Give access to education in rural Cambodia - Children of the Mekong

Samrong Education Centre

Samrong is located in Oddar Meanchey province, in Northwest Cambodia. Education opportunities are severely limited and dropout rates remain high.

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Progress: 51%

Funds raised so far: 51%

Physical access to school is difficult with the cost of transport or the number of walking hours proving dissuasive. Many children must convince their parents of the importance of education, as often the families rely on small-scale farming for income and thus their children being a part of their workforce.

Rural and disadvantaged public schools tend to have facilities in poor condition, which negatively impacts the quality of education provided. Driven by extremely low wages, there is an ingrained culture of private tuitions after school hours where teachers expect students to pay an extra fee to make up the shortfall, but this is unattainable for disadvantaged children.

The Samrong Education Centre works in conjunction with the public schooling system. The Centre provides full boarding which includes accommodation, tuition, extracurricular activities and various types of material support, to enable disadvantaged students to pursue secondary education.

 

Read the latest newsletters from Samrong Education Centre!

Newsletter from April 2023

Newsletter from August 2023

Newsletter from September 2023 

The Four Aims of the Samrong Education Centre

Teaching at Samrong Education Centre

Samrong Education Centre 4 aims

IMPACT OF THE SAMROANG EDUCATION CENTRE

In 2022, the Samrong Education Centre had a huge impact on its 68 direct beneficiaries and the 160 children in our programmes in the surrounding villages. We also believe that there are at least twice the number of indirect beneficiaries, namely siblings and family, who benefit from food distribution and health costs reimbursement. With regular classes on mathematics, Khmer, English, chemistry, physics, biology, and computer technology, alongside complementary courses and extracurricular events, we are empowering students with the tools to give back to their community and actualise their dreams

  • 68 children received full boarding in the four boarding houses in the centre, in addition to education support.
  • 7 sponsorship programmes supporting 160 children in 32 villages 
  • 3 advice forums on university, vocational training, and careers 

 

 

Samrong Education Centre group photo

Academic Achievements

Samrong education centre

Of the 14 children in Grade 12, 13 passed the Baccalaureate. This 93% pass rate greatly exceeded the national average of 70%.

All 14 students are furthering their education at universities or special skill training centres in studies surrounding information technology, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, general engineering, history, hospitality and catering.

E.K. Pagna

‘I come from a village called “Beng” and it has been 6 years since I have been in the Samraong Centre. Today, I am in grade 12, the last year of school. My favourite subject is maths. In the future, I want to be an architect because I like drawing. I like living in the Samraong Centre. My favourite thing about it is being able to garden. I like taking care of the centre and regularly cleaning up.

I’m also in charge of hygiene in the boy’s residence where I stay! I’m very happy to share my daily routine with the other students in the centre. My favourite part of the week is when we watch films together on Saturday nights. I also like to play music during activities. I would like to sincerely thank my sponsor who gave me the opportunity to study and grow up in a good environment.’

ALL THE NEWS FROM SAMRAONG