Wu Peijun, who is a middle school teacher in Nanyuan, Taoyuan, was selected by the Youth Department of the Ministry of Education to participate in the program called “Cross-border exchanges between teachers from Thailand, Myanmar and Taiwan” and traveled to these countries to understand the problems of the minorities without nationality and the situations of the schools near to the frontiers. He had the opportunity to study this complex situation in situ.
In January, Wu Peiyu went to the Thailand Border Children Assistant Foundation (TBCAF) on the Thai-Myanmar border, he had to overcome cross-language communication and environmental adaptation in order to observe in depth the labor of the Foundation with the Karen tribes and the second generation migrants from Myanmar. He observed how they promote teacher training and cultural preservation.
During 60 days, Wu Peiyu visited two Karen tribes, walked into six migrant schools, and worked with the Foundation partners to conduct "teacher training", assist Karen teenagers, and participate in a course of Karen language. Teacher training courses such as tribal traditional culture, all the training that teachers must take to teach in the primary school of the tribe. Wu Peijun discovered that the content of the teacher training covers traditional bamboo weaving, weaving, traditional rituals and other subjects, that young teachers can learn from the ancients of the village, and then teach them to the next generation of children. The school and tribal development are complementary.
The Youth Department of the Ministry of Education promotes the “New south-facing in-depth study program”, providing to young people from various fields to focus in these issues, enhancing their professionalism and expanding their experience through in-field study. This year, four young people have been selected, and the fields have been diversified. The third phase of the selection will be closed on July 31, and the subsidy amount will be as high as NT$150,000.
