Empowering adults, strengthening families
Exousia’s Vocational Scholarship Project is aimed at helping adults who have difficulty finding employment, in particular, mother’s whose own education will, in turn, provide opportunities for their children to break out of poverty.
After seeing many families in Myanmar torn apart because of an inability to support their household on a very limited income, the vocational scholarship project was developed to address the needs of these vulnerable families. This project aims to upskill parents to enable them to find gainful employment, allowing them to support their family without the need to send their children away for education, to an orphanage, or worst still, to work.
Why a scholarship program?
It is widely recognised that education is one of the major keys to success and obtaining financial freedom. However many families in Myanmar suffer greatly as a result of a lack of education and stable employment, often to the detriment of the most vulnerable members of society – children.
In Myanmar, enrolment in ‘compulsory’ primary school is estimated at 84%, however, only 54% of those actually go on to successfully complete primary school (grade 5).
79% of children who come from a higher socioeconomic status (SES) go on to their compulsory education. This is in stark contrast to the 31% of those from a lower SES.
But this project isn’t aimed at children, so why is this information relevant?
There is a direct link between the lack of parental education and the continuous cycle of poverty handed down from generation to generation.
Research suggests, that in Myanmar, the higher the education attained by a child’s mother, the more likely their child/children will successfully complete their education.
Therefore, mother’s who have received higher education and subsequently better employment, are most likely to appreciate and proactively support their child’s educational needs and the opportunities for success, that good education affords, thus breaking the cycle of poverty.
For families in need, the ability to pay for their child’s education in Myanmar is simply out of reach. The expense of school uniforms, transport, basic educational supplies and school fees must be weighed up against buying adequate food, paying household bills, rent and family medical costs. Nearly 30% of school-aged children do not attend school for this very reason, and many are forced to work to contribute to household upkeep.
About the Project
At Exousia, we believe that the key to breaking the cycle of poverty is through the parents, training and empowering them to find gainful employment.
To maximise success, our scholarship recipients complete 4 major components:
- A Myanmar Government recognised qualification in Early Childhood Care and Development
- Basic English language training and competency
- Basic computing skills
- Workplace placement with hands on experiance
As the project develops, more vocations will be added giving future candidates a greater scope of opportunities.
During the scholarship period, candidates will be individually mentored by highly skilled and experienced Myanmar educators and staff. This mentoring will continue through to successful full-time employment and beyond.
For our scholarship recipients, knowing that there are other people walking with them as they accomplish their own educational dreams, provides a strong foundation to do the same for their children as well as the children they will teach in the future.
This project aims to fully equip students to contribute to and improve their communities through knowledge powering change.
Help fund a Scholarship!