On Friday I was at the ACTS school again working with the teachers on English and helping with various administrative tasks to free them up to do other things. ACTS stands for Assisting Children To School and has the goal of supporting 500+ previously unschooled children from Phnom Penh and several surrounding villages (including the one I am also teaching in) to make it into schools and remain there at least through grade nine. Though it is all completely locally run and so employs people from the community, equipping them to become teachers, promoters, drivers, cooks, and fill HR and administrative positions, its funding comes from two outside cooperations.
kids playing a form of jump rope with rubber-bands while they wait for school to start
The education system in Cambodia is pretty corrupt. In talking with some of my older students who attend university here, they explained that you can essentially buy your way into the next year and the lower you score on your final exams, the more you are expected to pay for tuition the following semester. At the elementary and high school level, teachers seldom have adequate, if any, qualifications and are notorious for being unmotivated. The other day I was talking with a girl who I knew was supposed to be at school twenty minutes prior and asked "Aren't you going to be late?" She replied that it was OK if she was late because she always makes it there long before the teacher.
Yet I can see where the lack of teacher motivation stems from. We complain about teachers' salaries in the US, but here experienced teachers in government funded schools typically make $50 per month---even by Cambodia standards, that is far from sufficient to live on! As a result, they typically look for other ways to make money and so it is quite common for teachers to withhold information and not teach everything during the regular school hours (which, to begin with, are only 3 hours/day!) and so charge those who want to learn more to come for extra hours. Consequently, most students cannot afford to pay for these extended hours, especially not after paying for their materials, and so are incredibly shortchanged in their education.
Also, many students drop out of even the government funded hours as education does not seem to be highly valued here. Part of this I think comes from the lasting effects of the Khmer Rouge as the government is still trying to reconstruct the education system after all schools were destroyed and educators murdered during this horrible regime that reigned in the seventies. In addition, the grim reality is that families need their children to work in order to add to the family income. Also, in the provinces and some of the slums, transportation to and from school becomes an issue as it can be expensive and unsafe-- if it is even available.
Alex teaching a simple drawing lesson
ACTS focuses specifically on children who are living below the poverty line, neglected by parents, or who have undergone trauma in order to supplement their government schooling and provide them with a strong education, life skills, extracurricular recreation, school supplies, and nutritious meals. I've loved getting to know some of the teachers and having the chance to play with the kids. It's exciting to see the way these schools are growing and also the way in which parents and the community are getting involved and beginning to value their children's education.
eating lunch with the teachers
Sorry to bog you down with so much information but I can't help share some of what I've been learning. It does makes me question though why I am vying for a teaching position in Boston when there is such a need for teachers here... I've actually already been asked to consider returning and teaching here long term. Don't worry Mom, I'll be back in August, but it does make me think
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