Myanmar Teachers Project exceeds expectations

Myanmar Teachers Project exceeds expectations

‘Myanmar Teachers Project’ actively benefits 153 teachers, 4,224 school children and over 41,000 people in the community

A 2 year progress report by CUFA shows how an innovative village banking model, designed to help break the poverty cycle, has exceeded expectations and delivered a concrete social outcome for over 40,000 people.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is one of the poorest countries in Asia and has endured 60 years of civil unrest. The 3 year project is tackling poverty head-on in Myanmar; improving education in poor villages, improving conditions for teachers and helping local businesses to flourish. Only 4% of the population has a bank account, so village savings banks are crucial.  

Impacts and results include; 

• Supplemented the salaries of 153 teachers - 137 are women 
• Provided free education for 4,224 students in 32 rural schools
• Created saving and loans for 3,854 credit union members, impacting 23,124 of their family members 
• 115 Loan Committee meetings have disbursed loans to local village financial co-operatives
• An average loan of $AU2,043 over 12 months at 3% interest a month 
• Generated $AU21,792 interest to date, which pays for teachers’ salaries in perpetuity. 
• Directly benefited 27,350 people in the community, and 41,475 indirectly. 

CUFA is expanding the Project to the Taik Kyi Province in the Yangon Region. The area has a population of 200,000, with 893 teachers, 242 primary schools and 19,655 students.  

About the Myanmar Teachers Project

The Myanmar Teachers Project is a 3 year $240,000 project, run by CUFA to help poor communities and teachers in Myanmar. We are committed to providing 75%, $180,000, of the project funding.

In 2013 a representative from Teachers Mutual Bank, along with CUFA’s CEO Peter Mason, embarked on a fact finding mission that helped to establish the Myanmar Teachers Project. The trip resulted in a sustainable project model being developed.

The Project goals are based on a funding model that provides loan capital for 20 community credit unions run out of the monasteries.This increase in the loan pool benefit  its members – providing capital for loans so members can build a house or a business and afford health care The extra returns generated are then used to help pay teachers’ salaries. The project scope was targeted to benefit 22 schools, 157 teachers and 5,495 school children. This model ensures that not only teachers, but entire communities, benefit from the funding and prevent capital from being eroded.

The project aims to help teachers working and living in disadvantaged communities in Myanmar by financially empowering the community as a whole. CUFA provides funds to community owned financial institutions and works with them to generate interest and grow their loan pools.  This interest is then used to supplement the salaries of teachers who, before the project, often struggled to survive on less than $2 a day.

By helping to develop these communities, CUFA is ensuring that teachers’ salaries are increased, retention rates are improved and access to quality education is more widely available.

CUFA is expanding the Project to the Taik Kyi Province in the Yangon Region. 

View the Myanmar Teachers Project update