Non-Formal Education

One in five children aged 10 to 17 in Myanmar go to work instead of school, according to figures from a census report on employment. The Occupation and Industry report - part of Myanmar's 2014 census - shows about 1.7 million children between the age of 10 and 17 years are working.

Some of these children end up working in teashops that are ubiquitous to the landscape of Myanmar, and is part of the cultural fabric of the country. They are small road- or alley-side restaurants where the local people come regularly for daily sweet tea and snacks.

As part of ATOM Myanmar’s commitment to eradicating child and underaged labour in its supply chain and promoting high labour standards in Myanmar generally, ATOM Myanmar engaged Myanmar Mobile Education (MyME) to provide quality non-formal education to underaged workers in selected ATOM branded teashops in Yangon and Mandalay (the MyME Teashop programme).

With funding from ATOM Myanmar, ATOM Group, Samsung and others, the MyMe Teashop Programme provided education to teashop children and their communities via mobile and teashop classrooms where these children had an opportunity to learn basic literacy, math, digital literacy, personal hygiene, English and interpersonal skills in a safe environment. This enabled them to gain self-confidence and developed critical thinking skills through innovative, interactive student-centered instruction, with the longer-term ambition of upskilling children in vocational skills for more gainful employment.

Specifically, the MyMETeashop Programme aimed to:

• Raise awareness of child and underage labour in Myanmar
• Eliminate child and underage labour within ATOM’s supply chain
• Provide a safe environment for teashop children to learn
• Obtain basic reading, writing and digital literacy skills
• Develop self-esteem and self-confidence in children
• Create friendships among peers
• Gain knowledge of accessing the country’s educational system
• Explore alternative future opportunities

Duration: 2014 - 2016

Impact: Over 3,000 teashop young workers trained