Parent. Technician. Farmer. Merchant. NGO. What else can a teacher be?

First, let’s meet the principal of a Migrant Learning Centre (MLC) in Phop Phra District, Tak province, around 450 km from Thailand’s capital. She teaches. She manages her MLC’s finances. She collects firewood, prepares food and cooks. She takes care of and comforts the children as most of their parents are working elsewhere in Thailand or are still in Myanmar. Around 110 children from kindergarten to grade 6 whose ages range from 5 to 15 years old are studying in this MLC, and 20 of them are staying in its old dormitories. Her normal day starts at 6.30 am and ends at around 9 pm. Her hard work is unpaid.

There are six teaching staff, all in their 30s, at this MLC, including the principal herself, but only three are paid a small monthly stipend of 3,000 baht (around US$ 85), not even half of what a labourer who is paid a daily minimum wage can earn on average after working for a month (about 7,500 baht or around US$ 212). This is the reality of many teachers working at 63 MLCs in Tak bordering Myanmar, and the workload is more intense for 20 of these MLCs that have lodging facilities for some of their learners. 

Before the conflicts, many of these migrant children from Myanmar followed their parents who sought employment in Thailand. The MLCs provide education by Myanmar teachers using Myanmar curriculum and some centres offer flexible pathways for the children who can choose to go back to study in Myanmar or study in Thailand. However, with the ongoing conflicts, returning is not an option. For the children fleeing conflicts from Myanmar, remaining in education is equivalent to staying protected.

‘We can still hear gunshots when there is fighting, but children feel assured that they are safe here in the MLC,’ said the 38-year-old deputy principal of an MLC in Mae Sot District, just around 10 km from the border. His MLC already has over 200 children. Due to the prolonged situation in Myanmar, he expects more newcomers and is worried that his MLC is not ready to handle the overcrowding or ensure their well-deserved safety. For example, girls take a shower and wash their clothes using water from a well in an open space of the dormitory surrounded by an old leaning fence made of rusty zinc sheets while boys use another well away in the field nearby. ‘But we are trying our best to make sure that we can keep the MLC open for the children,’ said the deputy principal.

According to the Thai Ministry of Education’s Tak Primary Educational Service Area Office 2 (Tak PESAO 2), which supports basic education in five border districts namely Mae Sot, Phop Phra, Mae Ramat, Tha Song Yang and Umphang, the number of migrant learners in MLCs went up from around 11,450 in 2020 to around 14,400 at present. While some migrant children follow their parents looking for jobs in Thailand, others are seeking refuge due to the pandemic or the ongoing conflicts. The surge of new arrivals from Myanmar emphasizes the need for preparations to address these children’s livelihoods and educational requirements.

‘We cannot say no to children seeking help. We need to protect them,’ said the principal of another MLC in Mae Sot District. ‘Every teacher here is like a single-person NGO. We treat the children here like our own children.’ Her MLC is now home to around 160 children, nearly double from last year’s figure. However, this MLC does not have a running water supply system. Its inhabitants rely on a well which can store rainwater during the rainy season but is empty during the dry season. They need to take a shower using a nearby stream instead. Although it is not safe to do so for many reasons including a rash that some students have after the shower, they have no choice. Like this MLC, many still accept newcomers despite the difficulties and facilities which are far from ready.

Located less than a kilometre from the Myanmar border, an MLC in Mae Ramat District also sees more students living in its dormitories now home to around 50 children. Its principal said, ‘Although the children are safe here, they are worried about their parents on the Myanmar side.’ However, the 29-year-old and other five teachers work hard to support the children and to ensure that life in this off-grid MLC, which is 8 km from the main road through a bumpy path, is as smooth as possible. He said ‘We rely on five units of solar panels for limited use in dormitories and pumping up groundwater,’ while showing the water pipe and water filtration systems that they have been maintaining themselves for clean water use in the MLC. The teachers have also gone the extra mile in growing their rice for food security.

Despite being unpaid, the 48-year-old principal of another MLC in Phop Phra District has been earning extra income for her MLC by making Mote Si Kyaw – a type of Myanmar fried pastry made from rice flour. ‘I got the recipe from the elders. Usually, I receive an order to make around 50-100 of them. The cost is 4 baht (US$ 0.11) while the selling price is 5 baht (US$ 0.15) each.’ She also keeps a few goats and sells one when the MLC needs extra cash, and all of these are to ensure that her modest MLC where students walk on dirt floors can make ends meet. She said, ‘I’m worried about the expenses of the MLC, including the rent, transportation to pick up and drop off children and stipends for teachers. I’m doing everything I can. This MLC is my life.’ 

Tak PESAO 2 has been monitoring the operating conditions of the 63 MLCs and supporting them by working with different partners and related ministries to ensure access to education and basic services for migrant children. Tak PESAO 2 Director Pilat Udomwong said many MLCs are not ready to handle the influx of migrant learners, ‘Children without parents rely on dormitories of MLCs, but some are too crowded or do not have adequate facilities while others have rents and other expenses to pay.’ Although Tak PESAO 2 has been registering migrant teachers and students, so their existence is acknowledged by the authorities, he raised a critical point, ‘Migrants move depending on their employment sites, and their children follow. Although these children have been registered, it is not always easy to track them. It is very worrying for children without parents as they may become victims of human trafficking and labour exploitation.’ 

With support from the Japanese Government, the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok) and Tak PESAO 2, have been delivering food items to support the 20 MLCs with lodging facilities for children since August 2023, enabling more than 7,000 migrant learners including those newly arrived from Myanmar, to have three nutritious meals a day instead of just breakfast and dinner comprising of unseasoned rice or whatever the teachers can forage. Rika Yorozu, Education Programme Specialist, UNESCO Bangkok, said, ‘Providing nutritious meals is important to sustain learning. Also, being in a safe place protects the children from exploitation. The right to education is the mandate of UNESCO, and we want to ensure that children are given continued support to continue learning regardless of nationality.’