Help 40 Marginalized Youth Access Higher Education

Following two years of closure due to the pandemic, the GED testing centres in Chiang Mai, Mae Sot and Yangon have resumed their operation and many of our students will be able to take their GED exams soon. Yet, due to the large concentration of students who take GED exams in Mae Sot and Myanmar, the testing centres in Mae Sot and Yangon are mostly fully occupied and it affects the speed and momentum of our student exam taking process. As a result, these students may have to wait for another year before applying and gaining admission to the university. Currently, we are discussing a re-adjustment to our program timelines in order to match the admission and scholarship application timeline starting this next academic year.

Moreover, we have launched a new GED Online Program for marginalized students especially from Myanmar as well as border areas. It was an emergency response to offer continuing education as they were suspended from their studies due to COVID-19 and the current political turmoil. We have received a great interest from students in Myanmar regarding attending the GED Online Program and received 340 applicants. Our first batch of students began their studies in October of 2021 and finished the program in December of 2022. The program has three five-month-long semesters. The students study online GED lessons at their own pace in our given timeline on our BEAM Learning Management System (LMS) Remote Learning Platform and complete their weekly assignments. After completing this GED online preparation program, we expect that the students will be ready to sit GED exams for their further study. 

Students have also been arranging various activities among their cohort. One such activity was the Cultural Exchange Event. In this event, students did the following: discussion of the background of their different ethnicities and where they live, sharing and wearing their national costumes, sharing knowledge regarding their language and cultures, tasting different foods from various cultures and informal discussions about their cultures. 

The GED program leaders have also developed a new course for students in 2023. This course is called the "Future Mapping Course". This four-week course aims to help students to plan for their next steps after they have completed their GED qualification. The program included ideas and how students can map out their decisions for their futures. 

The BEAM Education GED Program has opened for a new cohort of GED students, and the program coordinators are busy with the application process. After being initially selected from online applications, students will be completing an assessment online to see if they possess the required minimal skills in order to take part in BEAM's GED course. We are very excited to be able to support the next cohort of students!