Education: A Chronic Issue in Cambodia

One of the most fundamental mechanisms for the development of a country is education. Education plays a major role in empowering individuals who will in turn contribute to their country’s socioeconomic and cultural sustainability. By empowering, I mean, education should serve to equip an individual with skills, knowledge and values necessary to develop oneself as a responsible person in the society. “Education is a basic human right, vital to personal and societal development and well being”[1] Over the past decade, access to education for all [Cambodians] has always been a hot issue which attracts a lot of attention from the government, educational institutions, and local and international agencies. The main concern is how we can provide a greater access to education for all Cambodian citizens, especially those disadvantaged and deprived ones who live under the poverty line and in the far-flung areas. There are many reasons which lead to less access to education by those underprivileged groups.

First, there is a shortage of schools in most parts of Cambodia, especially the rural and remote ones. By shortage, I mean, the number of schools in a particular area doesn’t meet the demand of the population living in that area. Although a number of schools are found to be operating in certain rural and remote areas, however, some of those schools are considered to be disadvantaged schools which do not have good roofs, good floors, good walls, drinking water supply, and latrine facilities (see Table 1). Second, many rural Cambodian rural family cannot afford to send their children to school because their families are financially deprived. As mentioned in the Poverty Profile of Education For All National Plan 2003-2015 (EFA), “Although comparisons between different poverty measures are difficult, the incidence of poverty appears largely unchanged from 1997. Poverty rates are highest in rural areas where roughly 90.5 per cent of the poor live. The remainder of the poor is located in other urban areas (7.2 per cent) and the capital Phnom Penh (2.3 per cent). Average annual income in rural areas was less than one-third of Phnom Penh residents (rural US$ 197 per annum, Phnom Penh US$ 691 per annum).”[2]

humanitarian-asia-cambodia-traffick3

World Concern works with Cambodian Hope Organization to provide “School on a Mat,” an education and child trafficking prevention class brought to villages.

Prey Veng province, Dec. 23, 2009 - Four-year-old Thim Siv-Yee is starting school today, and for her and her family, it’s a proud moment. With a final pat from her mother and a gentle shove from her sister, Srey Pon, she races down the bamboo step-ladder and scurries out the front garden to join a gaggle of other young children making their way to school. 

Just off the main village track, in a section of a paddy field donated by a villager, sits the makeshift school.  At first glance, it’s not much to look at but, for the parents and local commune leaders who have supported its development, it’s a source of enormous pride.  

The bare-bricked school has a corrugated iron roof and an aging blackboard. Several rattan mats are neatly laid out on the rough concrete floor in place of tables and chairs. Under the watchful eye of the pre-school’s teacher, Mrs. Yuu Seng, the children assemble at the tiny school’s entrance and carefully place their sandals in orderly rows.

UNICEF has been at the forefront of supporting this local government initiative to prioritize access to early education and preschools in local communities in six provinces across Cambodia.  

As a prime example of the Cambodian Government’s decentralization process, UNICEF has encouraged provincial governments and commune councils to fast-track spending on education by using community funds and resources to support preschools.

School Leadership Development in Cambodia:

Cambodia lost a fourth of its people during those four years to starvation, disease, forced labor, torture and murder. You've probably heard the stories. Tens of thousands of human remains – men, women and children - lie in what have come to be called the killing fields throughout Cambodia. Buddhist monks, teachers, doctors, engineers and their families were among the executed. Children were separated from their parents, husbands from wives. Temples, hospitals, universities and schools were destroyed. Books burned. Electric and water systems destroyed. Roads reduced to rubble. In less than four years, a whole civilization was gone.

The war ended in 1979 and was followed by ten years of Vietnamese occupation. Most of the roads are still rubble even in the cities. Phones and electricity do not exist in most of the country. The clean abundant water that we all take for granted is not within reach of the majority of Cambodians. Malnutrition is prevalent and twenty percent of all children die before the age of five. Health care is available only for the rich. The education system is broken. Poverty is extreme. HIV/AIDS is growing dramatically and it is estimated that over 60,000 children in that tiny country are AIDS orphans.

The war continues to kill civilians. There are an estimated four to six million land mines buried in Cambodian soil on roads, footpaths, farms and forests. Half of those who step on land mines die. The others are maimed and/or blinded. Most of them are women and children looking for food and firewood. One out of every 236 Cambodians is an amputee.

People learned during the war to keep to themselves, that trusting others could lead to torture and death. Many were forced to "confess" and accuse neighbors and family members of treason. They used extreme measures to survive as they watched their children die of starvation and disease. Corruption, crime, alcoholism, distrust, post-traumatic stress and fear are the legacy. It will take generations to recover. Restoration in Cambodia is a slow tedious process, but there is restoration, one person at a time, one day at a time. Caring, compassionate people work hard to rebuild their society. It is a privilege to work among them.

people-who-care room-to-read

World Change Starts With Educated Children - this simple, yet powerful statement is the corner stone upon which Room To Read was built. With the school year already beginning for many, it's seems natural to feature an extraordinary non-profit whose mission is to provide books and libraries and pursue other educational initiatives for children in rural and poor communities throughout Asia and Africa. Through the opportunities that onlyeducation can provide, Room To Read strives to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time. Their goal is to intervene early in the lives of these children, while employing the "give a man a fish / teach a man to fish" maxim.

Founder and CEO John Wood is a former Microsoft executive who gave up cushy corporate life to change the world... literally! What began as an exotic vacation and a break from corporate life, Wood's 1998 trip to Nepal put him face-to-face with the most abject poverty he had ever seen. Trekking through cold Himalayan mountain passes that took him from one poor, remote village to another, Wood recalled the words of his one-time Kellogg professor, Gene Lavengood: "To whom much is given, much is expected." The lesson hit home as he stared into the faces of children who rushed up to him as he entered their communities; children so poor they were beyond asking for money. They just wanted a pencil.

In a country of contrasts - the majesty of the Himalayas, the mystery of the jungles, and the tragedy of a country where most people live on less than $1 a day, Nepal is home to some of the warmest people in the world and is rich with both Hindu and Buddhist culture. However, it is also a country where half of its people live in poverty and where over 55% of its population is illiterate.

Haunted by the magnitude of Nepal's poverty and lack of available education, Wood organized a book drive upon his return home. Just a year later, he returned to the Nepalese village that had inspired him, bringing thousands of books to this remote community. The children's enthusiasm and desire to learn was so overwhelming, Wood was moved to quit his job, founded Room to Read, and dedicate his life to this mission.

Under his guidance, Room to Read has developed five programs focused on expanding or building schools and libraries, providing girls with scholarships, teaching languages and publishing in local languages. The organization works closely with local communities to determine the greatest needs and meet them.

Libraries are the core of Room to Read's program. Each library has between 300 and 1,000 books in the local language and in English. Each $150 donation enables it to print 150 local language children books; $4,000 opens a reading room; and $14,000 can build an entire library. The Room to Grow scholarship program also enables the organization to educate a girl who would otherwise miss out on school for just $250 a year.

Report on Charity and Scholarship for Cambodian Primary Students

As the committee of Khmer-Canadian Youth Association agreed in a meeting on providing scholarship both in Canada and Cambodia by reserving one scholarship for Cambodian students, this report is arranged to anticipate that agreement. That scholarship will distribute in the kind of gift or other incentives for students such as note-books, pens, pencil, rubbers and other learning instruments.

This year of 2012, the Youth approved $400 including the personal donation of the president $100 to purchase note-books, pens, pencils and rubbers for two primary schools in Siem Reap. These two schools comprise of more than 600 students in between grade 1 to grade 6.

Literacy in a post-conflict state: Cambodia's success

Cambodia’s Minister of Education Im Sethy remembers 1979 well. That was the year Pol Pot’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime was driven from power and Im Sethy returned to work at the Ministry of Education. Two million people had died in less than four years of Khmer Rouge rule - one fourth of the total Cambodian population. Attention quickly focused on rebuilding the shattered country.

Im Sethy, who had worked as a teacher in the 1960s, says only around 20 percent of his colleagues survived. The Khmer Rouge targeted for execution anyone with an education as well as people who had worked for the previous government. He adds that most of the schools had been demolished, as well. "Maybe 10 percent of the schools remained from the destruction, from the massive bombing, from the fighting. So we started from scratch." He describes the situation as "very sad and very tragic."


The ministry started with a basic but successful nationwide effort to teach literacy and numeracy. In 1996 the UN cultural organization UNESCO calculated that two-thirds of Cambodians could read and write. By 2008 that number had risen to nearly 78 percent. Im Sethy says that the fight is not over: though a lot has been done already, "we still need support from outside."

Among the organizations working to boost literacy is SIPAR, a non-governmental organization that runs a fleet of half a dozen mobile libraries from its base in Phnom Penh. Every day each minivan stocked with books and writing materials visits two villages, where SIPARS’s educators read to the children. The youngsters return books and magazines borrowed the previous week, and borrow new ones. SIPAR educators also read stories like the "Powerful Ghost Boss" to children at the community centre in Koak Trap village, about 25 kilometers outside Phnom Penh. The book is one of dozens published by SIPAR.

Filling school and prison libraries

Director Hok Sothik says since SIPAR started operating two decades ago, it has opened 210 school libraries nationwide. Earlier this year it opened a prison library in Phnom Penh. He says very few books were initially available in the Khmer language. SIPAR changed that by importing Thai and English books, and translating and publishing them.

"In ten years we published about 80 titles and around one million copies," says Hok Sothik, adding, "the big majority of them are in the libraries - in 210 school libraries, in mobile libraries, and in commune libraries in the provinces. And some of them we try to sell."

Not an easy task

There are added complications with learning Khmer. For a start, the alphabet has four times as many letters as English. And words are joined together in sentences and phrases, unlike English, where each word stands apart. There are practical challenges too: 80 percent of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas.

Minister of Education Im Sethy says the government’s focus in boosting literacy involves building more schools in rural areas. One hundred were constructed last year, and another 400 should be finished in three years' time. As primary school enrolment continues to rise, the proportion of Cambodians able to read and write is expected to keep climbing.

Education in Cambodia - the current situation

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.

Cambodian Education Trust

I am currently in Year 12 at Mayfield School and in June 2016, I will be travelling to Siem Reap, Cambodia, with a small group of other students and teachers. Mayfield School is developing a School Partnership Programme with a village school located on the outskirts of Siem Reap. This trip will enable me to do voluntary work and teach English at Lvea School and I will also have the opportunity to teach adult groups at a local monastery in Siem Reap. The programme will enable me to share my gifts and talents with people less privileged than myself and experience life in another country that is culturally very different to ours.

The Cambodian Education Trust was recently set up with the goal of supporting the people of Cambodia by assisting in education and training. It also provides the necessary support designed to enable individuals to generate a sustainable income and be self-sufficient. Cambodia is a poor country whose education system was almost obliterated by a brutal regime in the late 70’s. Today, its education indicators are still among the lowest in Asia and there is limited access to quality instruction, inadequate school facilities and high dropout rates.

I will be required to undertake a 10 week TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) course, delivered and developed by a qualified TOEFL teacher, so that I too will be able to teach English to the children and adults in Cambodia. The time spent in Cambodia will be challenging, but the experience of teaching English to children so that they can start a business in the future, and spend time with these people will be enriching and life changing.

In order to raise some of the money I will be taking part in the London - to - Brighton Cycle Ride, as well as organising events at my school. This money will not only support myself by providing the funds necessary to travel to Cambodia, but surplus money will contribute in funding additional educational supplies for Lvea School.

WORLD BANK: $5 BILLION TO IMPROVE EDUCATION RESULTS

On the eve of the landmark World Education Forum 2015, the World Bank Group announced that it will double results-based financing for education to US$5 billion over the next five years. The new financing is part of the Bank Group’s commitment to end extreme poverty in the world by 2030 by improving both the quality and equity of education, so that all children are learning the skills they need to lead more prosperous lives.More than 160 countries are meeting in Korea this week to discuss on a new goal and framework for action on education for the next 15 years.

This will be part of the Sustainable Development Goals to be adopted by the United Nations in September, which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) coming to an end this year.Despite much progress, 121 million children around the world remain out of primary and lower secondary school. Most of these kids are the hardest to reach, due to poverty, gender barriers, remoteness, and disability. The new global goal for 2030 is not only to get all the remaining children in school but also make sure they are learning the literacy, math, and non-cognitive skills they need to escape extreme poverty, share in the benefits of economic growth, and drive innovation and job creation.“The truth is that most education systems are not serving the poorest children well. An estimated 250 million children cannot read or write—even though many have attended school for years. 

This is a tragedy and has serious consequences for ending extreme poverty,” said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group. “With nearly a billion people remaining trapped in extreme poverty today, sustained efforts to improve learning for children will unlock huge amounts of human potential for years to come. Better results in classrooms will help end extreme poverty.”During the MDGs period (2000-2015), the World Bank Group fulfilled its promise that no country with a credible education plan would go unfunded—with millions of children from poor families gaining access to school, including girls. As the world’s largest financier of education, the institution has invested US$40 billion in the sector since 2000, supporting education through its own lending as well as supervision of grants through the Global Partnership for Education, of which it is a founding partner.Increasingly, the Bank Group has tied education financing to the achievement of pre-agreed results, devoting US$2.5 billion to results-based financing over the past five years. 

The new financing will help boost accountability, attract resources and accelerate progress towards the new global goal of learning for all.World Bank Group analysts have cited three reasons why equity and learning will help end extreme poverty by 2030. First, education helps people escape poverty at very high rates, increasing earnings by 10 percent for every year of education for employed workers. Second, educated women and girls can be very effective agents of socio-economic change, benefiting themselves and their families. Third, the quality of learning outcomes—how much workers actually learned at school—is a strong predictor of economic growth rates.