Education in Cambodia - the current situation

In Cambodia 30 years of war as well as cultural genocide over the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime have had a devastating effect on the country. By 1979 the education system had totally ceased to exist and has had to be reconstructed.

In the years since it has been a struggle to rebuild it. The lack of facilities, shortages of textbooks, poorly trained teachers and half-time school attendance have made it difficult to provide quality education for students. In 2000 a government study in cooperation with UNDP and UNESCO revealed that 63% of adults were totally illiterate or had basic skills that were so poor that they were unable to read.

Today 93% of children attend primary school but the dropout rate remains very high and only 69% of them reach secondary school because of the poor quality of the education system. Studies have confirmed the close link between the person’s ability to read and write and his or her socio-economic level.

(Source: Cambodian Ministry of Education and UNESCO)

Why books?

While we recognise that there is an enormous need to develop educational facilities in Cambodia, we believe it is better for us to focus on support for the development of school libraries in a narrow geographical area where we already have good links and trusted partners. Our focus therefore has been on junior and senior high schools around Angtasom in Takeo province of Cambodia. Currently (March 2009) we are involved with 6 schools which between them have 7869 pupils.

Through this strategy we hope that we can encourage the development of a reading culture. Books have the potential to open up a new world for students. We believe that the use of books/reading will provide wider opportunities for students as they progress through school and will enhance their capacity to enter tertiary education. This assists individuals to move out of poverty and to gain a better life for themselves and their families.

While we have purchased a small core of books for the libraries, the stock of books needs to be expanded to maintain interest in the library and reading. There is no budget allocated by the Ministry of Education or the Provincial Education Authority for the purchase of new books. Furthermore library books are not seen as a priority when compared to the purchase of basic texts, development and/or repair of classrooms and the need to improve teachers’ salaries.

As you will appreciate the need is enormous so we’ve had to set some criteria to guide the choice of schools we will assist. The schools will need to have:
• Local community involvement and commitment to the development of a school library,
• School leadership to be totally behind the project
• The presence of a highly motivated school librarian who has attended the training course supported by the Trust, and
• The existence of an actual physical library space.

Update: January 2009

Four of the high schools (see map above), Leay Bo, Ang Run, Angroka and Tnort Chum, have constructed new library shelving and installed it in existing classrooms which are now being used as the school library. An inital collection of Khmer books and some bilingual books have been donated to each of these schools by Books for Cambodia. The trust will focus on these new schools to increase their book collections in the coming year.

Training Librarians

The Trust recognises that it is not enough just to supply books. We have covered the cost for basic training for the librarians at these school as well as 8 more schools. The librarians have all returned to their schools very enthusiastic and keen to implement their newly acquired knowledge. For the sustainability of the libraries having trained teachers is extremely important. (In the future these librarians plan to run a course for teachers in their local area) as well as meeting regularly on a bi monthly basis. The librarians are really important in ensuring the books are well kept and the library systems are effective.

In the future Mr Im Mach, Provincial Library Trainer and coordinator plans to run further day courses for the librarians.

Book Buying

Our preference is to buy books in Cambodia rather than take books over from New Zealand and it is certainly the most cost effective way. There, books are much cheaper and we purchase books in the Khmer language or bi-lingual direct from several publishers, thus we are supporting the local publishing industry. Most other books are bought from the local market where the prices are more competitive. Prior to the purchasing the librarians and staff from each school are involved in selecting the books to be purchased. The range of books is slowly expanding as more publishers begin business. (See “New generation revives 'lost culture' of reading”)

From time to time we do take suitable English language books over to Cambodia from NZ. Please talk to us if you have books that you think may be suitable. Our preference is for non-fiction, well illustrated books in a range of levels of English.