«An organised school life enables children to forget some of the terrible things they experienced while fleeing.»
Swe Swe Myint
Country Representative of Myanmar/Burma
s.myint@pestalozzi.ch
Education for fleeing children
Prospects for the future thanks to school educationUnaccompanied individuals, families with children, young people – all of them fleeing violence, conflict and the military. Instability continues to characterise the political situation in Myanmar/Burma, forcing the population to leave their villages. We make it possible for children in refugee camps to attend school so that they do not lose touch with education.
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Challenge
Thousands of families are fleeing
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Measure
Schooling and extra lessons for children in 12 refugee camps
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Aim
Children receive the education they need, giving them prospects for the future
Number of children supported
1,908Project duration from to
Categories
Refugee camps, Education, School materials, South-East AsiaPast achievements
Since 2013, we have been able to steadily increase the number of children supported and the number of refugee camps in which we operate.
A Nobel laureate offers a ray of hope
Myanmar/Burma has a turbulent past. After decades of life under a military dictatorship, a process of democratisation began in 2011. The first free parliamentary elections in 25 years were held in November 2015. The success of the opposition National League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is giving rise to the hope that the political situation in the South-East Asian country will improve.
Over 100,000 people have fled their homes
However, it is not clear how soon the population will be freed from the fear of unrest, political tension and local violence. In the provinces of Kachin and Shan in particular, conflicts continually occur between government troops and groups of armed rebels. More than 100,000 people have fled their homes since 2011 for fear of bombings, the army and rape. Large numbers of people have found temporary shelter in refugee camps in the north of the country.
We make it possible for children to attend local schools so that they can continue to receive an education despite being so far from home. With additional lessons in the evening, the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation works to ensure that children do not lose touch with education, thereby safeguarding their prospects for the future. In addition, the schools are equipped with additional teaching materials, chairs and desks.
s.myint@pestalozzi.ch
Support children in South-East Asia
Together, we supported 31,827 children in 2016.
