Non Formal Education for Girls in Ohn Taw Gyi Camp

In the Muslim IDP camps in Ohn Taw Gyi (OTG), Sittwe Township, after completing Grade 4, a number of children are accepted to a middle school in the host communities. However, not all children have an opportunity to attend middle school. For those children aged between 11 and 18 who were unable to access middle schools in the host communities, LWF opened 15 Non Formal Education (NFE) centres under the EU funded education project between 2015 and 2016 in Sittwe to respond to the learning need of IDP children to improve their literacy and numeracy as well as aware them about life skill education. Of the 15 centres including those in OTG, 9 phased out in June 2016 according to the project plan. However, to accommodate the need of post-primary education for IDP female children, LWF opened 2 NFE classes for girls only in OTG. Apart from teaching basic subjects such as Myanmar language, English, Social Science, General Science and Mathematics, the girls were provided with training on life skills and story-telling. The knowledge and skills gained from the NFE classes have helped the female students improve their self-confidence, resilience, and most importantly personal well-being. In the interview conducted by Zar Chi Win, an Assistant Education Officer, 3 girls from the NFE class in OTG South, Sein Hla May (12 years old), Chit Su (14 years old) and Hla Phyu (15 years old) said they were very happy to attend the class where they could meet friends and learn new knowledge and skills. The NFE also offers the girls the opportunities to share about their life and get support from their friends and their facilitators both inside and outside the classroom.

Playing an important role in the NFE classes are the IDP teachers who were selected from the most educated women in the IDP camps in OTG camps. Those women were trained by LWF training staff via EXCEL (Extended Continuous Education and Learning (EXCEL) – a program developed by UNICEF) training program developed by UNICEF. The EXCEL training provided the volunteer teachers with knowledge for related subjects such as health and life skills as well as facilitation and training methodology. According to two NFE Facilitators, Daw Khin Swe Oo, 38 years old and Daw Theingi Tin, 37 years old, in the past year, their students neither knew how to read and write in Myanmar language, nor did they know basic numeracy. To date, those students are able to read and write in basic Myanmar language and do basic mathematics. They have become more confident in expressing themselves in front of other people. Those female students also participate actively in activities both inside and outside their classes. The two teachers also share that they are proud and happy to do their job as they can contribute directly to the education of the extremely disadvantaged girls in the IDP camps. The teachers also hope their work will bring the future to the girls and the development for their community one day.