"Fostering a sense of identity through language maintenance - the implications of language of

instruction of choice in refugee camps"

Presented by Simon Purnell for ZOA and ‘BEST’ consortium

Supported by the European Union

Refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border

• Background to the refugee encampment • Implementing education services in the camps • Education, identity & language of instruction • Barriers to developing language transition plan • Lessons learnt

Overview of presentation:

Camp locations and populations on the Thailand-Myanmar border

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

Mae Ra Ma Luang

Mae La Oon

Mae La Umpiem Nu Po Ban Dong Yang

Tham Hin

Figure 2: The camps vary a lot in the number of people and the amount of students

Number of people in the camp Number of students in basic education

Left: Outline map showing locations of nine temporary shelters Below: Camp population numbers and student number comparison table

Background to the refugee encampment

• Decades of conflict in Eastern Myanmar led to refugee influxes

• Significant displacement of people in Eastern Myanmar in mid-1990s led to increased influx and need for NGO support for education and other services/sectors

• Safety and security afforded by the camps contrasted strongly with the challenges of life inside Myanmar

Villages under attack

Source: KHRG

During the last few decades attacks on communities inside Myanmar destroyed critical facilities such as the school that once stood here

Villages under attack

Source: KHRG

Another example of a village and the buildings being destroyed in attacks from the Burmese military (Tatmadaw)

Coping strategies

Source: KHRG

In spite of the attacks, education has always been highly valued inside conflict zones in Eastern Myanmar

Coping strategies

Source: KHRG

Makeshift classroom in the forest

Coping strategies

Source: KHRG

In spite of the attacks, education has always been highly valued inside conflict zones in Eastern Myanmar

The isolated nature of the camps

Looking across Umpiem Mai camp – established in 1999

Source: ZOA

School materials delivery

Source: ZOA

School stationery and materials being delivered to the camps – the lorry loads require mobilising many people to carry out the delivery

School materials delivery

Source: ZOA

The sheer size of the task means that many camp residents are needed to help with school materials deliveries

Teacher registration

Source: ZOA

Mobilizing people to register around 1,500 teachers for the new school year

Honouring teachers

Source: ZOA

Recognising teachers work and their contribution to the community is very important to the camp residents

Numbers and costs at a glance

Year Student enrolment numbers

1997 14,764

1998 18,896

1999 21,479

2002 33,947

2005 36, 464

2007 36,343

1997-1999: 550,000 US$ 2003-2005: 2,640,170 US$ 2006-2008: 4,900,000 US$

Classroom building under construction

Source: ZOA

No permanent structures are allowed in the camps, however, semi-permanent materials can be used for the superstructure of the schools.

On the way to school

Source: ZOA

Children are free to walk to school safely and wearing their traditional Karen clothes

Karen Language materials for use in camp schools

The camp schools have meant that materials for all subjects and grades can be developed for use with Sgaw Karen as the LOI – something almost impossible inside Myanmar

Source: ZOA

Education is valued highly in the Karen communities in the camps

Children in school in Mae La Oon camp

Participants in teacher training course

Source: ZOA

Teachers receive their certificate after training. The certificates have no value outside of the education system in the camps

Children in school

Source: ZOA

School attendance, especially at Primary level is high in camp schools

A school inside Karen State – IDP camp

Source: TBC

Traditional school design

Symbols of identity and education

Teachers meet and talk in the staff room at a school with a drawing of a Karen revolutionary leader on the wall in the background. The chance to reinforce the imagined identity of the Karen is seized by educators and others in the camps

Source: ZOA

Symbols of identity and education

Posters of the KNU leaders can be found in school, camp committee and other offices in the camp - included are the 4 principles for the Karen struggle.

Source: ZOA

Symbols of identity and education

Source: ZOA

School artwork featuring symbolism related to the Karen National Union with the Myanmar government depicted as a snake.

Symbols of identity and education

Source: ZOA

Burmese reader student book, with the student sketched as wearing a Karen style shirt

Symbols of identity and education

Source: ZOA

Again, students on the English book are shown in traditional Karen style clothing

Happy to learn

A student in class in the camp

Source: ZOA

In the classroom

Students listen attentively as their teacher tells them a story in Sgaw Karen

Source: ZOA

After teaching

Karen language materials are available for camp residents. Here a group of teachers relax together reading a Karen language newsletter

Source: ZOA

Training workshop for teachers

Here the training is being conducted in Sgaw Karen language

Source: ZOA

Training workshop for teachers

Source: ZOA

Mathematics training in camp – Sgaw Karen is the language of instruction

Training session for teachers

Source: ZOA

Science training for teachers in the camp

Recommendations and lessons learnt • Strike a balance between using ‘gatekeepers’

and relying on them – Have they told you all? • Engage in discussions around longer-term

planning and what is feasible and what can be funded

• Do not keep 2nd languages as representative of an ‘other’ political identity

• Maintain language and support culture alongside its relationship with other cultures – celebrate diversity, don’t use it to

differentiate

Recommendations and lessons learnt

• Improve follow up of drop out students and the reasons behind their departure from school

• Focus on capacity and not needs – what are the communities able to do, not what they want to do

• Do not be afraid to question the political hegemony – asking difficult questions does not weaken identity

Recommendations and lessons learnt

• Be ready to work with communities on mapping out a trajectory for planning where education will go in the future – how to resource it, how to adjust policies, how to prepare teachers for it

• Ask difficult questions (of yourselves and those community leaders that are worked with)

Thank you for listening about our situation

Source: ZOA