Research

Educators at Migrant Learning Centers (MLCs) on the Thai-Myanmar border, previously grappling with resource limitations, now confront amplified challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. With potential extended closures, financial strains, and rising concerns about student retention and well-being, the landscape of education is rapidly evolving.

Since 2015, access to recognized education for migrant children in Thailand has improved, with many Migrant Learning Centers adopting recognized curricula. However, with over half still out of school, a comprehensive Participatory Action Research project, surveying 1,763 participants, underscores the continued challenges and need for enhanced inclusivity.

This paper is a brief of “Children at the Center, Participatory Action

Research in Thailand’s Deep South”, a report written by Greg Tyrosvoutis, Watcharapon Kukaewkasem and Wirachan Sirisanti for Save the Children’s Local Engagement to Advocate for Peace (LEAP) project.

In Myanmar, traditional rote learning dominates high schools, ranking it 172nd in the CIA's educational expenditure. A study with Myanmar students in Thailand highlighted memorization's prevalence and the suppression of independent thought due to standardized testing and an authoritarian teaching style.