"In the Karen refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border, some 34,000 Karen students are in school every day. About 1,100 Teachers and Trainers join hands together daily in order to educate the Karen youth. The Karen are the second largest ethnic group in Burma. For decades they have been involved in an armed struggle for a degree of autonomy and self-determination inside Burma. As a result, today almost 110,000 of the Karen people live in 7 refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, located in four provinces. Education is highly valued by the Karen people. It is a key factor in the day to day survival in the refugee camps. The education in the camps, is predominantly the result of the efforts of the Karen refugees themselves. This Education Survey is following two surveys that were conducted respectively in 1995/1996 by the CCSDPT, and in 2000 by ZOA Refugee Care. The main objective of the survey is to describe existing education services provided to the camps. Furthermore the survey intends to identify existing gaps in the education services. Where relevant, the outcomes of this survey will be compared to the results of the previous education survey. In this survey, special attention is given to the perspective of students. Their ideas and opinions are of importance in the effort to form a picture of the current education that is offered in the camps. The interviews for this survey were held between March and August 2002 in all 7 Karen refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border. The Karen people make up more than 80% of the total refugee population living in the camps along the Thai Burma border..."