Despite the hazards of Covid-19, our team in Cambodia is mobilized to advance our project to support 100 community preschools. The call for bids from companies has been launched for the construction of the first schools. And we are looking for solutions to cope with the temporary ban on gatherings in the country and conduct training workshops with local authorities.
Of the 100 identified pre-schools that we are supporting until 2022 to bring them up to the standards required by the Cambodian government, 20 need to be built in their entirety (10 will be built by Planète Enfants & Développement, the other 10 by our partner Bandos Komar). The tender is now open to local contractors for the construction, in 2021, of 10 priority schools in the provinces of Kampot, Kampong Speu, Sihanouk Ville and Pursat.
To obtain state standardization, the school must provide a building dedicated to the schooling of children and meet 33 criteria. Among these criteria, the construction must conform to an architectural plan of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. It must also have indoor and outdoor play areas, adapted furniture, toilets and access to drinking water.
State standardization of community schools is a major issue for their quality and longevity. With decentralization, these schools are managed by the communes. The state encourages these alternative models because they are easier to set up and more profitable, but not all communes have the means and skills to ensure the proper management of their school(s). For example, state standardization ensures a teacher's salary of $165/month, compared to the current $50-100.
With this project, Planète Enfants & Développement and Bandos Komar are to train and accompany the communal councils in the management of their school(s). We are planning to organize workshops that will bring together all the levels concerned by the development of Early Childhood in the country: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, the authorities concerned at the level of the Provinces and Districts, but also and especially the municipal elected officials and the village leaders. The objective is to recall or present the applicable legal and social framework, to discuss the school improvement plan in order to reach the required standards, but also how to mobilize local funding to ensure good school management.
We are currently working hard to ensure this critical exchange in a new restricted period since February 20, 2021, related to new positive Covid-19 cases. All schools in the country have been closed since the beginning of the week.
We feared that with the pandemic, more and more children from the poorest families would never return to school to help their parents at work. More than ever, we must show them that we are on their side. We need you, thank you in advance for your donation.
| This project is a follow-up to 30 years of study and experience of Planète Enfants & Développement in the field of Early Childhood in Cambodia. It aims to reduce inequalities in access to quality pre-primary education between rural and urban children, but also to recognize the role of women by offering them economic and political opportunities. To achieve this, PE&D and Bandos Komar will support and train teachers, commune councils and local authorities in 100 villages in the provinces of Kampot, Kampong Speu, Sihanouk Ville and Pursat.To achieve this, PE&D and Bandos Komar will support and train teachers, commune councils and school management committees in 100 villages in Kampot, Kampong Speu, Sihanouk Ville and Pursat provinces to improve their functioning and meet the quality standards required by the State, offer awareness sessions for parents, and support the economic opportunities of women who are freed from childcare... With this project, 2,300 children aged 3 to 6 years old will have a chance to start their schooling under good conditions. |
Updated on April 2, 2021
