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ABSTRACT
This article argues that schooling and education are boundary-making devices in the volatile borderland straddling Burma and Thailand. We show that the development of Karen education was one of the ways in which the Karen National Union (KNU) erected ideological, symbolic and cultural boundaries to keep this borderland separate from the Burmese and Thai states. We draw attention to the conflict in what is considered valued knowledge, the recognition of learning, and who is considered the legitimate authority to manage education at the local and school levels. In fact, examining Karen education at the Thai-Burmese borderland is more than just a description of schooling: it is an examination of the struggle over governance and identity, and ultimately of understandings of sovereignty and nationhood. Moreover, the changing political landscapes in Thailand and Burma have now drawn this borderland and its education into the orbit of the national sphere, provoking a redefinition of notions of governance and nationhood.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 We use the term Burma, to refer to the country known as Myanmar, as this is the term used by our respondents. Their preference for this term reflects the pro-democracy movement’s dismissal of the decision made by the military regime in 1989 to change the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar. The use of the terms Karen State and Kayin State is not just a matter of political preference but also geographical difference. Karen State is the territory perceived by the KNU as belonging to the Karen which is physically larger than Kayin State as designated by the Burmese government. When referring to places in present day Burma, we shall use the current terms. The term Burmese is used as an adjective and to refer to the language.
2 There are other ways in which the term “Sqaw” is spelt but we use this version as it includes different ways of pronouncing the term.
3 The terms “Sqaw” and “Pwo” were coined by the British; the Sqaw Karen call themselves “Pgha k’nyau” and the Pwo “Phloung”.
4 Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using two surveys (over 4000 respondents for each survey), focus group interviews (50 respondents), semi-structured interviews (20 respondents), participation observation in different time periods between 2005 and 2017. The respondents in the surveys were representative of the teachers, head teachers, primary and secondary students of the seven predominantly Karen refugee camps. The respondents who participated in the focus group interviews consisted of teachers, head teachers, school management staff and students in the refugee camps. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of the different Karen education leadership groups and other actors involved in the provision of education in this borderland. The majority of the respondents were Karen, although a small percentage were of different ethnicities.
5 This body has oversight of the management of all seven predominantly Karen refugee camps on the Thai border.
6 See Ramirez and Jimenez-Silva (Citation2016) special issue of The High School Journal.
7 The “Four Cuts” policy is a military strategy used by the Burmese army to cut off insurgents’ access to resources of food, funds, recruits, and information.
8 Structural violence in this instance refers to social, economic and political oppression generated by militarization and associated abuses.
9 The Karen State border with Thailand hosts two camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Karen State and seven refugee camps in Thailand, which are primarily populated by refugees from the Karen ethnic group but also those of Mon, Karenni, Burman and other ethnicities.
10 The statistics were collected from the KRCEE in May 2017 and from a presentation given by the KECD in May 2017.
11 Different dates have been given for the year that the KTWG was established, some sources citing 1993, while our respondents claimed it was 1998.
12 The KRCEE has been and is staffed by former KECD members and members of other KNU departments, amongst others.
13 There are three main types of schools on the Burmese side of this borderland. KECD-administered schools are managed by the KECD, with policy, curriculum and teacher training organized by the KECD. They are not officially registered or recognized by the Burmese government. “Mixed” schools are mostly former community schools that have recently been registered by the government. They comprise Karen community and Burmese government teachers, are funded through a variety of sources, and/or teach a mix of the KECD and Burmese Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum. These schools are the result of the expansion of Burmese state education into former Karen community schools, some of which were using the KECD curriculum, while others were using the Burmese MoE curriculum. Finally, government schools are funded and administered by the Burmese MoE, and use the Burmese MoE curriculum. The teachers are certified by Burmese institutions and appointed by the MoE at central levels (World Education Citation2016).
14 S’Phan Shaung (2016) Migrant Students offered Scholarships to Enter Thai University. Karen News 9 July 2016 http://karennews.org/2016/07/migrant-students-offered-scholarships-to-enter-thai-university/ and Thabyay Education Foundation website http://www.thabyay.org/partners-corner.html.
15 Interview with KECD representative, Mae Sot, Thailand, 12 October 2016.
16 Interview with KECD representative, Mae Sot, Thailand, 12 October 2016.
17 Two more non-state armed groups signed ceasefire agreements in February 2018, bringing the total number to 10.
18 Interview with KECD representative, Mae Sot, Thailand, 12 October 2016.
19 Interview with KRC representative, Mae Sot, Thailand, 22 October 2016.
20 Interview with KRC representative, Mae Sot, Thailand, 22 October 2016.
21 While the three main education bodies are bound in some way to KNU mandates, other CBOs are able to work independently to smooth the transition of refugee students into schools in Burma. Also, as they have no desire to be part of central level talks in Burma, they can, to a certain extent, continue to operate independently of the Burmese authorities.
22 Interview with KRC representative via Skype, 28 July 2019.