The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms education as a fundamental right for all. Yet in many Southeast Asian countries, girls and women continue to face limited access to education and digital skills compared to their male counterparts. This disparity contributes to a gender-based digital divide, resulting in unequal access to future job opportunities and reduced life chances for women.

In response, the British Council, working through trusted local partners, has established community-based girls’ clubs that provide non-formal education. These clubs help remove barriers to learning, improve English language and digital skills, and expand educational, social, and economic opportunities for girls. By collaborating with local organisations, the programme builds on existing networks and expertise, strengthens community systems, and fosters shared learning—ensuring lasting impact for those it supports.

Programme objectives:

The programme aims to improve the life prospects of approximately 500 adolescent girls from socio-economically marginalised communities in Myanmar.

It seeks to achieve this by:

  • Strengthening participants’ English language proficiency, digital skills, and understanding of social issues, while building their self-confidence
  • Enhancing leadership skills among a selected group of peer leaders from within the same communities.
  • Creating nurturing, safe spaces where girls and peer leaders can learn, grow, and lead together.

The outcomes of the programme are clearly aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals  for developing young people’s skills. It offers an integrated approach to building English language, digital, and social skills—key areas for personal and professional growth. These skills are facilitated using high-quality learning materials specifically developed by the British Council for this programme and its target audience. All activities are guided by a structured syllabus, ensuring consistency and coherence across the learning experience.

About EDGE in Myanmar

The English and Digital for Girls’ Education (EDGE) programme, led by the British Council, has been empowering adolescent girls through community-based clubs for nearly 15 years across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. These clubs focus on building conversational English skills, digital literacy (including hands-on laptop use), and providing a safe space for girls to discuss social issues relevant to their lives and communities.

By strengthening girls' English, digital, and social skills, EDGE aims to foster greater support from families and communities for girls sustained access to education and thrive in inclusive, participatory learning environments.

In Myanmar, EDGE was launched in December 2023 through a partnership with four Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that are part of the Myanmar Youth Empowerment Network, supported by the British Council. These CSOs have operated 58 EDGE clubs  currently in Kachin, Mon, Tanintharyi and Yangon but previously also in Rakhine.

To date, the programme in Myanmar has reached 773 girls, with 136 trained as peer group leaders, helping to run the clubs and support their peers. A key highlight of the programme is its emphasis on digital learning. According to UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report, only 8% of children in Myanmar have access to a personal computer or laptop in classrooms, EDGE offers girls a rare opportunity to learn using laptops and digital tools thus bridging the digital divide and opening up new pathways for learning and empowerment.

Main features of EDGE

Peer led model

Peer group leaders are 13 to 19-year-old girls who are selected because of their levels of confidence, motivation and levels of English. EDGE clubs are led by these peer group leaders who are trained by British Council trainers to manage the clubs in their community. This ensures that the model: 

• is sustainable and scalable: as there are potential peer group leaders in every community, it is possible to replicate the model in new areas. As we work with local partners, sustainability is increased as the model becomes embedded in the local context. 

• has positive impact: peer group leaders provide positive role models for those in the clubs and in their communities. The development of positive female role models has an impact on the programme’s aim to develop the girls’ ability to make their own choices in life.

Safe space for girls to learn

Our clubs provide a safe space for girls to interact and learn because: 

• they are held in trusted locations such as PGLs’ homes, partner offices or boarding schools that are conveniently located where the girls live, ensuring both accessibility and a sense of security.

• girls do not need to commute in environments where even travel to school can be long and potentially dangerous 

• the peer-led model means these safe spaces are places where girls can express themselves without judgement or harm which may not exist in other public environments

Development of social skills

The learners will work in their club groups to develop social skills. These sessions address issues that directly impact girls, their families, and their communities ranging from social-emotional wellbeing to climate change and environmental concerns. These sessions are designed to help girls reflect on these topics, express their perspectives clearly, and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers.

Involvement of parents and community members

The EDGE programme actively engages families and community members to build trust, encourage local ownership, and strengthen support for girls’ education. This involvement includes community meetings and interactive events where families can see firsthand the skills girls are developing. At the end of the foundation phase, families and community members attend sessions where peer group leaders and participants showcase their learning from using laptops and delivering short English dialogues to performing dramas on social themes.

Safeguarding

The programme is underpinned and informed by our child safeguarding policies and practices: 

• policies and plans are agreed with partners and put in place to keep all children and adults at risk safe from harm 

• all project staff and trainers receive training in wider safeguarding and are required to provide police clearance to participate in the clubs 

•. Peer Group Leader and girls’ training includes safeguarding content. During the PGL training, participants explore potential safeguarding risks and discuss strategies to address and mitigate them

• Safety online training is woven into the EDGE materials to ensure participants are informed and safe. 

 Learn The British Council Safeguarding and Child Protection information.