When Thay Ro first came to IRCO, he was placed in the pre-lit class of the Pre-Employment Training project after the initial language assessment. This was due to his limited years of formal education and his inability to answer basic questions such as “what country are you from?” 

23 years old and single, Thay Ro’s intake documents indicated that he spoke Burmese, Karin and Thai. Growing up near the Burma-Thai boarder, he was 10 years old when he entered a monastery and then spent close to 9 years in a Thai refugee camp. This gave him the ability to read and write in Thai.

Within two months of class time in the PET project, Thay Ro’s ability to recognize and write the English alphabet, copy personal information into forms and respond to simple oral directions was well developed. His Pre-Lit instructor described him as an individual who had outstanding enthusiasm & teamwork displaying great individual effort and ability to follow directions.

By the end of the first PET session, Thay Ro was ready to move from pre-lit to level 1 even more confident because of the skills he gained. In level 1, he continued to make great strides in speaking and listening skills while his reading skills were developing. His level 1 instructor describes his comprehension abilities as so well developed that he is able to respond to questions without asking for repetition or clarification.

Currently Thay Ro is in level 2 and is making great progress in his pre-employment skills and language fluency, firmly set in the path of self-sufficiency with the help of PET instructors.