It Takes a Village: Community-based Education in Rural Cambodia

When the dismissal bell rings at the Borkeo secondary school in Cambodia's remote Ratanakiri province, Naroth Hean and Pheat Romas don't head home, go to soccer practice or sit round and watch TV; instead, they return to the one-room makeshift
dormitory they share with their teacher and eight other girls.
Their temporary living quarters were once the principal's office. CARE has just broken ground on a new boarding house for the students, but until it is completed, this is their home.

Naroth and Pheat's families live some 50 miles away, and the roads and transportation are too undependable to allow them the luxury
of commuting to and from school every day, or even every week.
"I see my family about once a month," Says Pheat, rather matter-of-factly. Borkeo is their closest option for continuing their education, and before CARE came to their village, they had no options at all.

"In Ratanakiri, only 10 percent of school-age children are actually enrolled in classes," says CARE Education Advisor and former school principal, Samal Khath. "This area is so remote, it was all but abandoned by the State education authorities, and even where schools did exist, parents, community members and even children themselves were indifferent, at best, to the importance of education."

Much of the problem stems from the State's approach to education in rural Cambodia. Ratanakiri is comprised mostly of indigenous populations from the Krueng and Tampuen ethnic minorities. The curriculum of State-supported schools is conducted entirely in the national language, Khmer, yet few of the students or their families here speak or understand the language. "As they were, State schools simply were not working in Ratanakiri," says Khath.
"Children and their families had lost faith in the system, and people simply stopped sending their children to school."

CARE's Highland Community Education Program (HCEP) is working to change that. Throughout Ratanakiri, some 800 students are enrolled in CARE-supported community-based schools, where children are instructed in both their local languages and Khmer. HCEP has its own
resource production unit, where we've written and produced more than 25 bilingual textbooks that not only prepare students for secondary education and better livelihood options, but also serve to protect and promote local culture.

The Borkeo school, where Naroth and Pheat attend, is a "child-friendly" school, where, instead of having students adapt to the curriculum, the curriculum adapts to the students. "This is a unique and very effective concept," says HCEP Program Officer Jan Noorlander. "The HCEP curriculum already adapts to student needs, in terms of instruction in the local language. The child-friendly model just takes that a step further."

For example, in this rural area, escalating food prices are making food security and nutrition real concerns. To help combat these problems, the Borkeo school has established a lush vegetable
garden that not only helps to feed the students, but also serves as a source of income for the school. "Through the school garden, we teach children about nutrition and agriculture," says Khath, "lessons that they can take back to their home villages and have a real impact on their own communities." In addition to the garden, the school has also worked with the children to construct latrines and to educate them about hygiene and water safety.

In addition to advancing bilingual learning, HCEP works with communities to educate parents, village leaders and residents on the importance of education. "We establish community-based school boards which are responsible for the supervision and management of the schools," says Khath, "and we are working closely with State education officials to ensure adherence to the national curriculum and promote the community school model on a national level."

Indeed, HCEP's real success lies not just in the students we're educating, currently some 800 children, but in the program's adoption and replication by national education authorities. "The Cambodian Department of Education has already replicated the HCEP model in other communities in Ratanakiri and is working closely with CARE to expand the program to other districts in Cambodia as well," says Noorlander. And, on the recommendation of State authorities, Noorlander recently traveled to Sri Lanka to discuss that country's interest in the program as well.

Although she enjoys her studies, Naroth admits that the work and separation from her family is often difficult. "Many of my friends have left my village to find work in the factories in Phnom Penh," she says. "They don't think they need an education, because they earn good money and send some back home to their families. But by going to school, I know that I can have even better opportunities. Here, I have a clean place to live and good food, and I enjoy being with my friends. In many ways, it is better than home, but I miss my family."

Pheat agrees: "We are very fortunate to be able to get an education; not everyone can," she says. "With education comes respect ... for yourself and for others. Most of my friends from home aren't as lucky as I am."

Pheat and Naroth both hope to continue their education past the secondary level at the Borkeo school and go on to university – a rare opportunity for most Cambodian children, especially girls. "I want to be a teacher," says Pheat, "and work in a school just like this one." Naroth, on the other hand says she would like to work for an organization like CARE. "I want to help people," she says. "I've seen the good work that groups like CARE do, and I want to be part of that some day."