BANGKOK, 20 January 2026 — Access to education for children living in and around camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border has reached ‘breaking point’ due to increased student numbers which have been exacerbated by foreign aid cuts, including cuts to health and food, Save the Children warned in a new report. 

Thailand has a long history of hosting refugees and migrants from neighbouring countries fleeing conflict but children without identification documents have historically faced challenges in gaining admission to Thai schools and schools inside the camps are heavily dependent humanitarian aid. 

The report surveyed about 2,500 people including students, parents and teachers in Thailand between late 2025 and early 2026. 

Cuts that began in early 2025 have severely impacted the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border which are officially home to about 90,000 people, [1], the report shows, causing food shortages, clinic closures and reduced medical care for refugees. 

Students and school aged children make up one third, or 30 %, of the camp’s residents [2] and student numbers in the nine camps have increased about 25% from about 19,000 in 2022 to nearly 25,000 in 2025. 

Some classrooms at migrant learning centres (or MLCs) also often host up to 60 students while teachers and teaching assistance report an acute shortage of resources, including a lack of textbooks, science equipment, and IT materials. 

Many learning centres catering to migrant families also operate on rented land, leaving them without tenure security, and migrant teachers shared that they face legal constraints, as they are prohibited from holding teaching licenses which undermines their professional recognition. 

Despite rising enrollment, schools along the border also face a dropout crisis as some refugee families prioritize day to day survival over education with some learning centres reporting dropout rates as high as 40 % within a 24 month period.

About 70% of the teachers surveyed blame economic hardship as the top reason for school dropouts among refugee populations. 

Guillaume Rachou, the Executive Director of Save the Children Thailand, said: 

“Education in the camps along the Thai-Myanmar border is at breaking point. Education can be lifesaving and it is certainly life changing which is why we must collectively put resources towards education. 

We know that the camps operate with limited resources, that classrooms can be overcrowded and that there is a shortage of trained teachers and learning materials even as enrolment has risen in recent years following renewed conflict in Myanmar.” 

Although Thailand’s Education for All policy guarantees free schooling for non‑Thai children, access in practice remains limited. Many migrant and undocumented children struggle to enrol due to legal, financial, and language barriers, leaving them at heightened risk of dropout and exploitation. 

Save the Children is calling on donors to ensure children living and learning in the Thai-Myanmar refugee camps are not forgotten, and that their educational and livelihood needs are met through diverse streams of funding. 

Save the Children also urges Thai authorities to ensure that there are effective pathways for migrant, undocumented and stateless children to enrol in school without fear of deportation. 

Save the Children has worked in Thailand since 1979 and works to support children who are most impacted by discrimination and inequality through programmes on education, child protection, livelihoodand child rights governance.

References:  

[1] The Border Consortium: https://www.theborderconsortium.org/where-we-work/camps-in-thailand/ 

[2] Methodology: About 24,000 students currently out of an official population of about 90,000 along the camps = 27 % of camp population.