Training Rural Area Community Educators (TRACE)

Decades of conflict and underinvestment have left the Myanmar education system neglected and nearly dismantled. While education systems are now slowly improving due to recent political changes and reforms, there continues to be little access to quality education for children in remote and underserved areas. For those who cannot access or afford government schools, non-state ethnic education groups provide education opportunities through community schools that are parallel to the formal government education system. Teachers at these community schools cannot access formal government teacher training programs and thus do not have the training and professional development opportunities available in the formal education system.

Through funding from the Vitol Foundation and World Education Innovation Fund, the Training Rural Area Community Educators (TRACE) project worked to improve access to and increase the quality of education for vulnerable children in southeast Myanmar by training teachers in Kayah, Kayin, and Shan states. Teachers gained technical skills in teaching methodology and subject areas while World Education strengthened the education systems that support them.

Through the TRACE project, World Education worked with partner organizations to assess gaps in teacher training and develop new training modules to complement existing trainings, train teacher trainers for partner organizations, conduct pre-service and in-service teacher trainings, improve the capacity of its local partners to improve education outcomes and advocate for more inclusive education policies in partnership with World Education’s USAID-supported Project for Local Empowerment. The TRACE project delivered a broad impact on teaching and learning in southeastern Myanmar, delivering resources that can be used to improve teacher effectiveness for years to come.

As a result of the TRACE project nine teacher training modules were developed in partnership with Kayan New Generation Youth (KNGY) and the Karen Education Department (KED). Modules focused on child rights, teaching strategies for multi-grade classrooms, and mother tongue-based multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE). A total of 828 teachers attended in- and pre-service training workshops delivered by KNGY and KED Mobile Teacher Trainers and 326 teachers received follow-up support and ongoing mentoring throughout the year. As a result of improved teacher knowledge and skills a total of 37,550 students from primary schools in Kayah, Southern Shan, and Kayin States are receiving a quality education. Under TRACE, WE supported local partners in building their capacity in the areas of advocacy, M&E, income generation, Parent Teacher Association management and support, and data management. 34 KNGY and KED teacher trainers improved their ability to deliver training and both KNGY and KED were able to engage in discussions surrounding the National Education Sector Plan and how the reform will impact ethnic education.