Education in Cambodia

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Below are pictures of all the English classes going on in Cambodia

The Challenge - Why Educate Cambodia?
Cambodia's decades of war have also had a major impact on the country's educational system. During the Khmer Rouge regime, teachers and educated role models were killed, schools were destroyed and books were burned. Although new teachers have been trained and schools have been rebuilt, there continue to be a myriad of obstacles that challenge the country's ability to provide access to quality education:
 A shortage of schools and classrooms, particularly in rural areas, limit the number of children who have access to basic education. Although most Cambodian villages have a primary school, many schools are still incomplete, meaning they do not offer a full grade 1-6 curriculum. Getting to a school where students can complete upper primary grades may mean traveling far distances from home, which is not always possible. Access to secondary school becomes even more difficult: only 5.4% of Cambodian villages have a lower secondary school and only 2% have an upper secondary school.

 Poverty forces children to forgo school to support their families' most basic needs. Some families cannot afford the opportunity cost of sending their children to school. The time that their children would spend in class translates to lost time that the children could be contributing to the family income. Common work for Cambodian children includes fieldwork, tending to cows, collecting recyclables, begging, fishing, and construction work. The International Labor Organization estimates that nearly 20% of children ages 5-9 are involved in child labor; the percentage rises to 47% for children ages 10-14 and 34% for ages 15-17. Of the working children ages 5 to 17, only 45% attend school.

 Low compensation forces teachers to collect informal school fees from students creating a barrier to education for poor children. Primary school teachers' government salaries range between $20 and $50 per month, putting them below the poverty line. To supplement their salaries, teachers collect informal school fees from students, usually $0.02 - $0.05 per day. Although this may sound like pocket change, to a Cambodian family with five or more school-aged children, it is a substantial amount of money. So, although the Cambodian government has pledged free education, informal school fees keep many poor children from attending school.

 Poorly trained teachers and high student-teacher ratios contribute to high grade-repeat rates among students. Until 2005, there were minimal requirements for teachers to get a contract position with the government. Many teachers, particularly in remote areas, had not even completed a secondary education. A fast-growing young population meant that establishing minimum qualifications would exacerbate Cambodia's severe teacher shortage. The shortage contributes to high student-teacher ratios, putting 40-50 students in an average-sized primary school class. The combination of poorly trained teachers and high student-teacher ratios contribute to high grade-repeat rates. In Siem Reap province, 12% of primary school students failed to advance to the next grade level at the end of the 2006-07 school year.

 A lack of school resources and little government funding results in insufficient teaching materials and school facilities. The Cambodian government pledges $1.50 - $1.75 per student per year to each primary school for teaching materials and school operating costs. The funding is often insufficient for even the school's most basic needs, leaving teachers to buy things like chalk with their personal money.

These are the obstacles that Schools for Children of Cambodia's programs are designed to overcome.

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