Tess Tin Ma Ma Htet
Country: Myanmar (Burma)
Languages: English, Burmese
Expertise: Peacebuilding, Interfaith, Translation, Coaching
Religious affiliation: Buddhism
Tin Ma Ma Htet "Tess" is leading the Sayarma Foundation that provides technical support to schools in Myanmar. She is a teaching specialist with more than a decade of experience and a certified professional coach.
Tess worked for the monastic education system, with out-of-school children, and various professional development programmes for teachers and education for peace initiatives. She currently supports holistic development of schools in Myanmar which includes training and coaching teachers, principals and other stakeholders. She is currently researching and learning about Buddha’s teaching strategies, and she designed an education program for Buddhist teachers which gives a stronger understanding on Buddhism and other religions while learning about different teaching strategies to apply in their classrooms.
She grew up in a Buddhist-Hindu family, went to a Buddhist school and studied for a master of primary teaching at the Australian Catholic University. Growing up in multi-cultural environment gave her stronger belief in celebrating diversity through love and compassion, and in learning more about dialogue as a tool to bridge between differences.