Brackett Foundation

HELPING REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR ACCESS EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH,UGANDA, THAILAND AND NE INDIA.

PROGRAMS IN THAILAND - SCHOLARSHIPS: THE CONTINUING COVID PANDEMIC AS WELL AS THE MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR INCREASED CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. MOST STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE THEIR STUDIES ONLINE, SOME FROM WITHIN MYANMAR. BREF DISTRIBUTED A TOTAL OF 137 SCHOLARSHIPS IN 2021. WE HAD 36 UNIVERSITY GRADUATES AND 4 GRADUATES IN DIPLOMA COURSES. 87 SCHOLARSHIPS WERE AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL WITH 44 STUDENTS STUDYING IN ENGLISH, THE REMAINDER IN THAI. EDUCATION AND NURSING MAJORS CONTINUE TO PREDOMINANT WITH AN INCREASING NUMBER OF STUDENTS MAJORING BUSINESS AND ENGINEERING. THERE WERE ALSO 46 GRANTS FOR VOCATIONAL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDY WITH 13 GRADUATES.

PROGRAMS IN THAILAND - PROJECTS: BREF DIRECTLY SUPPORTED LANGUAGE AND COMPUTER PROGRBREF DIRECTLY SUPPORTED LANGUAGE AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, IN THE MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP AND AT NAI SOI OUTSIDE OF MAE HONG SON. AT THE MAE LA CAMP WE SUPPORT A PROGRAM LINKING ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDENTS VIRTUALLY WITH VOLUNTEER ESL TEACHERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR PRACTICE IN CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH. BREF ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO TWO POST HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS TO PREPARE STUDENTS FROM INSIDE MYANMAR AND FROM THE REFUGEE CAMPS FOR UNIVERSITY EDUCATION (ENGLISH MEDIUM) IN THAILAND. WE SUPPORT ANOTHER POST HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM TRAINING TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO RETURN TO WORK IN BURMA. WE CONTINUED SOME SUPPORT OF THE MIGRANT SCHOOL AT THE MAE TAO CLINIC.IN CROSS BORDER AID COVID AND POLITICAL UNREST HAVE CHALLENGED EDUCATION IN IDP AREAS. LOCAL COMMUNITIES HAVE WORKED HARD TO KEEP THEIR SCHOOLS OPEN. WE SUPPORTED 9 ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS SERVING 756 CHILDREN IN IDP AREAS WHERE THERE IS NO SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT. IN THE MONTHS SINCE THE COUP, SOME OF THESE SCHOOLS TEMPORARILY CLOSED OR RELOCATED DUE TO GOVERNMENT SHELLING. ONE OF THESE IS A UNIQUE ANIMIST SCHOOL WHERE KAREN TRADITIONS ARE TAUGHT BY ELDERS FROM THE COMMUNITY. WE SUPPORTED CHILDREN ON THE EDGE (COTE ) AS THEY ADAPTED THEIR PRESCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN 12 CAMPS ALONG THE BURMA/CHINA BORDER DUE TO THE MILITARY CONFLICT. WE SUPPORTED A PROGRAM IN BANGKOK THAT PROVIDES ENGLISH AND THAI INSTRUCTION AND BASIC COMPUTER SKILLS TO MIGRANT BURMESE WORKERS. THE PROGRAM NEEDED TO GO ENTIRELY ONLINE AND REDUCE ITS FEES BECAUSE OF COVID RESTRICTIONS AND DIFFICULTY OF MIGRANT STUDENTS TO PAY. COVID -19 AND THE FEB 1 MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR CAUSED AN INFLUX OF NEW REFUGEES AND EDUCATIONAL DISRUPTIONS. THESE FACTORS IMPACTED ALL OF THE PROGRAMS THAT WE'VE SUPPORTED IN VARIOUS WAYS BUT IN ALMOST ALL CASES PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN PRESERVED AND ADAPTED. IT IS A TESTAMENT TO THE DEDICATED EDUCATORS THAT BREF WORKS WITH THAT PROGRESS CONTINUES.

PROGRAMS IN BANGLADESH: BREF SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO ROHINGYA THROUGH CHILDREN ON THE EDGE (COTE). COTE IS THE ONLY AGENCY IN BANGLADESH TRANSLATING GOVERNMENT-APPROVED CURRICULUM FOR ROHINGYA REFUGEE CHILDREN INTO THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, AS WELL AS OFFERING MEANINGFUL LESSONS THROUGH A VISUAL MEDIUM. AS THE COVID PANDEMIC EASED, COTE LEARNING CENTERS BEGAN TO RE-OPEN IN SEPTEMBER OF 2021 SERVING APPROXIMATELY 7,500 CHILDREN. AS THE BANGLADESHI GOVERNMENT HAS BEGUN A PROCESS OF RELOCATING ROHINGA REFUGEES TO A SILT ISLAND IN THE BAY OF BENGAL, BASAN CHAR, COTE HAS BEEN INVITED TO SET UP TEN LEARNING CENTERS ON THE ISLAND. THIS IS ANOTHER INDICATION OF COTE'S COMMITMENT TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE MOST MARGINALIZED CHILDREN.

PROGRAMS IN INDIA: : BREF DISTRIBUTED A TOTAL OF 455 SCHOLARSHIPS TO SUPPORT EDUCATION FOR CHIN REFUGEES FROM BURMA FOR THE 2021/22 ACADEMIC YEAR. MOST OF THE STUDENTS LIVE IN THE INDIAN STATE OF MIZORAM. STUDENTS' ELIGIBILITY WAS BASED ON THE ABILITY TO SHOW SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL NEED, AS WELL AS ACADEMIC ABILITY AND DRIVE. 195 SCHOLARSHIPS WERE GIVEN TO CHILDREN FROM GRADES K TO 7 WHOSE PARENTS-MANY OF WHOM EARN MENIAL WAGES-APPRECIATE RELIEF FROM THE COSTS OF TEXTBOOKS, UNIFORMS AND EXAM FEES. 155 SCHOLARSHIPS WERE DIRECTED TOWARDS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (GRADES 8 TO 10), AND 45 OF THESE STUDENTS ARE COMPLETING GRADE 10 IN 2022, BECOMING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES. THERE WERE 77 UNIVERSITY PREPARATORY-LEVEL (GRADES 11 AND 12) SCHOLARSHIPS DISTRIBUTED. 40 OF THESE STUDENTS ARE GRADUATING FROM GRADE 12 IN 2022 AND WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY TO UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS ANYWHERE IN INDIA. BREF FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED 28 STUDENTS IN THEIR UNIVERSITY STUDIES. STUDENTS WHO WERE AWARDED THESE POST-SECONDARY SCHOLARSHIPS WOULD HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO--OR WOULD HAVE FOUND IT HIGHLY DIFFICULT TO--OBTAIN THE FUNDS NECESSARY TO STUDY AT A UNIVERSITY LEVEL. NINE OF THESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ARE GRADUATING IN THE 2021/22 ACADEMIC YEAR, SEVERAL WITH BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREES (GEOLOGY, BOTANY, NURSING), BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY DEGREES (CIVIL ENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE), AND A STUDENT EACH WITH A BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COMMERCE, A BACHELOR OF PHARMACY, AND A BACHELOR OF MEDICINE (MBBS).