UNICEF: Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I selected is UNICEF for every child https://www.unicef.org/

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

Thailand Migration Report 2019

United Nations Thematic Working Group on Migration in Thailand Edited by Benjamin Harkin

The Thailand Migration Report 2019, jointly produced by members of the United Nations Thailand Working Group on Migration, contains 11 chapters covering themes such as working conditions, access to services, remittances, human trafficking, and exploitation. Each chapter was written by a specific UN agency and provides up-to-date information on migration trends and patterns in Thailand, as well as independent analysis of migration-related issues and policy developments. UNICEF, along with UNESCO, has co-authored Chapter 6 on Strengthening Access to Services for Migrant Children in Thailand – which discusses migrant children’s access to education, health, child protection services, birth registration, including challenges and key barriers, as well as the situation of children in immigration detention. Recommendations for policy and programmatic changes to improve migration governance are also included.

Access to education for migrant children in Thailand 

Through the efforts of the Government of Thailand and NGOs, approximately 164,000 non-Thai children are enrolled in the educational system in Thailand (figure 6.1). However, it is estimated that more than 200,000 migrant children remain out of school and are not receiving any form of education. The actual number of out-of-school migrant children in the country may potentially be an underestimate due to the lack of official data on the total number of migrant children in Thailand. There are three main sources of education provided for migrant children.

Education challenges for migrant children 

Barriers to access to education and learning achievement for migrant children in Thailand are the result of multiple interlinking factors. Importantly, the cost of education in Thailand can be unaffordable for migrant parents. The OECD calculated household education expenditure by level and school type in 2009. To attend public primary school, families spent on average THB 1,976 on tuition fees, THB 880 for school uniforms, THB 761 for books and equipment and THB 2,837 for transportation per year. These costs increase when children attend higher levels of education (OECD, 2013). 

Thai public schools and community learning centers receive the same amount of per-head budget for migrant students as they do for Thai students, however, migrant children commonly need additional transportation support to travel from their villages to schools. In addition, children are in some cases required to stay in dormitories during their studies, which may present an untenable financial burden to migrant parents. There are also the opportunity costs of attending school as some migrants must have their children work rather than study due to high levels of poverty and indebtedness. 

Despite the support of the Government and NGOs to enroll migrant children in the education system, many migrant children face challenges in studying due to language differences in public schools and the quality of teaching available at MLCs. The lack of credentialled teachers and learning materials at the MLCs can contribute to low achievement in some subjects, including for Thai and Myanmar languages and mathematics. Funding for the MLCs provided by donors has been decreasing as many are shifting their support across the border from Thailand to Myanmar. This puts many migrant children at high risk of being out of school should they – or their parents – not want to transition to Thai public schools.

Another challenge is that the educational curriculum delivered through the MLCs is mostly not recognized by either the Thai or Myanmar Governments, causing barriers to matriculation at accredited schools in both countries for migrant children. Placement tests are not systematically implemented at schools to accept migrant students from Thailand and the documentation required to access Myanmar Government schools varies considerably. Headteachers can use their discretion to accept or decline access to government schools and there are both official and unofficial fees applied in some cases (Save the Children, 2015). 

There have been efforts at the local level to standardize education at the MLCs through the support of both Myanmar and Thai Governments. The Myanmar Ministry of Education has been supporting a number of MLCs in Thailand to conduct the Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) curriculum. Students who complete NFPE can return to Myanmar and continue to study with a certificate issued by Myanmar’s Ministry of Education. For migrant students remaining in Thailand, they may be able to enroll in the non-formal education programs supported by the Thai Ministry of Education at select MLCs. 

Discriminatory attitudes and lack of understanding can also present a barrier for migrant children to access education. Despite the policy allowing all children to attend school, many Thai parents have demonstrated opposition to their children’s schools allowing migrants to enroll. A recent survey conducted by UNICEF revealed that the majority of parents strongly believe that migrant children should attend MLCs rather than Thai Government schools. Only 33 percent of Thai parents agreed that “Migrant children have the same rights as Thai children” (2017).