Education of Parents and Mothers in Rural Cambodia

Main Activities

Parental Education

Parental Education is a new concept in Cambodia . It was developed by E&D at the request of a Cambodian inter-ministry thinktank and based on a preliminary study on "Practices, Beliefs and Values for the Education of the Young Child in Cambodia ".

The approach was to:

- develop parental education tools that are culturally appropriate and attractive (television series)

- use tools such as video tapes of the TV series, role-playing and family debates with trained animators in villages.

The use of media touches a large public. The impact of television in Cambodia makes it a well-adapted tool to transmit norms and behavior models. It directly addresses and demystifies certain issues without upsetting parents.

In Cambodia , television is a big part of every day life. Families watch it several hours a day. Cambodians think highly of television. They believe it is a means for getting information, learning, and leisure. Its constant presence in family life gives it a more and more important role in the socialisation process and the transmission of dominant values. It is estimated that up to 70% of the population watches TV. In villages were there is no electricity, it is not unusual to see antennas on houses and huts where small televisions are connected to car batteries.

The workshops use the beliefs and values of parents to promote a comprehensive approach to the child. Parent/child relationships - parents' attitudes - the child's development and needs -health and hygiene, early intervention and stimulation of the young child - behavior management/discipline - nutrition - the importance of playing - every day learning - the parents' role - parent/child communication are some of the themes developed.

The program is composed of regular group activities. The broadcasting of the "Krousar!" series is a basis for exchanges and discussions with and between villagers. These collective sessions can also use role playing, card games (with adapted material), and workshops to manufacture child games. This encourages discussions between parents around a common concern: their children's well-being.

More personalized support follows these group sessions through house visits.

Community Preschools/Informal Early Childhood Centers

Education: Children are taken in charge and stimulated in villages to enable them to durably reach their full physical, intellectual and socio-affective potential. These centers are informal because they are not part of the national education system (although they are recognized by the administration). They are eventually managed in full by village Parent Committees and led by educators chosen by these committees. Committee members and educators are continually trained by Krousar Yoeung (through workshops and seminars) and followed by KY or local education authorities.

 

The six first years of a child are crucial to his/her development, future learning capacity and successful schooling. The setting up of structures that are adapted to 2 to 6-year-olds is a necessity in Cambodia . Pre-schools are scarce and the methods used are very formal and do not encourage the development of individual potential.

To this day, 31 community preschools are in place and supported technically and financially by Enfants&Développement. With an average of 60 children by center, almost 1,800 children can benefit from quality pre-schooling.

 

 

Projects that generate income: Once the centers are created, the means to reach financial autonomy must be found. To do so, income-generating projects are set up by villagers. A training program enables them to first identify a project that is adapted to local contexts and needs (the choice of this or that culture, rice banks or crafts). It then helps them set up the activities and manage the generated income needed for the informal center (educators' wages, maintenance of pedagogical material.). Krousar Yoeung also supports the villagers financially at the start-up of the project and follows up on the financial and technical management as well as the development of income-generating activities.

Health/nutrition: To promote changes in the sanitary habits of the community and improve children's health and hygiene, the informal centers offer parental awareness activities as well as medical care for children who need it. A simple and balanced meal is supplied to the children in the Early Childhood centers.

 

Emergence d'une structure locale spécialiste de développement de la Petite Enfance et de l'Education parentale.

La création de la structure locale Krousar Yoeung, issue de l'équipe Petite Enfance / Education Parentale d'Enfants&Développement s'est concrétisée en 2002. L'équipe initiale de KY disposait à l'origine d'une technicité dans le domaine de la Petite Enfance sans égale au Cambodge et a continué à se renforcer en nombre et en compétences dans le domaine de l'éducation parentale (secteur actuellement abordé par aucune autre ONG au Cambodge). Parallèlement, afin de lui permettre d'acquérir les compétences requises pour faire fonctionner une structure indépendante, des formations internes et externes ont été mises en place, ainsi qu'un tutoring individualisé en matière de gestion de projet, gestion de ressources humaines et de gestion financière.

Le travail en réseau, indispensable dans le milieu ONG quelque soit le pays, reste embryonnaire au Cambodge, où il demeure malheureusement une certaine réticence entre structures locales à entrer en collaboration sans la présence d'une ONG internationale qui chapeaute l'action. Ce réseau a aussi besoin de temps pour devenir plus opérationnel.