Help Without Frontiers

Teaching is not included in the list of jobs that migrant workers can do in Thailand. As such, migrant teachers willing to obtain a work permit shall be hired by a Thai national and register as general workers. The consistent linguistic and cultural barriers between Thai communities and migrant communities, in and around Mae Sot, make highly unlikely for Burmese teachers to obtain the documents and legally work in Thailand. As a result, many migrant teachers to not hold any legal documents and their status is precarious.

In July 2017, a new migration policy enacted by the Thai government significantly raised the economic and penal sanctions to contrast illegal migration. Since then, Help without Frontiers has supported all teachers in Migrant Learning Centres to ensure they can legally work in Thailand and obtain a work permit under the name of the organization as employer.

Since then, 152 teachers have tirelessly worked day by day to ensure that schools are safe places for every child to receive protection, care and education.

Teachers and headmasters establish strong relationships of trust with the parents of the students and their communities. Many of the teachers live in the school and they often enrol their children in the school as well. The flexible and community-based approach of Migrant Learning Centres ensure schools are a safe place for children, and a support for Burmese families when their survival is threatened by the struggles of a life on the border.

Every year, the precious work of teachers allows to over 3,000 students in our Ray of Hope schools to transform their lives through learning and education. Surviving on a monthly salary of 200$, migrant teachers devote their lives to building tomorrow’s generation, the generation of brighter futures.

~ One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world ~

Malala Yousafzai