Organization
Room to Read Cambodia
Room to Read Cambodia (អង្គការរូមធូរីដកម្ពុជា) is the Cambodian program of the global education nonprofit Room to Read, working in literacy and girls' education since 2002.[1][2] It is one of the national government's main partners in improving the quality of education, and it works with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to help rebuild the school system after years of upheaval.[1][3] Its two main programs are the Literacy Program and the Girls' Education Program.[1]
History
Room to Read was founded in 2000 and worked in Nepal and Vietnam before it came to Cambodia.[4][5] A team arrived four months ahead to explore the work, and the Cambodia program was established on December 2, 2002, after registering with the Royal Government of Cambodia. The Asia Foundation was its first partner. In its first year it opened Reading Room and Computer Room programs.[5] Its later programs included school building, local-language publishing, computer and language rooms, and girls' education, with 12 regional offices across the country.[5]
In March 2015 the First Lady of the United States and the First Lady of Cambodia visited one of its Girls' Education Program sites in Siem Reap.[3] In 2019 girls from the program graduated from grade 12 for the third year in a row, and Room to Read put their pass rate at 17 points above the national rate of 69 percent.[3] In 2020 the Minister of Education agreed to a national library partnership with Room to Read to develop a library package for primary schools across the country.[3]
In 2022 the Girls' Education Program was one of two laureates of the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education, with the Girls' Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative of Tanzania. The prize, funded by the Government of the People's Republic of China, carried an award of US$50,000.[6] Country Director Vantha Chea, Senior Girls' Education Program Manager Nead Bunna and Chief Program Officer Heather Simpson attended the ceremony in Paris on October 11, 2022.[6] Room to Read planned to use the award to train teachers to teach the life-skills curriculum themselves.[4] Its current work is organized as the Gender Equality Portfolio and the Literacy Portfolio, both running from 2024 to 2028.[2]
Literacy Program
The Literacy Program works in government schools in partnership with the ministry. Its teacher training and books build early reading skills in primary school.[3] Affordable Khmer-language books for young readers were one of the greatest needs the team found, and publishing children's books in Khmer has been a priority since its early years. It also sets up child-friendly libraries where primary school children read for pleasure and borrow books to take home.[3] By Room to Read's measure, in 2018 its grade 2 students read more than twice as fluently as children outside the program, with better comprehension.[3]
Girls' Education Program
Since 2002 the Girls' Education Program has given more than 17,000 girls life skills and mentoring.[6] It works with every girl from grade 7 to grade 12 in its partner schools, ages 12 to 18.[4][6] The program has four parts: a life-skills curriculum, individual and group mentoring, work with parents and communities, and material support based on need.[6] The mentors, called social mobilizers, are local women who know the girls, their families and their communities. They help with goal-setting, family pressure to leave school, exam preparation and career plans.[4][6] Material support can include stationery, uniforms, shoes, schoolbags and bicycles for girls who live far from school.[4]
Room to Read does not run an open, individual scholarship. Students are enrolled through partner schools, and support lasts several years, with school materials, tutoring, mentoring and financial help as needed.[1][6] One student, Chou Sinit of Kampong Cham province, stayed in school with her mentor's help and went on to study information technology at the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia.[4]
By 2023 more than 6,000 girls took part, in 40 secondary schools across five provinces. Room to Read planned to reach more than 9,000 girls in 2022 and 2023, and it was piloting a life-skills program for boys on gender inequality.[4]
Community
Its projects reach districts in Kampong Cham, Prey Veng, Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and Kampot.[2] Its head office is in Boeung Kak 2, Tuol Kork, Phnom Penh.[2][7]
Leadership (2022)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Room to Read, Cambodia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 NGO Education Partnership, Room to Read Cambodia (March 2022)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Room to Read, Cambodia country overview
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 UNESCO, UNESCO laureate Room to Read Cambodia helps girls stay in school (April 2023)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, NGO database, Room to Read Cambodia
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Room to Read, Room to Read Cambodia recognized as laureate of 2022 UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education (October 2022)
- ↑ Room to Read, Contact us