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.