Stepping Stones: Building education pathways from Thailand to Australia

Classes at Eden Valley Academy, Mae La Refugee Camp, June 2025.

Written by Steph Cousins

The Refugee Student Settlement Pathway enables refugee students to migrate to Australia for higher education. Building a pathway from the crowded classrooms of Mae La refugee camp to the halls of Australian universities is taking thoughtful planning and real investment.

Mae La refugee camp, about 8km from the Myanmar border, defies easy categorisation. After 40+ years, this "temporary settlement" houses at least 30,000 UNHCR registered refugees, and many more unregistered displaced people, mainly from Karen State. The camp operates its own internal governance, informal schools, and economic systems. Yet the restrictions are suffocating: limited internet access, few computers, and learning environments that would be unrecognisable as classrooms to most Australians.

Being a student in the Thai-Myanmar border camps

Dar Dar Moo pointing out the Grade 7 classroom where she studied at Eden Valley Academy.

In our recent visit to the Thai-Myanmar border, we met Dar Dar Moo, one of the first cohort of students who will be coming to Australia later this year for the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway (RSSP).

Born in Myanmar, living in Mae La camp as a refugee since age six, she completed her GED (US high school equivalency) diploma online, but then faced four years of barriers to accessing higher education. When she found out she had been accepted into the RSSP to study in Australia, she said she "forgot to breathe" from excitement.

“Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I believe education is also the key to changing my refugee life. I grew up in Mae La refugee camp and have lived there for almost 16 years. As I grew older, I realised I didn’t want to live in the camp forever … That is when I got my vision to pursue higher education”.

- Dar Dar Moo

Mae La camp is one of nine refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. There are several others students from these border camps on the waitlist for the next cohort of the RSSP, which will launch sometime in the second half of 2025.

Stepping stones to the RSSP

Dar Dar Moo’s story illustrates both the extraordinary resilience of refugee students and also the transformative potential of education programs that prepare students for their future - including a future abroad. Dar Dar Moo attended three of the migrant and refugee schools we visited in Mae La. She studied at the Eden Valley Academy until grade 8 in Mae La refugee camp, then Has Thoo Lei High School to year 12, before completing the GED with BEAM Education’s online program. These educational touch points formed stepping stones, each one essential to reach the next and ultimately to position Dar Dar Moo for the RSSP.

Visiting Eden Valley Academy with Dar Dar Moo and other alumni of the school, I was struck by the intellectual hunger: students learning four languages (Karen, Burmese, Thai and English), mastering complex content with photocopied textbooks and no computers, maintaining hope despite living in a space where legal pathways to employment or higher education remain extremely limited.

How Australian universities can fill the gap

Our visit to Thailand highlighted the critical importance of providing an educational pathway for refugees, particularly now that the United States had halted refugee resettlement and migration from Thailand. In recent years the US has been responsible for around 84% of all resettlement of refugees from Ma La refugee camp. With this lifeline closed, we urgently need more pathway solutions to take its place. Enter the RSSP. This program provides a lot of hope, but for the RSSP to scale we need investment in the stepping stones that will get students ready for university admission.

Than Than Lay, Vice Principal of Children's Development Centre, Mae Sot, Thailand, earned his Diploma of Liberal Arts through the Australian Catholic University’s connected learning program.

Australian universities can play a critical role providing admission to students through the RSSP, and also supported connected learning for refugees still stuck in displacement. A great example of what is possible is an Australian Catholic University (ACU) Refugee Program that provided students on the Thai-Myanmar border with the opportunity to study a Diploma of Liberal Arts. Not only did this program provide high quality education, it also enabled students to complete an accredited program accepted by Australian universities for admission to a bachelors program. This program was unfortunately shut down during Covid, but its legacy lives on.

Two students on the RSSP waitlist have completed this ACU qualification, providing them with a pathway into the undergraduate study in Australia. We also met Than Than Lay, Vice Principal of the Children's Development Centre, who arrived in Mae Sot in Grade 9 from Myanmar, completed his schooling at CDC and then earned his diploma from ACU. This higher education experience has contributed to Than Than Lay career and role shaping young minds in his role as CDC Vice Principal.

A vision within reach

With Thailand hosting more than 140,000 displaced people, and with such a thriving network of education providers navigating the barriers to provide refugee students a solid high school education, the pool of talented students far exceeds current RSSP capacity.

Our vision is to scale the RSSP so that it can support 500 students each year. We are only at the beginning now, but we can see the north star, and with the support of the Australian government and Australian universities, we know it’s within reach. The need is clear, the students are ready. With committed investment from the higher education sector, we can make a lasting impact.