The Children of Shan State (Photo Album)

 I took these photos on our mountaineer trip of the whole Myanmar universities to Sin mountain and Myin Mati mountain in Shan state. We stilled about one week in Shan state but I saw very low education of children. It is not good for the future of our country.

 Shan State (ရွမ္းျပည္နယ္) is a state of Burma (Myanmar). Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total area of Burma. The state gets its name from the Shan people, one of several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shan State is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi.

The majority of Shan are Theravada Buddhists, and the Shan constitute one of the four main Buddhist ethnic groups in Burma; the others are the Bamar, the Mon and the Rakhine.
Most Shan speak the Shan language and are bilingual in Burmese. The Shan language, spoken by about 5 or 6 million, is closely related to Thai and Lao, and is part of the family of Tai languages. The Shan are traditionally wet-rice cultivators, shopkeepers, and artisans.

Educational opportunities in Myanmar are extremely limited outside the main cities of Yangon and Mandalay. It is especially a problem in Shan State where vast areas are beyond government control. According to official statistics, only about 8% of primary school students in Shan State reach high school.

 

AY 2002–2003	Primary School	Middle School	High School
Schools	4199	206	112
Teachers	11,400	3500	1500
Students	442,000	122,000	37,000

Education of Burmese Children in Thailand (Photo Album)

Many people who flee persecution from Burma to Thailand are unable to enter the camps as refugees and are therefore ‘classed’ as migrants in Thailand.

There are as many as one million migrants from Burma in Thailand. With limited rights many of these migrants are employed in  D irty,  D ifficult and  D angerous low paid jobs. And what about their children?

 

Though under Thai law all children regardless of status should be able to access the Thai education system the reality is that due to many barriers most migrant children are unable to do so.

These barriers range from fear of the authorities, through to lacking the income to cover school costs such as uniforms and books and not being able to speak the Thai language. An added problem is that education gained in Burma is not recognised in Thailand.  Even if a child has completed secondary school in Burma, they still have to start their Thai education from primary school.

Parents also fear that sending their children to Thai schools will identify their whereabouts and they will be deported back to Burma. Furthermore, these schools do not teach their languages or anything about their culture.

 The result is that many of these children are either forced to work in difficult conditions with their parents or are left at home in cramped and unhygienic conditions, often without minders. Many are consequently found wandering the streets and are vulnerable to all sorts of abuse, trafficking and exploitation.