Our BRP social workers and a Master's student at NYU recently completed a series of conversations with the refugee families on their educational aspirations and perceptions of the Thai school system. Their findings suggest that our community's children place a high value on education overall, but that they are uncertain of their ability to finish high school and go on to college-- because of financial reasons, discrimination, and lack of know-how.
Some highlights:
. 82% of those surveyed hope to finish university level studies.
. When asked “I don’t understand why I have to go to school when I won’t be able
to get a job after that,” 84% DISAGREED with this statement. When the NGO ZOA Refugee Care administered the same survey in refugee camps, only 69% of students DISAGREED with this statement.
. 58% of the refugee children answered "true" or "somewhat true" to the statement that they were "slow learners.
. 78.9% strongly agreed with the statement, "I feel comfortable in school," but only 42% did so when asked if they felt comfortable with their fellow classmates.
. Finally, the students take pride in their educational activities, but they are apprehensive about their parents (many of whom do not speak Thai and have never attended school) interacting with school officials. Thus, almost 70% wanted their parents to attend a graduation ceremony, but only 11% expected their parents to meet their teachers or help with homework.
These results suggest that the BRP has largely succeeded in relaying the importance of education to the refugee families, many of whom were resistant or felt uncomfortable sending their children to school at first. However, the results also suggest that the BRP staff continue to have their work cut out for them-- in terms of acting as cultural translators and institutional liaisons for families unfamiliar with what any schooling might be like, and helping the students to socialize, cope with stress and marginalization, excel and thrive in school.
We work with Shan refugees in Thailand to build a well-educated, healthy, and economically robust community, and to restore dignity, assert social rights, and help lay the foundations for their participation in a future democratic Burma.
