Title: Accessing vocational education for out-of-school myanmar migrant youths in Mae sot, Thailand
Author: Miss Phyu Sin Maw Lin
Year: 2024
Keywords: Vocational Education, Myanmar Migrant Youths, Migrant Education, Out-ofschool Myanmar migrant youths, migrant organizations
Theme: migration
Advisor(s): Carl Nigel Middleton
The full thesis available here.
Abstract: This thesis examined the accessibility of the Out-of-School Myanmar Migrant Youths to vocational education in the Mae Sot district, Thailand by employing the ‘4As framework’ for Education with the indicators of availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability. In this thesis, out-of-school Myanmar migrant youths are understood as those who have left education without receiving formal qualifications, and who are under the age of 21. Myanmar migrant youth population in Thailand has been significantly growing due to the unrested conditions all around Myanmar. Among them, thousands of youths struggle to access any type of educational pathway because of their academic background, financial status, or legal status. Vocational Education is an important opportunity for out-of-school migrant youths because they can build up work skills and networks for job opportunities. This research investigates the barriers the out-of-school Myanmar migrant youths face in accessing vocational education and provides some practical recommendations for organizations, migrant communities, and the host society to be able to promote educational opportunities for the out-of-school migrant youths. The thesis employed the qualitative research method and narrative reporting style based on interviews with key informants and drawing on secondary materials. The main finding of this thesis is that vocational education opportunities for out-of-school migrant youths are still very litmited interms of 4As. Vocational Education for out-of-school migrant youths is a crucial educational pathway that can benefit both the migrant community and the hosting Thai community. The access to the vocational education for out-of-school Myanmar migrant youths can be enhanced through a stronger networking between the stakeholders including the government, the migrant organizations, the business owners and the migrant communities