Myanmar migrant students’ access to higher education in Thailand

• In Event: Equitable access to higher education

Proposal

Objectives
It is estimated that Thailand has close to 6 million migrant workers, and about 80% of them are from Myanmar. Migrant workers often bring their own family and children with them, and the number of migrant children in Thailand has been on the rise. Migrant children in Thailand are legally guaranteed to receive free public education at preschool and basic education levels. If they do not choose Thai public schools, they usually attend Migrant Learning Centres (MLCs) which are run independently (as non-formal schools) by NGOs, philanthropy organizations or migrant communities. Some migrant students attend universities in Thailand, but their data is almost non-existent due to the difficulty of accurate statistics about their education activities (Harkins, 2019). This research is an attempt to address this gap.

Firstly, this paper overviews the status of migrant workers in Thailand and the opportunities of migrant children for basic education. Secondly, it explores the issues and possibilities of the access of Myanmar migrant children to higher education in Thailand.

Contextualization
SDGs target 4.3 states that “by 2030 ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.” On the other hand, Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) and OECD’s Indicators of Immigrant Integration demonstrate an emerging global awareness that migrants should be guaranteed access to higher education. The Thai government reacted to international human rights norms by securing migrants and non-Thais access to education from pre-school to higher education levels.

However, the Thai government’s migration policies to date are characterized as frequently changing, inconsistent, reactive, and sometimes contradictory, thus producing a very complex and “liminal” status for migrants (Petchot, 2014). For example, a migrant may enter Thailand illegally, but find semi-legal or legal employment. Then these policy characteristics cause confusion and difficulty in understanding migration paperwork, especially among Myanmar nationals who dominantly make up migrant population in Thailand. Therefore, Myanmar migrants are in a state of limbo wondering whether they should stay in Thailand or go back to Myanmar.

Research methods
Based on the nature and aims of this study, a qualitative approach and case study design were employed. “A case study is an examination of a specific phenomenon such as a program, an event, a person, a process, an institution, or a social group” (Merriam, 1998, p. 9). This is an instrumental case study where the case selected illustrates the issue (Creswell, 1998). The case here is Myanmar migrant students and the issues are migrants’ access to higher education in Thailand.

According to the case study tradition, multiple sources of information were sought. Data were collected in two stages by a survey and interviews in Thailand in 2018-2019. The first stage was to understand the trends of Myanmar students in Thai higher education through interviews to government agencies and higher education institutions (HEIs) in Bangkok in June and November 2018, and in five cities in northern Thailand in February 2019, and by reviewing reports and documents gathered from them. The second stage was to investigate the situation of Myanmar migrant students’ access to higher education through a detailed survey in June 2019 to 185 students from Myanmar at five universities in northern Thailand where many Myanmar migrant students were said to be registered. 65 students responded to the survey (collection rate 35%), and it was found out that 18 students out of 65 were Myanmar migrants. The 18 responses revealed that there were two types among Myanmar migrant students in higher education: Those born in Myanmar and those born in Thailand. Out of 18 students, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Thai and English to seven students who agreed to be interviewed. Analysis of the interviews was conducted using a content analysis method. The data gained through interviews were used in an aggregated form to protect the anonymity of the informants.

Conclusions
Myanmar students in Thai HEIs are largely those who directly come from Myanmar with a foreign student visa. Myanmar migrant students attend universities after graduating Thai high schools or obtaining general education diplomas through MLCs. If they graduate from university, they can apply for Thai citizenship. The citizenship opens doors to job opportunities and a more stable life in Thailand. In fact, five interviewees intended to enter university for a Thai citizenship while other two planned to go back to Myanmar.

The limited number of interviews to Myanmar migrant students indicates that their path to higher education is very diverse in terms of birth place, family situation, legal status, command of Thai, etc. It is worth noting here that they are treated as equivalent to Thai students by their university so that they would not be disadvantaged in their student entitlements.

Efforts must be made to minimize the negative impacts of the inconsistent and unstable migration policies of the Thai government on migrant students who happen to stay in Thailand due to family decisions. MLCs at the basic education level introduced hybrid (transnational) basic education curricula which enable Myanmar students to be mobile between Thailand and Myanmar under frequently changing Thai immigration policies. Interviews indicate that such transnational programs would benefit also Myanmar students at higher education.

Significance
This study would contribute to comparative higher education because it investigates migrants’ access to higher education which has not been much studied, despite it being a globally emerging phenomenon.

References
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Harkins, B. (Ed.) (2019). Thailand migration report 2019. Bangkok: United National Thematic
Working Group on Migration in Thailand.
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Petchot, K. (2014). “17. The right to education for migrant children in Thailand: Liminal
legality and the educational experience of migrant children in Samut Sakhon,” In Truong, T.D., et al. (eds.), Migration, gender and social justice: Perspectives on human insecurity, Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace 9. Springer.

Author

• Takao Kamibeppu, Fukuyama City University