Help 40 Marginalized Youth Access Higher Education

CYLD: Program Description

The Community Youth Leader Development (CYLD) program is designed to provide migrants and border youth with preparation to pursue accredited education, professional development training, research training, internship and community impact projects. The program focuses on a wider range for capacity building, networking, youth empowerment and community engagement activities as well as academic skills development for higher education. The major pillar for this program remains preparation for the General Education Development (GED) exam, an American-based and internationally recognized non-formal high school diploma course. The GED allows a student without a formal education background to receive an official high school diploma which is required for accessing tertiary education. There are four test subjects taught in this course: Reasoning through Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science.

Courses and Workshops - This year BEAM offered more courses and workshops for CYLD students to improve their skills outside of the four GED subjects. The following courses and workshops were given to CYLD students in the first semester:

1. CYLD Foundational Course: a one-month course in which various guest speakers and CYLD teachers and administrators taught skills needed for students to succeed in the CYLD program. Workshops in the foundational course included Technological Literacy, Plagiarism and Academic Integrity, University Programs and Scholarship Information, Time Management, Study Skills, Research Skills, Active Speaking and Listening, and Socio-Emotional Learning.

• Student Leader Training: This training course will prepare student leaders for what’s ahead of them, developing crucial skills in proactive communication and leadership.

1. CYLD Typing Course: a six-week workshop improving students’ typing accuracy and speed to a minimum of 30 words per minute.
2. Wedu Women’s Leadership Course: an online women’s leadership development course designed to support the unique ambitions and goals of women leaders.
3. Sexual Politics in a Changing World: a 8-week pilot course in which students learn how to relate to themselves and others in healthy and helpful ways. In this course students explore relationships, sexuality, gender, power, consent, and sexual ethics.

The following courses and workshops will be organized and provided to CYLD students in this upcoming semester. 

1. 10 Billion Strong Green Leaders Academy: an environmental literacy course where students learned about and researched environmental issues facing their communities. 
2. Youth Community Engagement Program - Conference: Build teams and communicate effectively, identifying needs and implementing strategic solutions, develop & manage projects, monitor and evaluate project effectiveness.
3. Professional Communication and Development: Learn how to write an application, build a resume and CV, interview for a job or scholarship, present your skills professionally, and communicate your story in a compelling way.
4. Scholarship information and sharing sessions (Alumni Q&A): Learn about the endless possibilities from BEAM Alumni who have completed their GED and are now in university or successful careers.

Student Exchange Program: With the collaboration of MHEP and K-GED, a one day student exchange program was organized for GED students from higher education programs in Mae Sot. 80 participants in total participated in this program and the program was held at CDC, Maesot. GED students from BEAM, MHEP and K-GED got a chance to connect with each other and did activities that helped them with team building. The GED teachers also got a chance to exchange their teaching experiences, lessons learned and challenges among them.

Student Academic Progress

30 of our students have already completed the GED Ready tests and achieved the required minimum score of 155; however, a few students who do not reach 155 passing score for the Ready Test, they are suspended to schedule the real test until they pass all the Ready Test. Those who passed the GED Ready exams with a minimum score of 155 are able to schedule their official exams, and as of right now, 8 students have already completed certain subjects (all 4 Real GED exams), while others are scheduled to do so shortly. While the first semester was filled with skill-building and content mastery, the primary focus of the second semester was to prepare students with specific exam-taking skills that they need to pass the GED. Each of our students had shown marked improvement throughout each semester, scoring higher on final exams each time. Students were also getting workshops, information sessions and courses that helped them prepare for pursuing higher education at university level.