Myanmar
Virtual classrooms in Kachin and Kayin states in Myanmar
Area — Education
Beneficiaries — 400 students from primary and secondary levels plus 275 adults
The Tekkatho Foundation provides educational resources in two remote regions of Myanmar, located along the country’s eastern border, where teaching materials are scarce, and Internet access is nonexistent. In the Kachin state, the foundation will support the Ningshawng Social Institute in Palana, while in the Kayin State, it will assist the Maw Paw Khoet community center.
To achieve this, the Tekkatho Foundation is deploying autonomous, custom-made digital libraries called My Library, stored on portable, durable hard drives. These drives, with an 8-hour battery life, can be used by up to 50 people simultaneously and are recharged via solar panels. Each site will receive a full set, including a portable drive, preloaded with carefully curated educational materials tailored to the needs of the local community. Tekkatho also plans to implement a 12-month support program at both centers, helping teachers and students integrate the use of My Library resources into their daily teaching and learning practices.
The two standalone digital libraries will also feature practical documents on COVID-19 prevention, outbreak control, and treatment. Tekkatho ensures that its content is regularly updated, with new materials either downloadable via an Internet connection or added manually to the libraries.
Kids and Youth get the opportunity to learn and train with the My Library program provided by Tekkatho.
Tekkatho Foundation
Dr Celia Russell (Co-Founder and Chair of Trustees has a longstanding interest in how digital technologies can be used to advance education in developing regions. After her first trip to Myanmar in 2009, Celia teamed up with Paul and other colleagues at the University of Manchester to think of ways a digital library could work in Myanmar and the eTekkatho project began. Celia led eTekkatho through its early years as a University of Manchester project, and in 2014 co-founded the charity.