Access to Education

There are many challenges the children of Cambodia face and attending primary school is no exception.  For poor families attending school is a luxury many families can't afford.   In Siem Reap only 23% of students complete their primary school education.

Some of the barriers include;

• Children are needed to work on the land, find food or scavenge for bottles to recycle to support their families daily income
• Many children must walk to and from school, taking up valuable time and energy making it difficult for them to attend
• Inability to buy a school uniform prevents attendance

When you scratch behind the touristy exterior of Siem Reap the provinces dire needs become very evident.  Education is no exception with Siem Reap holding some of the lowest educational indicators when compared to the national averages. Primary School student, teacher averages sit at 1:74 in Siem Reap, with schools well underfunded, ill equipped and in various states of disrepair.  

Supporting Education - Scope

HUSK is working with the Type 1 families in both Treak and Kompheim Village to identify the needs of the families with their children accessing school.

Where transport to school is an issue a bike will be provided to enable children to reach school more easily.  One bike can be shared between two siblings who are both attending the same school.

Where families are unable to afford uniforms a set of two school uniforms per child will be provided.

School Uniforms

By law all Cambodian children are required to wear the national school uniform to school (or districts uniform).  This policy was designed to be a leveler, meaning all children went to school looking the same, unfortunately the down side to this is that for some families the cost of a school uniform is more than they can afford. 

Kompheim Village - Phase 1

• 29 bikes to Type 1 families
• 1 bike to a Type 2 family
• 60 sets of uniforms (2 uniforms per set)
• Additionally we also funded special glasses required by a student with a severe eye condition to enable him to continue to study
• 2 Bikes provided to families to enable the husband to access town and undertake construction work

Treak Village - Phase 1

• We are currently finalising the requirements for Treak Village and will update this section shortly.

Goals for the future

Our goal is for this program to continue to support the children in both villages.  Each 6 months school uniforms will need to be replaced as children grow and the uniforms age.  Bike will also need repairs and replacement.    Over the course of the year we will continue to monitor requirements in each village and provide items as they are identified as being necessary.

In Sep 2011 we will enter phase two of the program and provide another major release of uniforms and bikes.

Get Involved

To help support this program you can make donations via your credit card. 

If you are traveling to Cambodia and wish to help we will gladly accept school items such as lined note books, pens and pencils. These can be dropped of at Beyond Unique Escapes - Cnr of Alley West and Sivutha Bvld Siem Reap.  These will then be distributed through formal channels.  Please understand we do not allow or encourage handouts in villages as this can undermine our programs and unintentionally cause issues within the villages such as jealousy and rivalry.

Here is a short clip of some of the bikes and uniforms being distributed at Sojourn for residents of Treak Village