Scholarships for continuing education

The children who attend our non-formal education classes come from severely deprived backgrounds.  Most of their parents, being illiterate themselves, lack both the aspiration and the financial resources to be able to arrange and support their continuing education.  Whereas wealthier families can pay for private tuition to help achieve good grades and support the fees and living costs needed for further education, this is far beyond the means of very poor people.  We therefore offer a range of scholarships to help alumni of NFE classes, and other disadvantaged young people, at different stages in their education. These include:

1. Income generating activities (IGA) in parallel with the NFE curriculum we introduce children to a variety of handicraft and involve them in small business projects.  This gives them confidence to learn new skills. You can find out more about IG activities here; 
2. Study Guidance in homework classes to help children keep up with school/college and get the grades they deserve;
3. Continued family support for those children who wish to transfer to the formal education system;
4. Vocational training scholarships in practical skills that will be useful in finding gainful employment. Trades covered so far include domestic appliance repair, nursing assistance, computer maintenance, beauty therapy, hairdressing, stainless steel working, motor engineering, driving, desktop publishing, bricklaying, electrical engineering, sewing and tailoring (which we provide at the Learning Centre) and more.  Where possible we arrange apprenticeships to help students start their careers;
5. Interest-free start-up loans are available to help young people purchase the equipment they need to establish themselves in a trade or to set up a small business;
6. Higher education scholarships for those who gain entrance to university or college. So far our grants have supported students to study Music, Architecture, and Civil Engineering.  The recipient of our first HE scholarship, Sangpi, now works as a professional musician at one of the national TV stations.  To find out more about his career click here;
7. The PALM Learning Centre is there to act as a bridge between NFE and more formal institutions in Rangoon. There, students can be accommodated and benefit from daily homework classes and counselling.  To find out more about the Learning Centre, and the Sewing and Tailoring courses provided there, please click here.

Sustaining educational input through provision of successive opportunities, each building on the other, really does give these young people a fresh start in life.  To see examples of our students’ success please chick here.