Border crossings: The importance of education for Burma

Yadanar is from Myanmar and now studies at the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh.

I was educated on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. I used to study there by entering illegally into my neighbor country. I had to live with many challenges for the two years that I studied there, but I got a higher education.

When I first arrived to the school on the border, my level of English was just elementary. It was so clear that my general knowledge and mind were very narrow. I didn’t even know the current situation of my beloved country. How then could it be possible to have information about all over the world?

After attending the school on the border, I have learned many things – not only understanding about my country, Burma, but also about some of the conflicts from many countries in the world such as N. Korea, Palestine and so on. This knowledge I gained from my higher education with the support of my teachers, who are from Australia. I have now won a scholarship in Liberal Arts Studies from Asian University for Women in Bangladesh.

In my experience, although the education fees are very expensive in Burma, many people want effective and affordable education because we face the lack of higher education in my beloved country. Without education, we cannot become a developed country, politically, economically and socially. Education not only helps one’s own family, but also can improve the entire community.