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The ESCUP program attempts to make schools attractive, friendly, open places where all children are happy to attend and receive an education best suited to them.
Improving Education for Underserved Children
O’Krieng Primary School, Kratie Province
January 23, 2008
In partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been supporting efforts to increase access and educational quality for children in underserved populations. Although impressive improvements in access to basic education have been made over the last decade, many Cambodian children, such as the disabled, children in remote areas, ethnic and religious minorities, and girls, have often not been able to attend school. With USAID support, the inclusive education project, Educational Support to Children in Underserved Populations (ESCUP) has been operating since April 2005 to assist these children in difficult situations to attend school. The project will run until September 2008, with a total budget of $4.5 million.
U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph A. Mussomeli, recently visited O'Krieng Primary School in Kratie province, one of the schools supported by the ESCUP program. The Ambassador said, "This is the best learning environment for children that I have seen in Cambodia. The school has a friendly atmosphere, and it is clear that the students and teachers enjoy being here. If I had had such a nice school when I was a kid, even I would have enjoyed going to school!"
ESCUP follows the Child Friendly School initiative of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport, in which an integrated development approach to improving the quality of education has been a key feature. The Child Friendly School approach attempts to make schools attractive, friendly, open places where all children are happy to attend and receive an education best suited to them. In line with this initiative, the ESCUP project supports many innovative activities such as life skills education, school readiness programs, child-to-child help networks, village-based remediation classes for slow learners, recruitment and training of community teachers, bilingual classroom assistants, and giving scholarships to poor students.
The project is implemented by World Education in partnership with a local non-governmental organization, Kampuchea Action for Primary Education (KAPE). The project operates in the provinces of Kampong Cham, Kratie, Mondulkiri, and Ratanakiri in 150 primary schools and 16 lower secondary schools. To date, the project has positively affected approximately 63,000 children in grades 1-9 with better school environments. By targeting out-of-school children, drop-out rate has declined by 3% and repetition by 4% across all schools. 1007 children with disabilities have been treated and sent back to school. 125 classrooms were renovated. 5,300 scholarships have been given to poor children to keep them in school. The project has also added 169 state and community teachers to remote classrooms where teacher-shortages lead to classroom sizes of 60-70 children per teacher which often force children to drop out.
O’Krieng Primary School features a USAID-supported culture center, playground, and an Integrated Pest Management agricultural life skill course. The ESCUP project has had great success with this life skill, especially in rural and remote areas where agriculture plays a big part in children’s and families lives and livelihoods. Children eagerly learn agricultural skills which they then take home and teach to their parents.
USAID has been supporting basic education in Cambodia since 2002 with a total of $15 million committed to date.
