In the last five years, two UK organisations have worked with educators and the government of Myanmar to transform special needs education in this country of 55 million. By the end of 2017, 500 teachers will have been trained in fundamental, upto-date and scientific practices of how to include, teach and work with children with special needs in schools across the country. Two hundred teachers have already completed some levels of certification. These teachers are back in their communities, armed with the latest theory, practice and technique to include and help children with a variety of disabilities. Over the coming year, the project will extend to 14 different regions and work with all the different ethnic groups of the country.
Previously, only a handful of small schools served disabled children, and only in Yangon, the capital. A few special needs teachers had trained overseas, and tried to bring back their skills and pass them on, on an ad hoc basis. Specials needs education has been totally unavailable outside the capital and, as a result, many children with special needs received no education at all. Since 2012, with the support of a British charity, With Love All Things Are Possible, the University of Wolverhampton has developed a national program of teacher training, working with skilled practitioners in Myanmar and has won the support from the government at a time of great political change.
The project has been endorsed by the government and received public support from her Excellency, the State Councillor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The partnership has worked tirelessly to set up and deliver a curriculum for existing special needs teachers, and to recruit new students in order to build capacity for special needs education across the country.
Very early on in the project the Department of Social Welfare spotted the potential for this project to be successful and gave its support. Its aims were clear: To contribute towards the social objective, “Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation” .
University of Wolverhampton lecturers, with support from the university, have donated countless hours designing the content of the training courses, and travelling many times to the country to deliver the training ‘on the ground’, and to work to secure approval from the Myanmar government.
We have established, with government approval, the first Association focusing systematically on Special
Education Needs related training
The project must be sustainable and to accomplish that a new national body has been established, the Myanmar Special Education Association, which held a first national conference in November 2016 opened by Aung San Suu Kyi
The partnership is committed to a further, minimum, five -year engagement in Myanmar. It aims to insure that all special needs teachers in the country are properly--and locally--trained and qualified. It intends to boost the numbers of specialist teachers to provide for the whole of the country. The partnership has provided leadership and training for existing schools, and seeks to promote the need for inclusion of children with special needs in every state, private, monastic and refugee school in Myanmar.
and inclusive practice in Myanmar. Part of the project plan is for MSEA to become the pre-eminent body in Myanmar in developing and influencing policy initiatives around and for special needs education. .
Founded by Richard Atterbury, ‘With Love All Things Are Possible’ (WLATAP) is a fully registered and regulated charity based in the UK.
The sole focus
for the charity is special needs education in Myanmar
Training Outcomes By the end of the first stage training participants will be able to: 1 Demonstrate an emerging knowledge base relating to children with special needs and disability 2. Demonstrate an ability to use observation to inform planning, differentiation, adaptation and practical support for children 3 Demonstrate an ability to plan activities to meet the children’s social, emotional, physical, cognitive and cultural needs in inclusive and specialist settings
4. Demonstrate an ability to reflect on and evaluate own beliefs, experience and values
Please contact us for further information: Richard Atterbury WLATAP Richard@atterburys.co.uk Dr Anne Hollinshead, University of Wolverhampton UK A.hollinshead@wlv.ac.uk David Zau Dim MSEA info@msea.online