May 2008 - Posts

• Phoum Stung and Tha Phork Communities Participate in Needs Assessments

  Nearly one hundred parents, students, teachers, and community leaders from Phoum Stung and Tha Phork villages participated in a needs assessment facilitated by Jay, SCC's Project Coordinator, over four days this week. Small focus groups convened at the villages' schools and community members' homes to discuss their development needs, specifically those related to education. Art activities with students encouraged them to speak out about what they like and dislike at school. Students also shared the challenges they face at home that keep them from regularly attending and staying enrolled in school. A range of issues surfaced, including a shortage of classrooms and resources, poor teacher-parent communication, parents' indifference to their children's education, families' economic instability, and prevalent domestic violence. The needs assessment was conducted to better understand the education-related issues at Phoum Stung Primary School, adopted by SCC in October 2007. The results of the assessment will be used by the Phoum Stung school support committee and SCC to compile a development plan for the school. Jay facilitates a discussion with parents about why students drop out of school: A Phoum Stung student proudly displays a picture of Phoum Stung school. The art activity was used as a means to encourage students to talk about their likes and dislikes at school: Jay leads a discussion with students to understand what contributes to irregular school attendance: Posted May 16 2008, 02:50 PM by Andrea Messmer Filed under: scc news phoum stung tha phork Jay communities pra needs assessment

• Wat Mon Thyean School Support Committee Marks Land for New Classrooms

  In early May, Apsara Authority, Cambodia's state-run organisation responsible for protection of the country's Angkor temple ruins, visited Wat Mon Thyean (WMT) Primary School for the second time. Official approval for the construction of four new classrooms and school latrines was granted. The WMT school support committee -- consisting of the school director, teachers, commune leader, village chief, and three PTA leaders -- convened this week to mark off the position of the new building. The committee also made decisions to source material and build classroom desks and benches locally and to make classrooms and latrines accessible to the disabled. The WMT community and SCC are still in the process of seeking qualified contractors to initiate the bidding process for the construction. Rapidly increasing costs of materials, which have nearly doubled the cost per classroom in the past six months, are leaving contractors afraid to engage in projects, particularly relatively small-scale projects like this one.  The community and SCC intend to initiate construction in June. The WMT school support committee marks off the position of the new classroom building:     Posted May 10 2008, 12:17 PM by Andrea Messmer Filed under: scc news wat mon thyean apsara authority approval new classrooms construction

• Teachers Implement New Programs to Improve Education

  Teachers and administrators at each of SCC's four supported schools have signed new contracts which are tied to their SCC-provided salary supplements. The new contracts were devised by the teachers and school directors themselves as a means to empower them to improve operations and the quality of education provided at their schools. With the new contracts, teachers and administrators are implementing new programs. At Khnar and Svay Dungkum Primary Schools, teachers have devised a substitute teacher program, in which they cover for each other, ensuring that there is always one teacher per classroom. Due to a shortage of teachers in Cambodia, the government is not in a position to provide a formal substitute program. As a result, it is common for one teacher to cover multiple classrooms when his/her colleagues are on leave. Teachers and administrators at Phoum Stung and Wat Mon Thyean Primary Schools have devised a program to respond to students with low attendance levels. Once per month, the teachers visit the homes of children who have missed school. They talk with parents and encourage the students to come to school regularly. Phoum Stung reported that they have visited two students' homes this week to find them sick with typhoid and chicken pox. The teachers hope that through this program they will improve attendance rates and reduce drop out rates at their schools. Posted May 10 2008, 12:14 PM by Andrea Messmer Filed under: scc news teachers substitute improvements attendance follow-up home visits