Due to a generous donation in 2017, JEP was able to fund larger projects to help improve ‘education through understanding’ in the Kachin State by:

• setting up an Educational Resources Centre in partnership with KBC 
• publishing illustrated non-fiction books and other printed material for use in schools
• identifying craft-workers to make educational equipment and toys

Education Resource Centre, Myitkyina

A memorandum of understanding between JEP and KBC (Kachin Baptist Church) was signed in March 2017 to establish and run an Education Resource Centre [ERC] in Myitkyina. 

KBC provided the accommodation and staff and JEP resources to set up the centre and to provide relevant training.

JEP has worked closely with KBC’s ECCD (Early Child Centred Development Department) with the focus on improving pre-school education via KBC’s network of ECCD schools, but also with the newly founded Amusa Jawngs [non-government community school] and trainee teachers. In December 96 trainee teachers visited the centre.

JEP has shipped over 2,000 books, mostly but not exclusively for children, to Myitkyina, together with toys, games and other educational materials. JEP also helped with purchasing the book shelves, storage baskets, and furniture within the centre. Local staff set up a scheme for both schools and individuals to become registered ERC users enabling them to borrow books from the centre.

The centre is not just a library, it is a place of learning where teachers, educators and parents can come to get ideas and information and to bring small groups of children to use the resources available. 

Non-fiction and fiction books in English are available for older readers and these include some English Classics, some being re-told in more accessible English than the originals. There is an increasing number of books in Burmese and Kachin languages available in ERC. 

JEP has worked closely with KBC ECCD and co-funded a number of different training sessions, most lasting for 3 or 4 days, for over 500 ECCD trainers, coordinators, principals and teachers, not just in Myitkyina but also in Mogaung, Lashio, Bhamo, Taunggyi and Putao. These have been greatly appreciated by participants many of whom had not before received any formal training in child development nor practical suggestions of running an ECCD unit.

The ERC has been seen as a success by its users and is becoming more widely used and valued. With more books being provided each year from JEP supporters in the UK, some have been sent to Lashio where the local Baptist Association is setting up another ERC to serve the Northern Shan State. 

Now that ERC is running smoothly, JEP is working with local organisations to produce illustrated no-fiction books and to produce educational toys and equipment.