Theme:
Access & Quality of Education
Location:
Kampong Cham, Kandal, Kep,
Siem Reap, and
Tbong Khmum Provinces,
CAMBODIA
Duration:
2019-2020. In 2020, this project merged with The Cambodian Consortium for Out of School Children project.
Beneficiaries:
- Pre-primary school children
- Primary and lower-secondary students
- Teachers
- Parents & other adults in the communities
Background
Cambodia has dedicated considerable resources to strengthening education over the last three decades, but many challenges remain, negatively affecting the learning opportunities for many children in Cambodia. Besides the many factors such as discrimination, distance to school, poor school environments, gender-based violence, language barriers, migration, child labor, poverty and family difficulties that lead to declining enrollments, poor attendance, and children dropping out of school altogether, Cambodia’s education system itself is still underdeveloped and under-resourced. It is still characterized by:
- a general lack of resources (educational, technical, and financial)
- insufficient and under-qualified teachers, high student/teacher ratios and reduced learning hours
- substandard quality of the education provided (curricula, methodologies, materials and tools)
- poor learning outcomes
- underdeveloped management systems
A limited availability and access of reading materials and learning tools is one of the many fall-outs of these challenges, as is an underdeveloped teacher workforce. Though this situation prevents students from learning well and reaching their full potential, it also offers an opportunity for innovative ICT (Information & Communications Technology) to help fill this gap and improve the quality and accessibility of education.
Our Actions
Since 2012, “ICT for education” has been one of the cornerstones of Aide et Action’s educational development work in Cambodia. Ever since then, Aide et Action Cambodia has been mainstreaming inclusive technology to deliver quality education. From 2013 onwards, the Khmer LEARN project was implemented and it suite of e-applications rolled out to help improved reading, learning and teaching standards in Cambodia.
With this project we continue to harness the power of innovative ICT to further improve reading, learning and teaching in Cambodia, with the added focus of promoting STEAM education and making it accessible to Cambodian students. More in particular, we:
- improve literacy and build a reading and learning culture among children and adults
- help enhance learning outcomes for primary and lower-secondary students by giving them access to STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics)
- build a collaborative network and online platform that enables publishers, authors, and developers to create, distribute, and sustain diverse educational and STEAM content
Some of our main activities:
- KHMER LEARN – our suite of quality e-learning applications including Library, Educator, Reader, Writer and Rean An (Learn to Read).
- Develop printed and digital educational content and
training modules - Set up/Upgrade school libraries
- Provide training on library management
- Organize/Support reading activities in schools
- Run mobile book & learning
toys libraries that reach rural communities
- Conduct assessments on
STEAM education - Upgrade libraries into
STEAM education labs - Engage STEAM experts
- Set up and run digital
community libraries - Conduct training, workshops and meetings with the young writers network and strengthen the collaboration with them in developing reading, learning
and teaching content - Participate in events promoting reading and writing activities
- Conduct community learning forums