By Emily Martin<\/em><\/p>\n Education is the base for social and economic development of an individual, and a country.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Nelson Mandela<\/p>\n In some parts of the world it is normal for school to be compulsory for all children over the age of 5, until they are in their teens. However in other parts of the world it is something that is harder to access \u2013 either because of the resources available or the country being in conflict.<\/p>\n So what is the picture of education in Cambodia?<\/p>\n Travelling through the country you will see hundreds of schools in the cities, the villages and the rural countryside. Cambodia has no shortage of schools. However, what there is a shortage of, is resources and teachers to fill these schools.<\/p>\n Sarah Pycroft, Project Manager at ABOUTAsia Schools says \u201ceducation in Cambodia is meant to be free\u2026 but it\u2019s not. The Government subsidy to schools per student, per year is as low as $1.75 according to our own research. Because of this teachers are paid next to nothing, forcing them to charge students for this and that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey will only teach about half the curriculum in the Government allotted hours and then they\u2019ll teach the other portion that the students need in private classes. This means that the students have to pay so the teachers can substitute their other income and so education becomes too expensive for many students.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of this education is not readily available to all children and the drop-out rates are huge. \u201cIt depends what statistics you look at but generally it\u2019s about 92% of kids that enrol in primary school to start with\u2026 only about 35% of them finish primary school to progress to middle school and only 19% finish secondary school.\u201d<\/p>\n Teacher training is also lagging in Cambodia \u2013 many of the rural primary school teachers have only one \u2018qualification\u2019 behind them\u2026 they finished primary school themselves.<\/p>\n The classroom sizes are, on average, 47 pupils for each teacher. Not only this but \u201cyou often have one teacher trying to teach 3 different classes at the same time\u2026 or you have 2 classes in one classroom and a board at either end. The teacher will write on one board, and while the students copy that she\/he will rotate to the other board and write on that. The issue isn\u2019t no classrooms, but rather not enough teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n The style of teaching and education in Cambodia is very different to a Western way of education. \u201cKhmer teachers tend to only write on a board as their way of delivering a lesson. The children are used to sitting down, in rows, looking at the board and repeating after the teacher\u2026 if teachers really want to see results and see what their students are taking in, they need to learn themselves what learning looks like. They have no concept of what the kids are learning or if they are learning at all because they just spout information to the class who then writes it down. There\u2019s not even an option for the kids to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n There are many organisations operating in Cambodia who are working on changing this image of education in Cambodia. ABOUTAsia Schools is one of them.<\/p>\n They have 5 programmes making a positive impact on the picture of education in Cambodia. They work mainly supporting Government schools through:<\/p>\n There are many good things happening in the education sector of Cambodia, many organisations and individual schools working towards a brighter future for the students of the country.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some really good small schools with very good education coordinators that are set up and work well. There are also so many free English schools which are fantastic! Even if children can\u2019t afford to go to public school they can still come to the English classes and not only learn a valuable skill that will help them get jobs, but have that experience of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n Schools such as Tiny Tunes in Phnom Penh and Phare Ponleu Selpak are also providing quality education but also an added dimension of the arts, \u201cusing it as a way to inspire them to think, to be intrigued by things and be interested in wanting to learn, wanting to know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnything that is encouraging the kids to think about things and gets kids excited about life and seeing different possibilities for themselves is amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think so many people can get so inspired by all the projects going on and that in itself \u2013 inspire and making them want to be interested and intrigued is powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more about the work ABOUTAsia Schools<\/a> does and about the Responsible Tourism Travel Company that funds their work.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\n
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