About the Organization
The Community Schools’ Program is a project that strives to provide education to children within some of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of Burma.
At the beginning…
The Community Schools’ Program initially began in 2001 as a project for assisting “Internally Displaced People” (IDP) with the aim of providing much needed resources to a school in Kler Lwee Htoo district, Karen state. At that time the Brackett Foundation from the United States encouraged program director Eh Thwa to write a funding proposal for the school. The Brackett foundation then donated the necessary funds to financially support Loe Khee School. At the time the school had two teachers working with 35 students from Kindergarten to grade two.
Along the years…
The program gained additional funding to support two more schools in 2002 and by 2006, the number and diversity of schools located within Burma had increased significantly. The staff felt that these changes were cause to reconsider the name of the program in order for the name to reflect the diversity and commonality of the community schools within the program. Originally called IDP school of Karen State, the schools were later united under the name “Community Schools’ Program” (CSP).
We believe every child has the right to an education regardless of ethnicity or religion. The Community Schools’ Program provides the basic necessities and resources for the schools to operate in areas where people are internally displaced and living under cease-fire agreements within the government controlled areas of Burma. Our program enables the children living in these regions to receive the education they deserve.
Nowadays
Today the program supports 27 primary schools ,5 middle schools and 1 high school with a total of 3093 students and 180 teachers. The current curriculum includes: Karen (Sgaw), Burmese and English languages, mathematics, science, geography, history, and basic health education. The majority of our graduates go on to study at high schools inside Burma, in the refugee camps, or at the Karen Education Department (KED) Schools.