OUR STORY

WHY MEC MATTERS:

• 4.8 million girls and boys face extreme barriers in accessing education and risk learning loss due to conflict, political instability, and socio-economics.
• Schools are under attack, with nearly ten strikes per month targeting education facilities, making Myanmar one of the most dangerous places in the world for students and teachers.
• Education remains persistently the most underfunded sector, with only about 10% of Myanmar’s 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan requirements for education met, as the country faces a deepening overall funding crisis.

OUR STORY:

The Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC) was established in 2013 as a multi-donor programme to support the provision of education services for children who may face barriers to learning. The programme is designed to support a ‘systems-strengthening’ approach to improve the overall public administration of basic education service delivery across selected states and regions. Phase 3 of MEC, running from 2021-2029, builds on the programme’s accomplishments to date, supports ethnic and complementary education systems who provide a critical role in education for hard-to-reach children.

The education services are provided across six domains, including relevant education materials and tools in relevant language; effective teacher support; safe, equitable and supportive learning environments; effective and resilient management practices and values; meaningful data processes; and constructive networks/links and partnerships through a flexible, partner-driven approach. MEC also supports cross-cutting and integrated inclusive education, which focuses on child safeguarding (CSG), gender, disability, & social inclusion (GEDSI), conflict sensitivity, and climate & environment, across all partners and implementation activities. Quality education and inclusive learning are based on partners’ specific needs, priorities, and resources available.

Alongside the education services, MEC provides technical assistance for mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) as a complementary strand to the systems strengthening work. In addition, the programme works on promoting a more enabling environment for partners to implement education services, including, for example, the development and maintenance of coalitions for joint research, advocacy and social cohesion.