Much education in refugee camps, though, has been in English, with most teaching in mother tongues restricted to primary and vocational levels.  However teachers are now developing and adapting material and methods across the curriculum, financially supported by BEST and a patchwork of other donors.

Inevitably, it can be a skewed education – though one with benefits, as speaking English gives students the potential opportunity to study in international schools attached to universities in Asia and beyond. The need is urgent if Burma is to have skilled individuals to help it return to democracy when the dictatorship goes.

Contact for funders and for more information about the work of BEST:burmatrust@fastmail.fm  For students eager to get into university, however, there are still massive hurdles to overcome. Given their status, just getting the right paperwork can be extremely complex, as with no personal resources, students need to find sponsorship – and of the hundreds who applied to a range of scholarship organisations last year, 159 were successful. The rest had to put their ambitions on hold.