The New Myanmar Foundation established Spring Bridge School in 2022 as a free online school for the children of democracy actors inside Myanmar, as well as the children of IDP families who do not want to receive an education from the military regime, and those of Burmese democracy and human rights activists in Maesot, Thailand.
The new curriculum courses from Grades 1 to 11 were offered free at Spring Bridge School for the 2022–2023 academic year until the curricula were finished. These classes were taught by more than 40 CDM teachers. Over 1000 students attended the Spring Bridge school in the 2022-2023 academic year, and 800 students from different classes passed the final examination. Honorariums could only be given to six primary teachers. CDM elementary and high school teachers voluntarily taught the classes without receiving any honorarium.
For young kids in Myanmar and overseas who don’t want to attend the military regime’s schools, Spring Bridge School will continue offering classes in 2023. To keep these courses running, there are numerous financial challenges. Although CDM teachers were given no honorarium, it still needs to cover monthly Zoom account costs, Wi-Fi fees, and administrative charges because all classes were conducted online. Except 250,000 Thai Baht from AUSAID in June 2022, no assistance from any organization (Funders) for the Spring Bridge online school was received.
So, NMF respectfully requests that individuals in the international community and Maesot donate to Spring Bridge online education program as much as they can to meet the educational needs of Burmese displaced children.
