Education Foundation

About BEAM

BEAM Education Foundation (BEAM) was founded in January 2010 and is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. BEAM is a registered non-profit educational foundation. The emergence of BEAM was in response to the rising educational needs of marginalized people, migrants, and refugee youth living in Thailand, most of whom are from Myanmar.

BEAM envisions local, people-oriented, peaceful, and developed communities in Myanmar and Thailand. This can be sustained by empowering local communities through comprehensive education.

BEAM believes that migrant youth have the potential to be a part of the larger community development of Thailand, Myanmar, and the ASEAN nations, but they are marginalized due to the difficulties in attaining access to higher education.

As of the end of the 2018-2019 academic year, 170 students in total have directly benefited from BEAM’s Higher Education Program. Of these graduates, 62.5% are currently studying at universities while the other are working back in their communities as teachers, health care assistants, or in other service sectors. 31 of BEAM’s Higher Education Program alumni have already successfully graduated from 4-year-degree programs at Chiang Mai University, Payap, Thammasat, KhonKaen, Tak Polytechnic College, Rangsit, Rajabhat, Ramkhamhaeng, Assumption, APIU, Mae FahLuang, SolBridge International School of Business in Korea, Hong Kong University, Myanmar International University, and the Henry Ford College, USA. Even more will be graduating in 2019.

BEAM’s Vocational Education Program also had a very successful year in 2018. With this program, migrants who aspire to learn occupational skills are provided with vocational training including ICT literacy, tailoring, handicraft and crochet training. BEAM Education Foundation and Chiang Mai Polytechnic College also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on collaboration to initiate vocational education classes and short technical skills courses on subjects like tailoring and cooking. All these training provide both vocational and life skills. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy training enables migrants to keep up in this rapidly changing world, access information,encourage lifelong learning. Tailoring and crochet training help by assembling migrant youth - especially women - with skills that can generate income and help building more economically stable home. Over 1370 students in total have graduated from BEAM’s vocational education program training since 2010.