EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Education background often varies considerably among
the members of a single household. In many households,
a single member may be highly educated while others have
never gone to school. Even within wealthier households
with high educational attainment, it is likely that some
household members have received no formal education.
While educational attainment is positively correlated with
income, this heterogeneity within households points to
the hazards of generalization. There are also gendered
dimensions to this finding: the data shows that having
more-educated female members is positively correlated
with higher household income, and that women from
households that say they have enough to eat have
significantly higher educational attainment.
Overall, the average level of educational attainment
per household is 5.4 years of schooling (figure 8). In
18 percent of households, no member has attended an
academic school and 3 percent of households have a
member who passed the Myanmar matriculation exam
taken at the end of high school, which qualifies students
for university admission (figure 9).17 Among the 82
percent of households in which at least one member
attended academic school, the average highest level of
schooling reached is 6.2 years. Excluding the most highly
educated group, those who passed the matriculation
exam or attended university, the average household
educational attainment is five years of schooling.
Figure 8. Average educational attainment
5.4 years
of schooling achieved by a
member of the household
Figure 9. Varying educational
attainment w ithin households
HIGHEST LEVEL OF FORMAL EDUCATION ATTAINED BY ANY
HOUSEHOLD MEMBER
None
Grade 1
18%
3%
Grade 2
7%
Grade 3
8%
Grade 4
9%
7%
Grade 8
Grade 10
Passed university
matriculation exam
At least one year of
university education
Demographic and socioeconomic variables play a
key role in determining the ability of families to be
resilient and protect themselves. These demographic
findings elucidate the diversity of socioeconomic,
linguistic, educational, and other factors across the
camp population. Diversity also exists within individual
households, notably in regard to educational attainment.
6%
Grade 7
Grade 9
SUMMARY OF DEMOGRAPHIC
FINDINGS
11%
Grade 5
Grade 6
Among the 18 percent of households with no formal
education, 88 percent have one or more members who
received religious education. Overall, 98 percent of
households have family members who received religious
education.
10%
6%
12%
3%
This heterogeneity is often unaccounted for by decisionmakers due to the need for scalable humanitarian
interventions that can be applied uniformly across such
a large population. But camp families’ needs are not
identical from one household to the next. A family’s
duration of displacement, place of origin, education
background, and socioeconomic status all affect its
members’ ability to cope with the hardships of camp life.
Demographic factors influence family separation as well
as access to livelihoods, both of which are explored in
detail in the following chapters.
3%
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PERSONS WITH EDUCATION PER
HOUSEHOLD, BY GENDER
Primary
school
Secondary
school
Madrassa
Males
1.8
0.8
3.1
Females
1.2
0.3
3.1
Total
3.0
1.1
6.2
Respondents reported educational attainment for themselves and their
children, including adult children who no longer live in the shelter
14