THAI LITERACY PROJECT CONTINUES TO SUPPORT BURMESE CHILDREN
An initiative in Thailand is helping to provide vital education for immigrants and refugees from neighbouring Burma.
The Bangkok Post reports that the School within a School project is helping to ensure that all children are able to access basic education services despite their current lack of citizenship.
"It is the principal duty of the ministry of education to ensure that all children, regardless of nationality, who live in Thailand are given equal learning opportunities," explained the deputy minister of education Chaiwuti Bannawat.
Figures suggest that there are around 60,000 stateless children currently enrolled in private and public schools in Thailand, with over 100,000 additional children being educated at learning schools based in shelter areas along the Thai-Burmese border.
However, the ministry has raised concerns that some of the schools remain unregistered and therefore it is difficult to fully assess or regulate the standard of education provided to students.
Meanwhile, a new report from UNESCO has estimated that there are a total of 776 million illiterate adults in the world despite ongoing projects aimed at improving universal access to education.
