1. Migrant Education Sector Research
Good morning/afternoon everybody. My name is __________ and I will be talking to you about the Migrant Education Sector Research project today.

2. MESR: A joint project led by World Education and Save the Children International
Research site: Mae Sot & Surrounding Areas
With local partners:
Burmese Migrant Teacher’s Association (BMTA), Mae Sot
Migrant Education Coordination Center (MECC), Mae Sot
Suwannimit Foundation, Mae Sot
Research site: Mae Sot and Bangkok
With local partners:
Foundation for Rural Youth (FRY), Bangkok
Help Without Frontiers (HWF), Mae Sot
The Migrant Education Sector Research project, or MESR, is a joint project led by World Education and Save the Children. Research is taking place within Mae Sot and Bangkok.
World Education is conducting research in Mae Sot and surrounding districts (Phop Phra, Mae Ramat), with the support of the Burmese Migrant Teacher’s Association (BMTA), the Migrant Education Coordination Center (MECC), and Suwannimit Foundation.
Save the Children is working with Help Without Frontiers in Mae Sot and Foundation for Rural Youth (FRY) in Bangkok to conduct research in both of these locations.

3. Why is the research needed?
Issues in Existing Educational Pathways
Migrant Learning Centers (MLCs)
schools
Increasing number of students
Decreasing financial & technical support
Decreasing number of MLCs
Lack of recognition & accreditation
High drop out rate
Increasing number of students
Language and cultural barrier
Lack of awareness of right to education among migrant parents
Migrant children have the option of obtaining an education in Migrant Learning Centers, also known simply as Learning Centers, as well as within schools under the Royal Thai Government’s 2005 ‘Education for All’ policy.
Statistics show that the number of migrant children enrolling in both of these institutions has steadily risen since However, there remain many barriers to accessing these opportunities, as well as challenges once enrolled.
In recent years, MLCs have experienced a steady decrease in financial and technical support, as many donors move inside Myanmar. This has resulted in many MLCs closing in recent years, forcing students out of school. In addition to these issues experienced on the border, MLCs across the country vary in their quality of education, governance, accreditation and stability as a result of the fact that there is no coordinated body to oversee them. With MLC education being unrecognized, many students drop out early, contributing to the large number of migrant children out of school.
While the number of migrant students in schools is growing every year, there are still many barriers for parents and students, which range from a lack of awareness of the right to education for migrant children among parents to the language barrier.
As a result, there is a need for long-tern solutions that will increase access and opportunity for all migrant students in Bangkok and Mae Sot to quality, recognized education. The MESR aims to assess the migrant education sector and explore each aspect of it in order to reach this goal.
The MESR aims to assess the Migrant Education sector and explore each aspect of it in order to work towards a long-term, sustainable solution for the provision of education for migrant children

4. MESR Research Question and Focus
What is required for the current migrant education sector to be able to provide sustainable access and opportunity to quality and accredited education for all school age children in Mae Sot and Bangkok?
Models of best practice to pilot or scale up for educational programs in this same sector
Vision and ambitions of parents, students and communities
Challenges and shortfalls in this sector
The MESR is being undertaken in order to gain a clear & accurate picture of the migrant education sector.
This research aims to find out what is required for the current migrant education sector to be able to provide sustainable access and opportunity to quality and accredited education for all school age children in Mae Sot and Bangkok.
It will also explore:
The vision or hopes of parents and students
Challenges within the sector
Models of success within the sector

5. Methodology & Sample Interviews Surveys & Questionnaires
Migrant Education Stakeholders
MLC & School Directors
MLC & School Teachers
Surveys & Questionnaires
Students
Parents
Focus Group Discussions
Literature and primary document review
Quantitative assessment of literacy skills among primary students
Mae Sot Total Sample
23 Educational institutions
23 Directors
32 Teachers
125 Students
48 Parents
Bangkok Total Sample
7 Educational institutions
5 Directors
12 Teachers
55 Students
16 Parents
Thailand Total Sample
30 Education Institutions (18 MLCs, 12 Thai Schools)
Directors = 28
Teachers = 44
Students = 180
Parents = 64
28 Stakeholder & Key Informant Interviews
The MESR will employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as a review of existing literature and documents.
An extensive sample of educators, students, parents and stakeholders were selected in order to provide a broad representation of the migrant education sector in Mae Sot and Bangkok.
Findings and recommendations from the research will be compiled and made available in a report in late 2014/early 2015.

6. Reading Comprehension
Assessing Quality in Regard to Language & Literacy  Research Question & Assessment Areas
What is the level of reading skills in the target schools?
What is the level of reading skills among students learning in Thai versus those learning in Burmese?
Are certain groups of students struggling to master reading skills more so than others?
Letter Recognition
Fluency in Reading
Accuracy in Reading
Reading Comprehension
In order to gauge the quality of learning, particularly with regard to literacy in language of instruction, a literacy assessment was carried out with primary students in MLCs and Thai schools in Mae Sot and Bangkok.
This assessment aimed to find out 3 things:
What is the level of reading skills in the target schools?
What is the level of reading skills among students learning in Thai versus those learning in Burmese?
Are certain groups of students struggling to master reading skills more so than others?
Four key skill areas were assessed as indicators of literacy. These included:
-Letter recognition
-Fluency in reading
-Accuracy in reading
-Reading comprehension

7. Sample Mae Sot Sample Bangkok Sample MLCs = 8 Students = 167
Bangkok Sample
MLCs = 8
Students = 167
Language: Burmese
MLCs = 1
Students = 13
Language: Thai
Thai Schools = 8
Students =102
Thai Schools = 4
Students = 59
Institutions = 16
Students = 269
Institutions = 5
Students = 72
Total Thailand Sample
MLCs = 9
Thai Schools = 12
Students = 341 (163 boys / 178 girls)
Average age = 9.5 years old (grades 1-5)
Over 300 students around the age of 9 were assessed, with a near balanced representation of males and females.

8. Key Findings
1. In Burmese MLCs where Burmese is the language of instruction, most students are independent readers
Over 80% of students in studying in Burmese in MLCs in Mae Sot could read a simple Burmese text independently. This would seem to support the wider theory and evidence in support of mother tongue education.

9. Key Findings
2. Most students in schools are reading, particularly those in Bangkok who have been through language preparation courses
Around two thirds of students in Thai schools could read a simple Thai text independently. Readers in Thai schools in Bangkok are developing the strongest higher order reading skills of all the groups, performing higher than student in Thai schools and Burmese MLCs in Mae Sot. It is important to note that these students had been through a Thai language preparation course for 1-2 years before entering Thai schools.

10. Key Findings
3. Students who complete ECD programs in the same language as their primary school tended to have stronger literacy skills.
Students who complete ECD programs in the same language as their primary school tended to have stronger literacy skills, and those who completed an ECD program in another language had weaker literacy skills.

11. Key Findings
4. Students with a stronger literate environment (books at home, reading books, being read to, etc.) had better reading skills.
Students with a stronger literacy environment (books at home, reading books, being read to, etc.) had better reading skills.

12. Key Findings
5. Girls in schools are reading better than boys in schools.
Girls in schools are reading better than boys in schools.

13. Recommendations
1. Migrant children should continue to be enrolled into Thai schools. Support should be provided to them before and after they enter school.  
2. Burmese learning centers will continue an important role and require continued support and investment.
3. Programming should aim to increase children’s access to books and literacy activities out of school.
 4. The role of ECCD in language development prior to school should be carefully considered and further investigated.
Based on findings from the literacy assessment, there are four main recommendations.
Firstly, the policy of sending migrant children to Thai schools is enabling many of them to read and this should continue. However around a third of them are struggling to read, particularly boys. Preparation and support should be provided before they enter school, and struggling readers should be identified early so they can be provided with extra support.
Secondly, Education in Burmese LCs continues to be viable option for some children to learn and this should still be invested in. This option can be particularly suitable for children who have not had opportunities to learn Thai or who are planning to return to Myanmar.
Third, the access to books and reading materials and reading activities outside of the classroom were found to be key factors. Therefore programs should support migrant children and their communities to access books and literacy activities to promote reading at home and in the community.
Finally, ECD programs should be designed to prepare children for primary school, and it appears that if ECD is in the same language as primary school this helps, but this needs to be understood more.