What a GED Means for a Migrant Student in Thailand

A GED (General Educational Development credential) is a US-recognized high school equivalency exam that lets a student without an unbroken, single-country school record earn a diploma-equivalent qualification and move on to further study or work. For a Myanmar migrant student living in Thailand, where relocation, shifting documentation, and interrupted schooling can make a conventional diploma path hard to complete, a GED is often the most realistic route to a recognized secondary credential.

That is the pathway Cherry Koe, a refugee student from Myanmar, is currently on with support from Horizon Asia Educational Association (HAEA). Below: what the GED actually requires, how HAEA structures its sponsorship, and what two students living in Wonderland Jungle Hostel’s dormitory on Koh Tao are doing to get there.

Why a GED, and not a standard diploma

On paper, Myanmar migrant and undocumented children hold the same right to a Thai education as any Thai citizen, a policy Thailand affirmed back in 2005. In practice, older students face a harder road: classrooms are taught almost entirely in Thai, some schools place teenagers years below their age level or decline older applicants outright, and certificates from informal migrant learning centres aren’t recognised for further study. That’s why many Myanmar migrant youth choose a different route: the GED, an English-language, internationally recognised high school equivalency that opens the door to university. It’s a path built by students who keep showing up for their own education, one exam at a time.

Cherry has already passed her GED Ready practice assessments. Her goal beyond the exam itself is specific: she wants to study Law in New Zealand.

What the GED covers, and what it costs

Cherry is completing her preparation course at House of Griffin, a GED certification centre in Bangkok. HAEA’s active fundraiser for her GED sets a goal of $1,900 (60,000 THB), covering study materials, the full preparation course, and official exam fees across all four subjects. Cherry’s parents have already saved 36,000 THB toward her education, the fundraiser is closing the remaining gap, not starting from zero.

The dormitory: two students, one goal

The second student is Vanisa, an Orang Asli student from Pos Woh, Malaysia, working toward her GED and C1 English certification through Mee Fah Language School on Koh Tao.

From student to teacher

Cherry’s own English studies with HAEA are what made her GED preparation possible in the first place, and she has since started teaching herself. She now volunteers as an ESL teacher for younger Myanmar students on Koh Tao, and, alongside volunteer Rawane Abdaoui, co-leads a twice-weekly English program (Tuesdays and Fridays, early morning) for Myanmar workers moving from construction into hospitality and tourism roles. HAEA describes this as a circle of impact: a student who was taught becomes the person doing the teaching.

Cherry has also completed digital-skills training in WordPress, social media management, and blogging, and now runs her own blog, Beauty by Cherry, at cherrykoe.com. Her GED preparation is one strand of a broader pattern: a student building capability in more than one direction at once.

How the sponsorship works

The pathway itself is deliberately simple: students who show commitment in the weekly classes are accepted into sponsorship, with HAEA covering the costs. The scarce resource isn’t funding, it’s motivated students ready to take the leap.

A student’s family also contributes where they can, Cherry’s parents’ 36,000 THB is part of the funding, not separate from it. HAEA fills the rest through a specific, dated fundraiser rather than a general appeal.