RAIL: Resilient Adolescents and Integrated Life Skills project, Dawei, Myanmar

The RAILS project was implemented jointly with Burnet Institute Myanmar and Child Fund Myanmar. It is modelling a best practice approach for improving adolescent health and life skills education (LSE) through schools.

Objective

This project responded to calls from the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports, and key UN stakeholders, to expand the IMSA design and integrate that approach to address adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in the government schooling system in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region.

The model connects existing and relevant elements of the education and public health sectors with in-school students to address the socio-cultural and systemic barriers that prevent adolescents from accessing quality health services.

A baseline study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and perception of students, teachers and basic health staff around the SRH/LSE curriculum, and around available adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Dawei Township.

The RAILS project is implemented jointly with Burnet Institute Myanmar and Child Fund Myanmar. It is modelling a best practice approach for improving adolescent health and life skills education (LSE) through schools. 

Timeline

2018–2020.

Approach

This design is informed by two other Burnet Institute initiatives in the Magway region of Myanmar.

This project had three objectives:

• improved SRH education and LSE in the state schooling system from grade five
• increased access to health services for young people, provided by school health teams and basic health staff
• more sensitised environments for schools and students around on-line safety.

The project was implemented in ten state schools in Dawei, Tanintharyi region.