Can research be conducted in a conflict zone? Chue Thet Lae reports on the challenges her team faced when investigating non-formal education in Myanmar.
How the journey started
Over the past seven years, Cherry Myay Academy (CMA) has worked to expand access to education for underprivileged and diverse communities in Myanmar. Focusing on non-formal education, we aim to empower youth as agents of positive change. Rooted in our values of equity, equality, sustainability, and diversity, our organisation has developed inclusive programmes carefully tailored to fulfil the needs of students from diverse groups.
As a non-formal education (NFE) organisation, CMA recognises the potential of NFE and we want to develop a deep understanding of NFE to improve our programme’s effectiveness. This commitment to learning and improvement drove us to take part in the ‘Non-Formal Education for Youth-led Change’ project, led by the British Council and the University of Leeds. The research project marked an important milestone for CMA and the research team, as it not only allowed us to contribute evidence on NFE’s role in empowering youth but also to uncover insights that could strengthen and inform support efforts for NFE initiatives nationwide. The research team also identified another critical area of focus: the sustainability challenges faced by NFE initiatives, particularly during the current conflict and repression in Myanmar.
CMA's research team, a project coordinator and the two lead researchers led the project. The participation of 15 regional researchers, from Myanmar’s Community Leadership & Research Institute, played a crucial role in the research's success, their commitment and local knowledge strengthening the project's outcomes. To ensure accuracy and uphold ethical standards, our research consultant provided thorough training to regional enumerators throughout the research process. Critical methodological considerations were emphasized in each session. The research team worked together to develop questions, which centered on three key themes: the various forms of NFE programmes available in Myanmar, the role of NFE programs in empowering youth, and the critical issues affecting the sustainability of NFE initiatives.
To gather comprehensive and credible data, the study conducted 142 interview sessions with diverse participants, including education providers, stakeholders, alumni, and current students. This diverse range of interviewees provided a deep understanding of the contribution of NFE to youth empowerment and the challenges facing the NFE programme's sustainability.
Navigating Challenges
We encountered many challenges due to Myanmar’s unstable context throughout the research. Frequent power outages, unreliable internet and limited mobile networks disrupted communication and created delays in the data collection process. The ongoing conflicts in some regions compounded these technical struggles, particularly in areas where military airstrikes and armed attacks were frequent. We ensured that safety was paramount, and the security of both the researchers and participants was prioritised at every stage.
Such an unstable situation required us to make constant changes to the research plan, which tested the resilience and adaptability of both the research team and participants. For instance, an enumerator conducting research in an unstable area suddenly lost touch with a participant, who was an education provider, on the day of their arranged interview session. Days later, the participant contacted the team, to say there had been an armed attack near his location along with a mobile network outage, which forced him to relocate.
Initially, the data collection process was planned for face-to-face interviews to gather rich, in-depth insights, but the escalating security risks in conflict-affected areas forced a shift to online interviews. While the change was necessary, it brought along its own set of obstacles, such as delays caused by poor connectivity and the challenges of ensuring participants' availability amidst their safety concerns. The research team often had to quickly arrange new sessions with alternative participants when some respondents canceled interviews due to safety concerns. Despite these hurdles, the study benefited greatly from the support of the Myanmar Youth Empowerment Network (MYEN). Using their extensive network, MYEN helped the researchers connect with participants in areas where local access might otherwise have been daunting.
Securing the full participation of young people in the research process was also a challenge for the research team. Given the instability and uncertainty in Myanmar which created safety anxiety among young people, the age group whose education is most under threat in the current context, many young participants felt hesitant to engage openly. They tended to withhold details about their involvement in peace-building and social change initiatives, even when they appeared to be contributing meaningfully to these areas. This reluctance to disclose their experiences not only limited the depth of insights into the perspectives of youths but also highlighted the security threats they face in such an unstable environment.
The time constraint of the research process along with these challenges made it impractical to dedicate additional time to build deeper trust or explore the subtlety of youth perspectives further. As a result, the findings of the research reflected a heavier emphasis on the insights of education providers and stakeholders, rather than the firsthand experiences of young people themselves.
To enhance the reliability of the research despite such challenges, a validation workshop was conducted after the analysis process. The workshop was developed to ensure the interpretation of the information accurately reflected the data. This workshop provided an opportunity for researchers, stakeholders, and participants to review and discuss the preliminary findings. By incorporating the different perspectives of the participants and regional researchers, and addressing potential gaps or biases, the workshop helped enhance the credibility of the study given the limited youth participation and methodological shifts.
Key lessons and suggestions
The first takeaway was the importance of having fallback options and extending networks when conducting research within an unstable and repressive context. The shift from face-to-face to online interviews due to escalating security concerns and using the networks at hand allowed us to deliver the project on time, while maintaining credible depth of findings.
Secondly, the limited depth of data on youth participation in this study highlights the need to allocate more time to build trust with youth participants. In sensitive contexts like Myanmar, where safety remains a pressing concern for both participants and researchers, creating a secure and open environment is essential to capture authentic and unfiltered insights. By prioritizing the inclusion of youth perspectives, further research focusing on the role of NFE in empowering youth to engage in peacebuilding and social change could better inform the development of effective support systems to empower young changemakers in Myanmar and beyond. Addressing these challenges by investing time in relationship-building, while maintaining ethical rigor to protect participants, would create a safer space for candid discussions.
Another particularly compelling insight from the research was the concern surrounding the accreditation of NFE programmes in higher education. While some NFE programs have gained recognition within a limited number of civil society organizations, their broader acceptance remains a hurdle. This is more significant for students relying on these programmes to access formal employment or advanced education. For these learners, the lack of widespread accreditation is a significant barrier to the long-term success of students.
It would be beneficial to explore the gaps and pathways for NFE programs to improve accreditation and recognition. Investigating the insights of civil society, educational institutions, employment providers, and policy stakeholders could help uncover gaps and inform possible approaches to enhance the credibility and acceptance of NFE degrees. It could also help NFE programmes not only to provide access to education but also to develop education that holds value in broader professional and academic contexts. This would amplify the transformative potential of NFE in shaping a more equitable future for Myanmar's youth.