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Peace Through Education

 All Ethnic International Open University

AEIOU Programme is just an attempt to give tertiary education to the talented and eligible youths who had run away or manage to escape from their mother country or who are forced to come and eke out their living in the kingdom of Thailand.  

Need Felt

There is a dramatic need for education of the oppressed, persecuted and marginalized youths of Southeast Asia, particularly those suffering under the political conditions of Burma. In the numerous refugee camps, the education stop after high school and AEIOU endeavors to fill in this gap. 

Rationale

      Some of them have inherited a very low standard of education that it cannot cope with the demands of modern society.  Most of the universities and educational institutions in Burma are more closed than open. The educational institutes run by the military junta are only for their off springs and cronies. Here in Thailand also theses youths are also unable to study in the established universities for various reasons. 

Belief

It is believed that training to these younger generations will compel them to be good leaders of their own community and society and be an asset to the host country and be good citizens wherever they chose to reside. They would be in a better position to decide which is right and wrong. We are also against the ethnic cleansing policy. 

Issues

The refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and migrant youths are prevented from further studies because they have little or no choice. They have to eke out their livelihood in any available way and a great many of them have to support their families. Others cannot make their identity known for political reasons.

Annually, the refugee camps at the Thai Burma border regions are churning out about 3,000 highs schools graduates. Very few of them have little or no hope for further education. Some found jobs with the NGOs with a minimum wage but most of them are unemployed. Some sneak into towns to work as illegal immigrant workers. Others became desperate and went out to the front lines to battle the Junta forces after joining one of the resistance forces, while other get involved in narcotic drugs and so on.  Some of them got married and their offspring and family suffered the same fate and vicious cycle begins. Less than one percent of these youths get scholarships to study abroad but here again they faced a lot of problems and difficulties as they are placed into an entirely new atmosphere with different value system, language, climatic conditions and food. Obviously very few could keep up with the modern method of life at their respective universities abroad. It seems that the prospects of these refugees have little or no future at all. There should be some alternatives to ease all these tension and create better world. Hence the continuing education becomes a necessity.  

Main Aim

            The main aim is to prevent the brain drain of the community and country. Many of the international NGO’s education system are not compatible with the exiting condition as they have little or no idea of the psyche or the rationale of the people of Burma. Very few of the students who are sent abroad returned to their own community and even these few who sacrifice much to come back could not meet the conditions of what is prevailing in the peripherals of Burma. The curricula that were taught in most of the Western countries do not fit into the conditions of their community or that of the country. 

 Empowering Women Of Burma 

EWOB that has been working in the peripherals of Burma since 1992 seeing the needs of these pathetic youths discuss the matter with some like-minded Burmese academics and make a meticulous research for the education of these youths in 1997 and soon initiated a pilot projects for three successive years (2000-2003) and come up with this AEIOU Programmme in cooperation with the Chiang Mai University. It was run on an open university lines with every student his/her own second semester in their own community so that they will no be cut off from their roots. Hence AEIOU is a major offshoot of EWOB. 

Targeted Population

 Any body who is between age 20 and thirty be he/she be a refugee, Internally Displaced Persons or any marginalized youths irrespective of race, religion, color or creed can join this Programme, provided he passed the Matriculation (entrance) examinations.