Advance Project: Migrant Education for Better Protection

The Advancing Migrant Education for Better Protection (Advance Project) is a comprehensive five-year initiative launched in 2022 to address the critical educational barriers facing migrant children in Thailand’s border areas. 

Despite Thailand’s official “Education for All” policy, many migrant children remain excluded from basic educational rights due to documentation issues, lack of recognition for learning centers, and insufficient resources, challenges that were severely exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic when numerous centers were forced to close. Through formal partnerships with government agencies, including a MoU with Tak ESAO2, the project aims to reduce out-of-school rates by 10%, maintain a 90% student retention rate, and decrease child rights violations by 5%. The initiative operates through a multi-sector steering committee that ensures sustainable implementation and has successfully presented jointly developed child protection policies to the Ministry of Education, significantly reducing the risk of learning center closures.

The project employs a holistic approach encompassing education, family engagement, food sustainability, and mental health support to create lasting impact. The education component focuses on emergency planning, flexible teaching methods, and comprehensive monitoring systems, while an innovative homeschooling program serves 26 children with remarkable success, three have successfully transitioned to formal schooling. Moreover, The three-year agricultural program teaches children to grow vegetables and manage meals, ensuring nutritious food while developing practical life skills, and a partnership with Chiang Mai University’s Department of Psychology provides specialized mental health support for children affected by violence and trauma. Over four years of steady progress, this collaborative approach has established a sustainable education and protection system that embodies the project’s core principle: “Education is Protection,” creating meaningful opportunities for migrant children to learn, grow, and build hope for their futures while serving as a replicable model for comprehensive migrant education initiatives.