[{"bbox": [96, 101, 1177, 183], "category": "Text", "text": "like situations³¹, and in addition to 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), of which 50% are women and girls, 49% are children fleeing growing conflict-affected areas³². This shift has resulted in a greater need for education in areas where existing provisions were already insufficient, or where there is no provision at all."}, {"bbox": [96, 207, 1177, 581], "category": "Text", "text": "Ethnic education providers in Myanmar are **heterogeneous in terms of their size** (number of schools and number of children attending their services) **and capacity**, with some catering to all sub-sectors of education, while others limit their services to primary education only. These providers face several **common challenges**, including teacher availability, competencies and retention, **insufficient funding for stipends**, safety concerns, inaccessible infrastructure, including WASH facilities (for managing menstrual hygiene), and low remuneration for education personnel. Furthermore, the scarcity of community teachers in ethnic areas has become an increasingly daunting challenge, exacerbated by the significant learning loss and gap during the pandemic and the coup. Community teachers from ethnic education providers are also not recognized by the de-facto government, limiting their employment opportunities. Additionally, psycho-social support for teachers, students, and communities and the supply of teaching and learning materials in ethnic areas is inadequate. Ethnic minority groups have been facing significant obstacles in obtaining quality education for decades due to persistent **language barriers**. The result is that many children either drop out of school or never enrol in the first place, particularly affecting girls and children with disabilities. While some community schools promote the use of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE), there is no standardized approach."}, {"bbox": [96, 605, 1177, 826], "category": "Text", "text": "There is a pronounced and detrimental **discontinuity** across ethnic education systems and with the wider public education system, which results in little or no cross-recognition of educational awards or routes into further learning. Prior to the coup initial steps and progress had been made in this area but these efforts have now been suspended and the dialogue has stalled. There is however ongoing work between ethnic education systems on the alignment of standards, aiming at agreements on equivalency standards to enhance the quality of ethnic education service and recognition of learning, allowing children transfer and continuity of education. The limited availability of non-formal education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) services is also contributing to the **absence of learning pathways** for students. A strong demand for VET exists among stakeholders, but the supply is inadequate."}, {"bbox": [96, 850, 1177, 1196], "category": "Text", "text": "The enhancement of the capacities of Ethnic Education Providers (EEPs) is therefore also crucial in facilitating their ability to participate in the development of a **federal education system**, given that ethnic education systems are considered a key component in advancing the broader objective of agreeing and establishing such a national education structure. In Myanmar's contested areas, governance arrangements are intricate due to prolonged conflict. Ethnic education providers need to reach a consensus on common curriculum and teacher competency frameworks as intrinsic parts of establishing a federal education model that incorporates the country's linguistic and cultural diversity and reverses the many years of exclusion of these ethnic groups addressing gender disparities within these education systems. The National Unity Government (NUG) has proposed a federal education model that Ethnic Education Providers have cautiously welcomed. However it is unclear if this federal system envisaged by NUG will also recognise and incorporates the EEP's approach to learning, culture, and languages. While EEPs have also made a commitment to align their curriculum and teacher competencies with the federal education system when it emerges and is agreed, there is a risk of conflict among NUG and EEPs, for example when trying to arrive at a common mechanism for recognizing qualifications and agreeing curriculum framework."}, {"bbox": [96, 1198, 1140, 1250], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues (mandates, potential roles, and capacities) to be covered by the action:**"}, {"bbox": [96, 1251, 1177, 1304], "category": "Text", "text": "The main stakeholders in the Action are Ethnic Education Service Providers and community-based organisations, local ethnic education CSOs, and women's organisations involved in ethnic education."}, {"bbox": [96, 1329, 1177, 1489], "category": "Text", "text": "Rural Indigenous Sustainable Education (RISE) Network is the largest membership-based organisation for Ethnic Education Service Providers and as such, represents a central stakeholder in the field of ethnic education as they convey the voice of the front-line service providers. RISE was established by a collective of Indigenous education-focused organisations, which work together and support their own communities in remote, often conflict-affected areas across Myanmar. Since 2019, the existing 16 Ethnic Education Providers which are part of the RISE Network, collectively served 401,216 children, youth and women in 3,820 schools staffed 20,663 teachers in remote and conflict-affected"}, {"bbox": [85, 1572, 671, 1600], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³¹ https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/myanmar-situation"}, {"bbox": [85, 1597, 1188, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³² https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/106826 As of 19 Feb 2024, the total estimated # of IDPs within Myanmar is 2,726,500, including 2,420,300 IDP newly displaced post coup."}, {"bbox": [1027, 1655, 1143, 1682], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 33"}]