In Cambodia 30 years of war as well as cultural genocide over the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime have had a devastating effect on the country. By 1979 the education system had totally ceased to exist and has had to be reconstructed
In the years since it has been a struggle to rebuild it. The lack of facilities, shortages of textbooks, poorly trained teachers and half-time school attendance have made it difficult to provide quality education for students. In 2000 a government study in cooperation with UNDP and UNESCO revealed that 63% of adults were totally illiterate or had basic skills that were so poor that they were unable to read.
Today 93% of children attend primary school but the dropout rate remains very high and only 69% of them reach secondary school because of the poor quality of the education system. Studies have confirmed the close link between the person’s ability to read and write and his or her socio-economic level.
While we recognise that there is an enormous need to develop educational facilities in Cambodia, we believe it is better for us to focus on support for the development of school libraries in a narrow geographical area where we already have good links and trusted partners. Our focus therefore has been on primary, junior and senior high schools in Takeo and Kampot provinces of Cambodia. Currently (August 2014) we are involved with 14 schools which between them have over 10,000 pupils.