Education Instead of Dropout – Tutoring as a Key to Equal Opportunities in the Slums of Yangon

Main Goal: To increase equal opportunities for schoolchildren from Yangon's slum regions and reduce the school drop-out rate through free tutoring and individual development support. 1. Myanmar's poor education system makes tutoring essential. However, only children from financially stronger families can afford them. This project aims to help increase this equality of opportunity. 2. Integrating children into formal school is one thing, but keeping them there and providing them with the best possible support to successfully complete their education is another. This project aims for sustainability in order to keep these children in school. 3. Without education, it is difficult to escape poverty and children often have to follow their parents' path with the same lack of prospects. In the long term, this program helps to promote social advancement and combat the poverty trap by ensuring access to education and thus to better income opportunities.

Many children in Myanmar - especially in Yangon - live their lives in extremely precarious conditions on the streets or in the slums and have very difficult access to public education and support facilities. Although education is theoretically compulsory in Myanmar, there are many obstacles, especially for poor families. In addition to a lack of financial resources for school uniform, books or extra tuition, they also lack the documents (birth certificates) that are essential for school enrolment. Many residents in the urban slums around Yangon are rural refugees and live illegally in the city's slums, which is why many do not have birth certificates. In public schools there are too few teachers, which contributes to the fact that many pupils are unable to follow the curriculum and individual learning needs cannot be addressed. To ensure schoolchildren pass their exams, tutoring is a given. Tuition is expensive, hence drop-out rates for children from poorer backgrounds is high.

To address this inequality, we provide extensive support programmes for children from the slums and streets around Yangon, including two day care centres and a comprehensive support centre that offers educational programmes accompanied by health, sports and other support activities. Approximately 180 children attend our facilities on a daily basis, raising the children's general level of education and providing a safe space away from their often very dangerous lives on the streets or in violent and highly vulnerable communities. Integration into the formal public education system is a core activity. Each year we are able to help around 100 children to integrate into public school. To ensure that they stay in school successfully until they graduate, they need tutoring.

Activity 1: Daily tuition for 90 students 5 days a week (Monday to Friday, 2 hours per session), we provide 90 tuition places for children in two SONNE day care centres (South Dagon Township, Dagon Seikkan Township, 45 places each). Sessions are scheduled according to different grades (grades 2 to 9, ages 7 to 14) and different timetables (3 groups per centre). Within 2 years, around 120 children will benefit from the project. At least 95% of the schoolchildren participating in tutoring will remain successful at school. Activity 2: Individual Support & Exam Preparation The programme includes tailored support for pupils who are struggling, exam preparation and homework help. When necessary, parents are involved to find solutions together.

SONNE-International is represented in Myanmar by the local partner organization SONNE-Social-Organization (SSO). SSO is registered as a local NGO in Myanmar and was founded as a branch of SONNE-International. Since 2008, SONNE-International has been implementing education, training, health, sports and training projects for marginalized children and youth in Myanmar. Since 2015, all SONNE-International projects in Myanmar have been managed by SSO. SSO currently has ten full-time employees in the project management and coordination team as well as a further 14 project workers. A representative of SONNE-International Austria travels to Myanmar at regular intervals to accompany and evaluate the implementation of all projects and to offer further training for the team (including project development, monitoring and reporting). SSO is committed to free access to education and training for disadvantaged children and young people in Myanmar.

This tuition program gives children from the streets and slums in Yangon a better chance of graduating, increasing their opportunities for a secure and self-determined life. It strengthens life skills, promotes social integration, and has a lasting impact on both the children and their communities. Beyond academic support, tuition classes provide a safe space for learning. Many children live in highly vulnerable conditions, facing violence at home and lacking electricity, space, or peace to study. With this program, we aim to reduce dropout rates, support school success, and help children build a better future away from the streets and slums in Yangon.

Our long-term presence in Myanmar, with dedicated local staff and a well-established local organization, allows us to deeply understand the needs of the communities we support. This enables us to implement projects effectively and sustainably. We are fast, efficient and adaptive to changing environments, ensuring immediate and targeted responses in times of crisis – like now. Following the recent earthquake, we were among the first local organizations to provide aid directly in the affected areas near the epicenter, demonstrating our strong local network and ability to act swiftly where help is needed most.