Inspiring, training and supporting teachers in marginalised communities
Mobile Education Partnerships provides in-class teacher support to migrant and refugee communities on the Thai / Myanmar border. Mobile Education Partnerships is an award-winning UK charity which provides educational support to the refugee and migrant communities who live on the Thai/Myanmar border and within Myanmar. MEP bel
ieves passionately that the best way to secure long-term peace, economic progress and a democratic future for the people in these communities is through education and that an effective way of doing this is to train teachers. MEP have adapted their programmes to be covid-safe, include blended learning and increase our reach into the most remote and difficult to reach parts of Myanmar. The recent military coup has increased the need for support, with thousands of Burmese fleeing the conflict and oppression. More than 250,000 Burmese migrants have fled their homes over the last three decades to escape fighting, political repression and economic hardship and to seek work. Many live in scattered communities just inside Thailand and are now taking refuge in villages and camps along the Thai/Myanmar border. Schools are scattered through the communities of both these groups but often the teachers are poorly trained, and they have very few resources or teaching materials. MEP provides educational support within these communities through a system based on professional and personal partnerships including;
- a ‘teacher-to-teacher’ scheme: MEP trainers travel from school to school partnering Burmese teachers in the classroom. This scheme aims to develop and improve the teachers’ language skills and classroom practice.
- a training programme for teachers including entry for the internationally accredited Cambridge KET/PET exams.
- educational materials: MEP have produced textbooks for the English curriculum in refugee camp schools available to 18,000 children.
