Stepping into Another Time ...

A road less travelled

... connecting through the hearts the minds of the people

Before the change: Stepping into another time - in the Bunong villages,  into a ‘road less travelled’ - in poor and isolated remote communes throughout the 5 districts of Mondulkiri  province: Sometimes teachers come to school, sometimes students come to school.  Other times, due to low teaching wages, teachers work on the farm, have family commitment and/or spend time working at several jobs to make ends meet.  As a result, teachers spend limited time preparing and delivering a high standard curriculum for their students.  Echoing similar concerns in the community;  it is essential for children to contribute to the survival of the family. Therefore, they are normally out  in the fields, a usual obligation for children to help their parents; either to harvest mung beans, plant cassava, collect resin

Observing a lesson

in the forest, work in rice fields and more.   Seasonal food production work  is critical to the village people and salvaging their crop will always be a priority for the people here.  For example, if the village people don’t harvest their beans before the rain comes they will spoil, sometimes, alas, to a detriment of their own education.   Other than the number of issues teachers faced such as lack of commitment to their students, when we first arrived in Mondulkiri in 2013, we also noticed during that same period of time that Khmer teachers were unevenly matched to Bunong or

Poster Competition - Why go to School?

Cham village schools where they did not speak the children’s language.  What’s more, my POE partner, despite the  above number of dilemmas described,  had nevertheless instructed me to phone the schools prior to my regular visits to ensure that teachers and children were at school.    However, when I arrived at the village schools, teachers who reluctantly had showed up at the same time as us (because they were requested to attend school by the POE), only to claim that they had been ‘called away to yet another ‘unannounced’ meeting with the DOE or had to leave school because they had other work or  family obligations. 

Bunong students receiving a lesson in their mother tongue

Working together with teachers and students

What changed? What did we – the POE, the Ministry of Education - VSO collectively do to meet the needs of teachers and students during our time in Mondolkiri?   Before changes became evident, meetings, conferences, more meetings took place among  national and sub-national officials, NGOs including VSO:   A t the 2015 Annual Congress Conference,  cluster chiefs and school directors from the 5 districts gathered to share their findings for the 2013 -2014 school year with the POE director.   The three common denominators were to:  provide more money for schools, improve road conditions and encourage regular school attendance both from teachers and students. Ironically, a week after the Annual Congress Conference took place, the Minister of Education (from Phnom Penh) came to Mondolkiri to talk to cluster chiefs and school directors about the new ‘5 -year strategic education plan’ to improve the quality of teaching

Teachers taking on the challenge to test and to use new teaching tools

throughout Cambodia.  He promised that more money would be spent on Education and that teacher’s salaries will be raised over a 5 year period.  Another key issue that the minister of education raised was the relevancy for the Multilingual Education programme that was recently and successfully implemented in Mondulkiri Province by Bunong teacher trainers, Care and VSO.  Furthermore, he wanted to ensure that there was a continued focus on ‘minority inclusion’ in the main northern eastern domain.  Today however, the Multilingual education programme is sustainable and a great success at that! 

How did the change happen?   Throughout the 2013-2016 school year, my POE colleagues and I continued to conduct ongoing meaningful training workshops (E.g.; Math games, Inclusive education, Love of Reading, Khmer/Bunong Language curriculum, MoEYS English for Cambodia, Health education and more) with cluster chiefs, school directors (to support their

Conducting training workshops with cluster chiefs and POE staffs

teachers), and teachers who took on the challenge of using these new initiatives, teaching tools, (that they had just learned),  to test it and  to use it in their village schools over a 4 week cycle before the next workshop took place..  A follow-up schedule was also given to teachers for us to visit, support, guide, observe and to address any concerns.  We  also indicated that we were available to visit teachers and school directors at their convenience should they require immediate assistance, before our regular scheduled visits to the school villages took place. Throughout, our time, our near 3 years in Mondolkiri, we routinely empowered teachers with regular mentoring/ coaching support, building trust and building close relationships - connecting through the hearts - the minds of the people ….    Furthermore, (throughout the course of our time with the POE), we also received reinforcement and positive feedback from the POE/DOE for supporting and working with cluster chiefs, school directors and teachers toward improving a higher curriculum standard.

Observing a Khmer lesson

What are teachers doing independently? There were times, during the last year of my placement in Mondolkiri (once teachers got the hang of things and were becoming increasingly confident in their teaching),   that we did spot checks in some of the  school villages;   We were pleasantly surprised to find that teachers who were trained ,were present and prepared, even when we came unannounced!  Both school directors and teachers welcomed the feedback that we gave them.  They appreciated our comments as well as the guidance and even asked for more.  They

Receptive to constructive feedback

said that ‘our feedback, regular support and mentoring  was extremely useful for their own professional development, their learning and their teaching  ... ‘ 

What’s more, my (Volunteer Assistant) VA and I planned our activities around the teachers’ and students’  schedule to ensure that everyone was included and reached.   With time, during our time in Mondulkiri, we began to notice a change in the people’s attitude toward education – a good change at that!  A higher number of teachers came to school regularly and,  good teaching practice  became evident; Teachers  were now more committed to

Village chiefs and teachers visiting with Bunong families to encourage children to attend school

students to teach  a ‘thorough’ curriculum.   In some cases, the community got involved; the village chief together with teachers visited families in their home who’s children had been away from school for more than two days..  Rationale:  to encourage children to return and to stay at school.

More Bunong children are now attending school regularly

Underneath the tangles and priorities on the value of education, with time however, it was better understood.  Not only did parents who initially felt that going to school was of secondary importance, who’s children spent more time away from school and who were given the impression that school was a privilege only for a few, began to show enthusiasm about education. They began to understand the link between school attendance and reaping the rewards of education. They began to understand the significance of Education for All!  As a result of these new insights, an increasing number of children began to attend school regularly …

More milestones throughout the course of our near 3 years In MondulKiri :

More money is spent on education and on teachers’ salaries, and an end to corruption is finally coming to light: Collecting 500 riels (12cents) a day from children was banned. Parents who could not afford the bribe from teachers now send their children to school regularly. 

For the first time, in February 2014, teachers opened their own personal bank accounts.  They now receive direct payment from the government as a result from a two year research (2011-13), campaigning and lobbying (credited to a group of NGO’s, VSO/Cuso International and the Ministry of Education): see short case study and follow up interviews – on ‘An Unusal day – teachers get back account  on the next post.

Bunong parents sending their children to school

Potential Bunong in-service teachers are now deployed in their Bunong home villages throughout  Mondulkiri province to teach the Multilingual (Bunong) Education Programme (approved in 2015 by the Ministry of Education) and to assess children in a language they understand, a language where they feel a sense of belonging.

More girls and children from remote Bunong villages throughout Mondulkiri province are staying at school.

Some village schools (E.g.; Poulong Village school) have become a model school for other schools in Mondulkiri province.

Roads throughout Cambodia, throughout MondulKiri province and, on the way out to the villages are improving:  As a result, (other than VSO/Cuso International), Caritas NGO who had previously helped Srae Y village with a number of health projects, built a  brand new school for the people of Srae Y Village now that the road to the village is in better condition and equipment can easily be transported to the village.  Note: the school was finally built in April 2016 during the 3 week Khmer New Year holiday, during the children’s school break.

Corruption-free grade 12 exams are now strictly regulated by the government throughout Cambodia.

Children reading a book written and illustrated by young Cambodian writers

More Cambodian writers, young writers and illustrators are writing children’s books, novels, journals for the Cambodian public to read and to enjoy.  That is wonderful news! 

More later :)