Although the great efforts in improvement by the Royal Government of Cambodia, as a showing record, the education system of Cambodia has been made enormous strides in the last 5 years with net enrollment reaching 90 % in grade one in 2007. Although the trends are positive, the systematic problems still continue. Lower secondary school has been recorded of 30 % in enrollment and 10% the upper secondary in 2005 and 2006. In short, the education quality system is still remain poor and the system itself is not able to measure academic achievement of children to ensure whether or not they meet basic educational standards for their grade promotion. It is also almost the same thing for University Students as well. The number of drop-out school students also recorded high with the remarkable number of in-completed education both child and adult.
With this regards, SIDO – Education is working and will work from the National level downs to community level by collaboration with working partners, especially the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and other relevant Government offices to address all matters and issues through the need of beneficiaries.
The Official Meeting between Dr. Michael, his SIDO- Education Program Management Team and H.E Minister Mr. IM Sethy, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport discussing about educational issues and the needs. Both parties has agreed on a long term sustainable collaboration and co-operations in terms of financial and technical supports from each other to fight the poverty in this education sector.
Some Highlight Projects and Activities:
Child to Child
Children library (Road to make children interested in reading)
Informal and formal basic general knowledge and environment education
Giving bikes for having access to school
School construction and renovation
Scholarships to poor students
Public library- free charge access to information, books, computer and internet
Capacity building project
Some Examples and Photos:
Child to Child Project
The Child to Child Program is newest educational initiative. Similar to the scout programs of the US, these clubs emphasize learning through activities, hands-on projects, and encouraging children to be role models in their communities. Over the course of the year, the students will go through the dynamic process of discussing, brainstorming, problem solving, and finally teaching about a particular problem in their lives.
The Child to Child methodology is beautifully simple and entirely child-driven. Students identify a health or environmental problem that they encounter on a regular basis such as diarrhea, malaria, or the inaccessibility of clean drinking water. They learn the common perceptions and practices regarding this particular issue from their community through surveys of their family, friends, and neighbors. The students might learn, for example, that some villagers think that dengue fever comes from improperly cooked food, or that many villagers do not boil or filter their water. Next, the group of children researches this problem, finding the answers to important questions related to the topic. In the example of malaria, students might find out where flies breed, what the symptoms of malaria are, what treatments are available, what types of prevention there are, etc. They learn from their own discussions and facilitations by the teacher, and they also might visit local health centers to talk to experts or engage the issue in other ways. Next, the students plan a course of action to decide what they can do about this problem. Typically, the answer is education-based. Kids create dramas, brochures, songs, or other interventions to educate their school and community about what they have learned. The result is a creative and powerful learning process in which children learn not only the causes of diarrhea or malaria but also how to effectively share information and work for change in their own communities. Better yet, it reminds students that they can be learners and teachers themselves both inside and outside the classroom.
Children Library
We found that many of the students at the primary school still could not read and write in Khmer. Some schools have small libraries, which have been set up by government and NGOs. Many almost never used and kept locked most of the time. In order to make it work we have to focus on increasing Khmer literacy both in our school and the community. We need to have many Khmer books of all levels, hired and trained a local woman in library management, and opened the room during school hours. We encourage the teachers to teach their students on the advantage of using library and encourage the students to read and teachers to incorporate more books into their curriculum.
Environmental Education and Action
Environmental Education and Action Program works to encourage students' increased awareness of their natural environment and the positive impact they can have on it. In partnership with local environmental organizations, we have to establish eco-clubs at primary schools. Teachers and school principals are trained in environmental topics as well as on how to start and manage extracurricular clubs, which are rare at most rural schools. We conduct regular meetings, eco-club members collectively decide what type of environmental improvements they want to make at their school. After members write a proposal, our local partner works with them to help implement the improvements, which range from buying trash cans made from recycled tires to planting bio-diversity gardens or introducing water filters and composting structures to the community.
Giving bicycles to the poor students
Giving Bikes are given the poor students who studying grade 4, 5 and 6 in order to encourage them to coming to school regularly and reduce drop out rate. It is most important to offer an incentive to remain in school and also providing transportation to reach secondary schools. National statistics note that only 26% of students continue to secondary school.
Public Library
The librarians have been, are and will be training the public, especially the minority group how to use the internet, checking email and a computer with free of charge. During the pre-training session, the team guides them with how to operate computers and learning about Word, Excel, PowerPoint and how to check their email and the use of internet.
In addition, the team who is expert in IT also guides them to various interesting Websites and guides some computer problem shootings by themselves. The follow up and serving were provided at the time they are using and are practicing in the library to make them feel ease and comfortable with the use of our services. We have grouped the public in to two groups which are 1) Non-English speakers and 2) English speakers so that we provide training in accordance to those groups and needs.
