Education and Democracy in Burma

Dr Thein Lwin and BEST scholar Nan Lung, have been organising foundation teacher training in Chiang Mai since 2001. In 2001 the training programme was affiliated to the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC) - an umbrella organisation coordinating health and education along the Burma border.

The 2001 training was a three-month course with 31 students completing the training. After this training, two UK academics provided ‘training for trainers’ workshops in Chiang Mai. Six graduate students from the 2001 training intake and two Kachin teachers also joined the trainers’ workshop.

In 2002, the training programme began working independently of any political organisations and has since focused purely on education under the name of Teacher Training for Burmese Teachers (TTBT) and has been supported in part by BEST since 2005.

The students are selected from different ethnic nationality groups of Burma. The selection tries to ensure an ethnic and gender balance, but in the past, most were Karen nationals because the majority of applications were from Karen refugee camps.
Almost all students (approximately 80%) went back to their communities and now work there as teachers.

The innovative training programme provides teaching strategies in literacy, numeracy, social studies and sciences across curriculum. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 the training included strategies for Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) as part of an ongoing, rolling programme of training, appraisal and support for schools along the border and more recently inside Burma.

Presentation to Reagan-Fascell Fellowship Institute on Education and Democracy in Burma by Dr Thein Lwin in Washington, July 2007.

BEST is currently supporting TTBT, Hlee Bee Migrant Worker school and Forthview Primary school in Edinburgh develop a Global Schools Partnership Project, with Sheila Laing visiting Chiang Mai and Mae Sot in July 2007 and Dr Thein Lwin and Nan Lung visiting Scotland in October 2007.