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Learning in Limbo

By Kyaw Zwa Moe/Mae Hong Son, Thailand

April 10, 2007—It must be the world’s most unusual graduation ceremony. The 32 neatly-dressed undergraduates, black mortarboards on their heads, sat as expectantly as any other academic gathering of this nature, watched by parents and family members. It could have been a scene from any college campus—except for several striking differences.

It wasn’t just the presence of a young woman student wearing the neck rings of the Padaung ethnic minority. The very setting of this imposing ceremony—a graduation “hall” built of bamboo and thatch—was like no other, anywhere on earth.

Outside, tiny, roughly built huts crowded a forested hillside, clouded by smog. This is Karenni Refugee Camp-1, 15 km northwest of Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand. The graduating students were from Burma’s Karenni State, also known as Kayah State, and they live in the camp, where they studied for the Post-Ten School (Arts and Science) Certificate. This year’s graduation ceremony was the 11th to be held in the camp last week.

The certificate is technically illegal, unrecognized outside the camp, whose residents live in a no-man's-land, Karenni migrants seeking refuge in Thailand. The camp was established more than 10 years ago and now houses nearly 20,000 ethnic Karenni, some of whom lived rough for many years after fleeing oppression and war in their region of Burma.

Many have known no other home.

“I’ve never touched Burma’s soil or traveled to cities of Thailand,” said Aung Lay, who was born near the camp which is only 3 km from Burma’s border. His parents belong to the ethnic rebel group, the Karenni National Progressive Party, which has fought with Burma’s military government for decades.

“This camp is my country,” said the 22-year-old.

Aung Lay’s sister graduated with him. Their mother, who attended the graduation ceremony, said: “I am very happy to see my children graduating here. But I feel worried whether they can continue their further study.”

Aung Lay is aware that the certificate doesn’t guarantee him success in life.
“You know, this certificate is illegal,” he said. “No school in the world recognizes it. That can’t give happiness for my whole life.”

Like other undergraduates, however, Aung Lay hopes to continue his study in a college or university abroad. He's interested in political science, and after he finishes his studies, he would like to share what he learns with his community.

There is hope—about a dozen of the 205 students who have graduated from the camp in the last decade have gone on to study at colleges in Thailand and abroad, according to headmaster Shwe Htoon.

Three students who went on to study outside the camp have returned to teach there. They included Shwe Htoon, who graduated from Bradford University in Bangkok.

Shwe Htoon and another teacher, Richard Laung, said they fear that Thai government policies were making it more difficult for young people from the camp to go on to further studies.

“To go home is just a dream for them,” said Richard. “And education here looks like it’s going nowhere.”


 
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