The struggle for educationamong Somali refugees in Bangkok

Title: The struggle for educationamong Somali refugees in Bangkok

Author: Miss Kochaporn Tohsa

Year: 2024

Keywords: Somali refugee, Urban refugee, Refugee Education, Thailand

Theme: Education

Advisor(s): Bhanubhatra Jittiang

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: The study investigates the multifaceted barriers – legal, institution, social and cultural – hindering Somali refugee children in accessing education in Bangkok, Thailand. Rooted in prolonged political instability and economic constraints in Somalia, which has forced thousands of families to flee their homes throughout Southeast Asia, the study situates the struggles of Somali refugee children within the context of Bangkok’s urban refugee setting. Thailand is home to a large number of undocumented migrants, including a small but growing number of Somali refugee families, despite not being a signatory state to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. These refugee families live in precarious conditions due to lack of legal protection, which further limits these children’s educational opportunities, often limiting their capacity to enroll in and participate in school regularly. Even though the informal schooling programs exist, many refugee children live in constant fear of being arrested by the authorities, further isolating them from potential support networks. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of refugee schooling in non-signatory states and urban refugee situations. In order to foster sustainable integration, this thesis emphasizes the daily struggles faced by Somali refugee children and the critical need for inclusive and context-sensitive policy solutions that go beyond humanitarian assistance. The study advocates for stronger collaboration among government agencies, NGOs, educational institutions, local community, and refugee community itself to develop alternative education pathways and protection mechanisms. At its core, the study pushes for a reimagining of refugee inclusion in Thailand that recognizes the dignity of all displaced families and children, regardless of legal status. It emphasizes that access to education is a fundamental human right, and every kid should have the opportunity to learn, grow, and create a better future

Competition versus cooperation: international programmes in Thailand's higher education

Title: Competition versus cooperation: international programmes in Thailand's higher education

Author: Mr.Gwyn Peredur Evans

Year: 2023

Keywords: internationalisation of higher education, competition, collaboration, Thailand

Theme: Education

Advisor(s): Vong-on Phuaphansawat

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis has been to produce meaningful understandings of how the internationalisation of higher education (IHE) takes place within public higher education institutions in Thailand, within the context of economic and social drivers. It explores the peripheral voices of actors involved in the field, adopting a social constructivist approach to identify and understand the imperatives and processes of IHE in Thailand, how they are perceived by actors at the institutions, and how their understanding, interpretations and motivations are influenced by the country’s historical and cultural context, as well as their own social environments. By examining the relationship between competition and cooperation in the internationalisation of public higher education in Thailand, it explores the extent to which, and how, actors within the public Thai higher education institution are challenging the neoliberal hegemonic discourse on IHE, and providing a counter-narrative to the Western-dominated discourse.The study provides a longitudinal analysis of the historical evolution of higher education and international programmes in Thailand before focussing on one public university as a unit of analysis and probing into three of its international programmes, using thematic analysis to draw on interview accounts of 15 respondents who work in the field of IHE.The thesis argues that the situated voices of the Global South need to be heard in order to enhance the global discourse on the internationalisation of higher education and to make it reflective of the plurality of ownerships of such knowledge creation. The study concludes that the binary question of competition and cooperation is too simplistic. The non-economic, socially-oriented beliefs, values and perspectives, and the driving of progressive and meaningful change in society are framed, or trapped, within the dominant neoliberal economic framing of the world in which the institution exists, and represents. The study reveals the actors’ critical counter-narrative to the hegemonic neoliberal discourse which normatively dictates the definitions of how this process works. The thesis makes the claim that internationalisation, within the Thai public higher education context, operates reactively and separately within an internal structure and culture which further alienate the process. It calls for a more integrated, spatially aware, self-reflexive and critical approach to IHE. The study’s findings point to the necessity of a more humane and socially driven process which sees internationalisation as a means to improve education quality and research, and to achieve a more ethical and equitable drive towards progress and growth

The impact of English on experiencing othering: a case study of Chulalongkorn university students

Title: The impact of English on experiencing othering: a case study of Chulalongkorn university students

Author: Mr.Alejandro Soria Higuera

Year: 2023

Keywords: Otherness, Shared Identity, International Programs, Social contexts, outside the classroom, Impact of English

Theme: Education

Advisor(s): Pimsiri Aroonsri

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: International programs in Thailand possess distinctive characteristics as nearly all students are Thai nationals who have met the standard English proficiency requirements. Instruction is entirely in English, and these programs are situated within universities where the majority of students are enrolled in Thai-language programs. Additionally, Thai faculty and staff contribute to the necessity of using the Thai language for social interactions outside the classroom. This complexity surrounding international program students in Thailand has led to the purpose of this research, which is to study the impact of English communication inside and outside the classroom on the path to acquiring competence previous to enrollment in university programs on students' experiences of otherness and social fragmentation as a potential consequence. The researcher investigated this issue by examining students' perceptions of elements that contribute to Thai identity, their self-identification as Thai, and their experiences of feeling like outsiders due to their primary language choice for social interactions. The study found that English communication abilities in non-academic contexts during high school contribute to experiences of otherness both among students within the same program and between students of different programs. These experiences of 'otherness' are associated with feelings of being marginalized due to English or Thai language skills not meeting the expectations of others or being insufficient for social integration and appear to diminish as students advance through their college education. More research is needed to address additional factors that may influence the use of English outside the classroom and the development of feelings of otherness resulting from differences in the primary language used among peer groups

The effects of terrorism on girls’ access to education: a case study of swat valley (of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan

Title: The effects of terrorism on girls’ access to education: a case study of swat valley (of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan

Author: Miss Shahaba Jamal Khan

Year: 2019

Keywords: Girls’ Education, Extremism, Talibanization, Terrorism, Mingora, Swat Valley

Theme: Education

Advisor(s): Thanapan Laiprakobsup

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: Using Women Rights and the Feminist theory on Education, the thesis is aimed to evaluate the effects of terrorism on females of Mingora, Swat, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwah Province in Pakistan. The objective is to analyze the damages caused by extremists to girls’ education in terms of barring them from attending schools and institutions, assassinating and injuring teachers and students, inflicting and causing damages to infrastructure by bombing and destroying schools and college buildings. Secondary data was used as well as video link and phone call interviews as well as the researchers’ observations and documents are also used as the means of data collection. The thesis finds that female students of Swat were vulnerable to severe human rights abuses. These students struggled to recover from the miseries inflicted upon them i.e. ban on girls’ education, oppression of human rights especially women’s right, displacement, social and psychological pressures. As for the social and cultural dimensions, females in general and girls’ students in particular got much more affected than their male counterparts in Mingora, the Swat region. Their economic, cultural and social liberties were forcefully seized. The slow process of rehabilitation has put a lot of negative mental and psychological effects on the sufferers. Recommendations are suggested for policy implications. To reinvigorate and restructure the provincial educational system, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province also needs to bring into action its Act XII-2017 that ensures building a mechanism for the provision of free and compulsory education to the age group of 5 to 16. In addition, to enforce the National Action Plan which was agreed upon by the National Security Council (NSC) for the purpose of eradicating extremists’ ideology from the society by confiscating the hate material, arresting and punishing the propagators of religious hatred, social and gender discriminators

Access to overseas higher education for Karen students from the KNU-controlled areas: barriers and coping strategies

Title: Access to overseas higher education for Karen students from the KNU-controlled areas: barriers and coping strategies

Author: Mr.Saw Than Min Htun

Year: 2019

Keywords: Overseas higher education, human rights based approach, ethnic education system

Theme: Education

Advisor(s): Naruemon Thabchumpon

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: The provision of education in KNU controlled areas is political as it is indispensable to development and national identity building. In fact, issues of legitimacy are key to understanding education services in these areas. Through the Karen Education and Culture Department, the KNU has mainly been providing education services in its controlled areas with its own curriculum and administration for the past seventy years since the beginning of civil war in Myanmar. However, the students cannot access to universities in Myanmar due to the lack of recognition of their learning attainments by the Myanmar government and only a handful of students could pay their ways to universities abroad. As the KNU is the authority in the areas, the study argues that it has the central roles and responsibilities to fulfill rights to education because the Myanmar government does not have access and control over these areas. This study aims to identify major barriers of the students in accessing overseas higher education by using human rights based approach to higher education, specifically pertaining to availability and accessibility of education and explore how the students coped with the barriers so as to have access to overseas higher education. In this study, thematic analysis is utilized through case study approach under qualitative research methodology. The research finds that there are three emerging barriers pertaining to the practical challenges and two major barriers related to the structural challenges directly influenced by the central government. In order to cope with the barriers, the students used social network, human capital and mobility to Thailand so as to pave their way to overseas higher education. In fact, the students can only access bridging programs if they manage to come to Thai-Myanmar border as Thailand served as a widow of opportunities for them. This suggests that migrant and refugee students from Thai-Burma border have more and better access to overseas higher education than the students in KNU-controlled areas