The government in Cambodia has set up and runs schools all over the country but their system is seriously failing the Cambodians it’s been designed to help – the children. Having a King who studied in Czechoslovakia, North Korea and France you would think more emphasis would be put on education.
The school system here is designed in a similar way to a Kiwi or British system except that they do it in 2 shifts. They take one lot of kids in the morning from 7-11am and another lot from 1-5pm. The children must all wear a blue and white uniform to school which of course costs money. It may not be a lot of money but if a family survives by growing rice purely for themselves to eat or they are rubbish collectors who bring in $2 a day, on an extremely good day, how do you fight a losing battle?
What about those families who work as sex workers, in a country where birth control is almost nonexistent? The family size increases and there are more children who need to attend school.
On top of the school uniforms there is the added cost of the kids having to pay for all of the paper they use. It may not be that much and I don’t think a ‘free lunch’ works but it’s all added costs that people here do not have.
So immediately you have a large section of society who can’t even afford to get their kids there in the first place and access the system. Thank god it’s not compulsory to attend.
But the biggest problem of all is that the teachers often do not turn up to school. Teachers are very respected in the community and are often untouchable. A wee bit of power and they can do what they want and are not questioned. The culture is Do as I say, not do as I do, but when you get to my position you can abuse your power as well. So the kids are attending charity run schools so that they can pick up on where the government schools are failing them.
But sadly the charity run schools are failing the kids just as much as the government schools are.
With so many charities you would think that they could work together to create a better education for the children and adults who have missed out over the past few generations. In Siem Reap alone there are 300+ charities. Most of which are running a number of schools each.
Barely any of the charities are working together to capture more children and more communities. Their egos seem to be getting in the way of what they are actually saying they are trying to achieve. There are areas that are over run with schools and then areas that have not been touched at all. Many of the charity schools are run by people who are not on the ground trying to understand the culture they are working in and are being kept afloat by volunteers who fly in and fly out.
Many are not even offering national qualifications, let alone internationally recognised qualifications, which the students can some day take with them. Or the system that they are offering does not provide the child with a job, prospect of a job or even to know how to look for one when they finish school. So most of them are ending up doing the same job they would have done if they never received the education in the first place.
That of course happens in many countries. It is ultimately the individuals choice what they do with the education they have been given but the paths need to be there to open up when the education stops.
Where the charities and government are failing the monks seem to be taking in a lot of the boys who cannot afford to go to school. But it makes me wonder, how are they supporting these kids, how many can they take in and should a child have to leave their family to go live in a temple just to get an education?
Providing an education here does not stop at teaching English and Khmer. There is a huge knock on effect. You then need to consider also teaching simple hygiene – installing the facilities for this, simple finance, family planning - that’s culturally sensitive and most importantly a food programme. You cannot expect any results in a class from kids who are hungry. So if you’re in, you’re in for the long haul.
There are many people here who sponsor individual children to go through the education system. I’ve questioned many a time whether it is a good idea to sponsor an individual child or to sponsor a school and then allow more children to be given an education and opportunity. Surely to grow a community is a much better than an individual but at the end of the day every community, group and organisation needs a leader.
I’ve met so many kids since I arrived that they all seem to mould into one but there are some kids that just have this glimmer of hope in their eye. This spark that says “if you give me half a chance I will run with it and make something of myself.” I can’t help but be drawn to this fighter spirit.
There are these two kids at Touch a Life who have been born into a life of poverty and work as rubbish collectors. This is the lowest of the low in Cambodia. Seeing the kids working so hard in rubbish at an age they should be at school, playing with their friends and are so innocent is heartbreaking. You see them in the street working and they seem like grown men at the age of 10 but then they walk in the gates at Touch a Life and you see the pure innocence of a child.
I knew there was something about these two wee boys that I liked but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I heard that they were working as rubbish collectors and on the side cleaning peoples shoes. They had invested in shoe polish and brushes and had started their own business. When asked why they were cleaning shoes they said that they could work half as long with less effort and for more money if they did this as well. At 10 and 14 that’s fighting spirit if ever I saw it.
Because women here are seen as second class citizens and are widely ignored they seem to be able to better themselves quietly with no one feeling overly threatened by them and are leaps and bounds in front of the guys. The classes I’ve attended are a good 70% female dominated.
From the women that are given a skill and a chance they are bettering themselves by learning and creating a better standard of living for their family. Most of the girls want to do jobs that will help people and their communities develop and they can give back in the long term. They seem to have an ability to think about the future in a completely different way to the guys. While the men are also learning new skills, given the opportunity to leave and better themselves they take it and don’t seem to return but the women return to their villages, set up a business and pass on the skills therefore bettering the village as a whole.
The women seem to be the answer to community based development in Cambodia.
Whilst there is no doubt that education is important, it expands the mind, provides for communities in the long term, is the answer to a lot of problems and ultimately opens doors I can’t help but wonder if it’s all at some point been taken too far in the West.
At the age of 14 I left school for 6 months as I was very sick and as a result was left so far behind with most subjects I couldn’t catch up. I went back to school part time until I was 17 and then left all together. Any study I’ve done after that I did in the evenings.
There is no doubt I’ve met some great people who have helped me a lot to get to where I am but I also worked my arse off to get there and be the person I am today. I’ve never done things by halves and doubt I’ve ever got a job because of the education on my CV. In fact, it’s created a lot of problems for me, especially in London, but once I get in somewhere I’ve managed to get people to forget about the lack of letters after my name and employ me for me.
So education in Cambodia is a good start, but, there needs to be doors that will open at the end of it otherwise these kids will just end up where they started.
Whilst I think a good standard of education should be offered to all is education simply about going to school and about how many letters you can get after your name? Or is it about creating opportunity for yourself and those that you see potential in and running with it? Some of us learn just as much, if not more, out in the world than we ever would do in the classroom.
So I’m left with the question…………..Is a leader born or made?
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