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Empowering Rohingya Youth: A Development Program for Sustainable Change
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is a country in South East Asia and is conservatively Bhuddist. In 2017, a Humanitarian crisis in Myanmar of the Rohingya people in the Rakhine state occurred with genocide committed by the Myanmar Military, influenced by the distasteful views of prominent Buddhist Monks and the Myanmar government’s unwillingness to recognize the group as citizens of the country, which rendered them stateless since 1982 (Letchamanan, 2013; Mahmood, S. S., Wroe, E., Fuller, A., & Leaning, J., 2017). The Rohingya people practice Islam, and violence was taken upon them for state repression and discrimination (Myanmar: No justice, no freedom for Rohingya 5 years on, 2022). Due to the atrocities committed, the learning environment was rendered unsafe, the infrastructure was disseminated, and the youth were at risk of continued violence. Youth of marginalized groups in the Rakhine state, such as the Rohingya people, suffer from loss of education and personal development (Letchamanan, 2013).
Peace Point Myanmar
Peace Point Myanmar was founded in 2016 by Hte Swe, a human rights advocate, to enhance democratic values, human rights, and civic engagement through civic education, inter-faith dialogue, human rights training, campaign incentives, and research advocacy. Peace Point Myanmar works with young people from diverse backgrounds and religious groups, such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians. Their outreach focuses on Rohingya people and citizens of the Rakhine State, where the organization works. There are also program operations in the capital city of Yangon (About Us, n.d.).
Youth Development Program
The Youth Development Program is one of five programs that Peace Point Myanmar employs. It is structured to educate young people in Myanmar in preparation for working in their community and for professional development. The program offers four programs as part of its Youth Development Program; Leadership for Change Program, Microsoft Applications Courses, General English Classes, and a Library Project. These programs share the mission of developing skills for the youth to become leaders in their community, social change makers, and better versions of themselves (Youth Development Program, n.d.).
Constructs of YDP
The Leadership for Change Program is a youth empowerment program that aims to support leaders by training them with the right tools to become active human rights advocates and creators of social change in their communities. This is extremely important for Myanmar learners with the ongoing genocide and human rights crises against the Rohingya people in the Rakhine State in western Myanmar. Initiatives are taken to raise the learner’s leadership capacity skills and participation in peace-building traits to better prepare them for an engagement at the community level and beyond. Through hands-on learning, building self-confidence, and the capability of youth to identify solutions to problems are taught to drive social change (Youth Development Program, n.d.).
Peace Point Myanmar uses Microsoft Application Courses to instruct the Myanmar youth on technology skills they can use in their lives and future employment. Education on technology will break down barriers and create opportunities for those that may not have previously had them. Giving Rohingya youth education and access to technology reinforces their ability to become human rights and social change advocates. The technology classes are one month long, two days a week, and Peace Point Myanmar instructed 950 participants from 2017 to 2020 (Youth Development Program, n.d.).
Since 2012, children of the Rakhine State have lost opportunities for development and education due to conflict. Peace Point Myanmar looks to support the educational and resource gap by providing activities and learning materials to all kids. The organization strives to provide context to the learners of conflict affecting their lives, anger and tension management, and the promotion of social cohesion. The goals of the Library Project are as follows (Youth Development Program, n.d.).
- “Create Sustainable education courses including social cohesion training for local communities, teaching English lessons, and other useful skills.”
- “Offer youth reading sessions called “The Books I Used to Read,” followed by a discussion of what they have learned from the reading.
- “Basic Computer Training in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, internet, and graphic design, which will help them get a job.” (Youth Development Program, n.d.)
General English classes are provided to teach Myanmar youth quality speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills at beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate levels. From 2016 to 2020, the General English classes had 1,950 youth participants from diverse backgrounds. This program is also implemented in the Library Project, goals 1 and 2.
Peace Point Myanmar was reached for an Interview but did return a response.
Hope for the Future
With the ongoing humanitarian crisis occurring in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, the youth of the Rohingya people are suffering the most due to a lack of access to youth development programs and education. Organizations such as Peace Point Myanmar must provide access to tools in their Youth Development Program, such as General English classes, the technology and Microsoft Applications course, and the Library Project. The four tools used in the Youth Development Program support each other in developing skills for Myanmar youth to become leaders and positive social change agents in their communities. With these skills, young Myanmar people can seek employment opportunities and highly skilled jobs that are starting to require a higher English literacy level and advocate for themselves and others through multiple platforms (Mar, M. T. C, 2020).
Sources
About Us. Peace Point Myanmar. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.peacepointmyanmar.org/who-we-are/about-us/
Letchamanan, H. (2013). Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees in Malaysia: Education and the way forward. Journal of International and Comparative Education (JICE), 86-97.
Mahmood, S. S., Wroe, E., Fuller, A., & Leaning, J. (2017). The Rohingya people of Myanmar: health, human rights, and identity. The Lancet, 389(10081), 1841-1850.
Mar, M. T. C. (2020, October). Myanmar Youth and Impact of English Language Proficiency Towards Job Grabbing. In International Conference on Community Development (ICCD 2020) (pp. 416-420). Atlantis Press.
Myanmar: No justice, no freedom for Rohingya 5 years on. Human Rights Watch. (2022, August 24). Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/24/myanmar-no-justice-no-freedom-rohingya-5-years#:~:text=The%20Rohingya%20who%20remain%20in,care%2C%20education%2C%20and%20livelihoods.
Youth Development Program. Peace Point Myanmar. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.peacepointmyanmar.org/programs/youth-development-program/
Developing a Brighter Future Through a Younger Generation
Overview
This post will discuss the relationship between positive youth development and secondary education. Preparing youth for the world relies on developing young people into the best versions of themselves and how to adapt and integrate into society. Positive Youth development programs are created to instill traits such as resiliency and problem-solving that can be applied to real-world scenarios that young people will encounter.
“The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth”- Erasmus.
There are beliefs that education is the process of going to school, attending class, and retaining the information for an exam, and that process will better get us ahead in life. On the contrary, there is learning that needs to occur about oneself, the community, and the world around them, which happens outside of the classroom. Youth development occurs through education on becoming a better citizen through community engagement, learning to recognize one’s feelings, and defeating gender roles in their respective societies. Building young people’s education outside of textbooks and attending class contribute to the likelihood of success in their future.
Secondary Education on an International Scale
In the United States, secondary education includes middle, intermediate, general academic (high school), technical and vocational schools. The ages of youth that attend secondary education typically range from 11 or 12 to 18 or 19. However, these ranges don’t reflect every part of the world and vary from country to country (Source). For example, in India, middle school is included in the primary education range, and secondary school is only considered high school. The age range for a secondary school in India is 14 to 18 (Source). In Myanmar, Secondary education only includes two years of lecture-based learning and a third year to prepare for the matriculation exam at the end of the school year (Source). When defining Secondary education, it is essential to remember that it is diverse in structure and depends on the individual country. Factors involved could be a country having increased funding for additional years of education. It is crucial to escape the westernized mindset and open my mind to the fact that structures vary worldwide.
Positive Youth Development (PYD)
Positive Youth Development is a development approach that engages youth with their communities, schools, organizations, peers, and families productively and constructively for their futures. It builds on Youth’s strengths and looks to enhance opportunity and leadership and create healthy relationships with others (Source). In its inception, Positive Youth Development focused primarily on protection tactics on issues such as teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency. Over time, specialists in the field have transitioned their focus to making PYD programs instill resilience tactics more than protection (Source).
Crossroads of PYD and Education
Education gives the youth the necessary foundation to communicate with others, ask questions, and a setting for social interaction. Positive Youth Development programs build upon the foundation of what is learned in school and demonstrate how the skills will be used once they have exited secondary education. For example, Suppose young people are learning to speak English in the classroom. In that case, a positive youth development program will assist their knowledge, increase literacy, and provide the tools to use the language. In a developing country where tourism is a prominent industry, speaking English effectively and professionally will lead to employment security in the future. The professional attributes accompanying one’s language skills may not be included in the class instruction, so additional direction must be present.
Importance of Continued Support For PYD and Education
It is essential to continue developing transferable and long-lasting tools for the next generation of youth. Creating a better future through developing competent and open-minded learners, so they will better serve their community and the world is the goal for education and PYD. This crossover constructs the necessary building blocks for becoming adults and community leaders. Continuing to strengthen PYD and Education through continued funding, effective policy, and an understanding by all of the importance of the two areas is crucial moving forward.
Sources
ISCED levels of education. Education indicators: An international perspective/indicator 1 side bar. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/eiip/eiip1s01.asp
Positive experiences. Supervisor’s PYD Toolkit – ACT for Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://actforyouth.net/youth_development/professionals/supervisors/experiences.cfm
Positive youth development measurement toolkit – youthpower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://www.youthpower.org/sites/default/files/YouthPower/resources/PYD%20Measurement%20Toolkit%20Final.pdf
Positive youth development. Positive Youth Development | Youth.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/positive-youth-development
Primary and secondary education. Nuffic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://www.nuffic.nl/en/education-systems/india/primary-and-secondary-education#:~:text=Secondary%20education%20lasts%204%20years,a%20Vocational%20Standard%20XII%20diploma
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, February 6). Secondary Education in Myanmar. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 11, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_education_in_Myanmar
