 migrant children have disappeared from educational records.

Since 2014, thousands of overage and working children in Tak Province have been given a second chance to earn an education through non-formal educational pathways. Today, 251 learners are enrolled in this educational 'safety net' which provides accredited, accelerated, flexible, inclusive, and practical education in Burmese language to learners who are over-age for their grade level and cannot commit to full-time study. The non-formal education safety net would be well-placed to protect children's right to education in a post-pandemic world.

However, the February 2021 Burmese political crisis has called into question whether non-formal education pathways can continue. This research spoke to 166 non-formal education stakeholders to explore the future of the safety net, and map out recommendations to protect educational pathways for some of the most vulnerable learners in Thailand.