By Sandar Lwin | Program Coordinator
Exam Preparation Program (EPOP) is the flagship of Thabyay E-learning Platform that provides university and test preparation services for committed, community-minded individuals in Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia who would like to improve their professional and academic knowledge. The students are from different cities of Myanmar, and from refugee camps and migrant learning centers of Thailand-Myanmar border areas.
EPOP is accepting the application for new semester which will begin in Mar 2016. Over the last few months, we made an intensive effort to expand our services outside of major cities in an effort to reach community development workers in Myanmar working in more remote locations where academic English and test preparation services were not available. We have been able to expand services into states and divisions inside Burma where we previously did not have connections. Furthermore, the discussion and initial collaboration has been taking with our prospective partners of Thai-Myanmar borders Mae Sai, Tachileik and Ranong for the opportunity for further studies of marginalized ethnic migrant youths.
EPOP’s online learning approach offers blended services comprising self-study, distance learning and classroom-based short courses that can be delivered to individuals in any location in Myanmar and Thailand seeking to acquire the qualifications required for entrance to universities in Asia. Every EPOP student is provided a comprehensive packet of learning materials that includes multiple textbooks, accompanying audio CDs, and a student handbook.
The EPOP Online Portal, Moodle based online learning management system, provides students access to their courses online. After logging in, students can view their weekly assignments, take online quizzes and tests, participate in discussion forums, download the answer sheets to their weekly assignments, and access additional learning materials. EPOP’s online study schedule allows students the flexibility to arrange their studies around their work schedule and complete assessments and assignments in multiple formats. The below table shows the regions of the current EPOP students.
In Jan 2016, EPOP administered the 27 TOEFL ITP tests for the students of partner organization and for EPOP students who are in the process of applying for the universities and scholarships.
EPOP is privileged to offer and administer Official TOEFL ITP exams. Students who take the TOEFL ITP are provided official transcripts of their test score that they can use to apply to international universities. EPOP utilizes the TOEFL ITP because of the affordability and flexibility of the test. EPOP is able to offer these tests at multiple times and locations throughout the year. As EPOP is certified to administer tests and can bring the tests to the students instead of asking them to travel to city centers EPOP can serve marginalized, ethnic and remote populations.
“I very much appreciate EPOP team's efforts and supports for every candidate. I found the program is very well-designed as I could hardly find one in other private institutions. I think it is very flexible and most effective for students no matter they are working or living in remote areas. So far, I have won Australian Award Scholarship from Australian government. I would say that EPOP has contributed the major proportion of this priceless success. Without taking the English courses with EPOP, I may not be able to stand where I am standing today. EPOP, you are the vehicle that brought me from where I was to where I wanted to be and you are also the one who helped me to open the door of academic life” _ Malis (EPOP graduate )
We thank you once again for your kind support for this important project and look forward to hearing from you if you would like any further information about this project.
With our best wishes,
Sandar Lwin
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