1. Objectives of Mission The objectives of our mission are ... · The meeting with Mr. Principal gets ... the morning before we were allowed to talk to her since she had a group of

Mission Report and Project Proposal of Smiling Gecko Village School Project

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1. Objectives of Mission The objectives of our mission are listed as follow:

To find out how education strategic plan of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports 2014-2018 is

really used and implemented in both municipal and provincial level

To investigate how teaching and learning practices in Cambodian education system

To witness and compare the quality of teaching and learning in both urban and rural areas

To find out how teacher training system in Cambodia works

To see what are the challenges of education sector in Cambodia in both urban and rural areas

To adapt a draft of Smiling Gecko Strategic and Operative School Components

2. Tentative Mission Agendas and Outcomes

From July 04, 2016 to July 13, 2016, we went to different educational institutions both located in Phnom

Penh and Kompong Chnang province in order to get the insight of overall education system in Cambodia.

For instance, we have conducted interview with school principals, group focus with teacher trainees,

group discussion with teachers, teaching observation and tour around the visited institutions.

July 04, 2016: We went to Wat Dom Bork Khpos Pagoda Primary School, located in Thnout

Chhrum Village, Boeung Tum Pun Commune, Meanchey District, Phnom Penh City, to have a

discussion with Mr. School Principal concerning the implementation of Educational Strategic Plan

2014-2018 of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, teacher absenteeism, general school

statistics, teacher training and teaching and learning of students. He also mentioned his problems

regarding with the broken and aged playground, the lack of reading materials in the school library

and the lack of budget to develop school facilities as a whole. The meeting with Mr. Principal gets

us the insight look of the management system of one of primary schools in the city. This will help

us to have some ideas for comparing the primary school in the city and rural area.

July 04, 2016: In the afternoon, we went to Santhormok Hight School, situated along

Kampuchea Krom Blvd, Phsar Thmei III Commune, Daun Penh District, Phnom Penh, to have an

educational conversation with management team of the school over various topics on how the high

school managerial structures, history of the school, statistics of both teachers and students,

challenges of school (the size of school library is too small and student density in a class is very

big), and school facilities. After having finished discussion, we also had a school tour,

accompanied by one of the Vice School Principal, to see the teaching and learning in the school.

Moreover, we had an opportunity to observe an English class for about 10 minutes and physical

Picture 1: in front of school playground, Phnom Penh.

Dr. Rofl Gollob (Right) and Mr. School Principal of Wat Dom Bork

Khpos Pagoda Primary School (Lelf).

Photographed by Mr. Ly Sam Ath


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education session for another 15 minutes. The outcomes of this visit make us see that even though

Santhormok High School is one of the biggest high schools in the city, still there are a number of

difficulties that the management team of the school finds it hard to solve. How about schools in the

rural areas?

July 05, 2016: We went to Kampong Chhnang Provincial Teacher Training College, situated

along national road number 5, Kompong Chhnang City, to have a talk with Mr. Hou Phearin,

director of the college over how teacher trainees are recruited into the college, how the curriculum

of the college works, who are the trainers, how is the practicum system in the college works and

most importantly, the expectation of the Director to become our mutual partner in the future. Then,

we also had a group focus with a group of four teacher trainees (See Picture 5) of the college to sit

in front of us and gave us responses on why they decided to choose to become a primary teacher,

what the challenges are in studying here and what their expectation and opinions are toward the

changes of Cambodian education system. The findings of the visit to this teacher training college

allow us to see that teacher training curriculum is lack of teaching practice time. Consequently, it

is a controversial topic to have further discussion on how to improve teaching and learning quality

of primary teachers across the region in Kampong Chhnang province.

Picture 2: in front of Administrative Bureau, Phnom Penh.

Group photo with Santhormok High School Management Team.

Photographed by Sport Instructor of Santhormok High School

Picture 3: at Santhormok High school, mini soccer

pitch. They are all 8th graders coming to sport time.

Photographed by Dr. Rolf Gollob

Picture 4: at Provincial Teacher Training College, Kampong Chhnang province.

Mr. Ly Sam Ath (Left), Mr. Hou Phearin, Director of Teacher Training College, Ms.

Kol Theary, Vice School Principal of Mea Nork Primary School and Dr. Rolf Gollob.

Photographed by Mr. Kong Sopharith, Assistant Director of Smiling Gecko Cambodia


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July 06, 2016: We went to National Institute of Education (NIE), which is located along Preah

Suramarit Blvd, Phnom Penh city, to have a tentative dialogue with Mr. Mao Saroeun, Deputy

Head of Education Department on various topics related to teacher trainee selection process,

curriculum of the training, general teacher trainee statistics and effectiveness of the training for all

teacher trainees who are studying there. The outcomes of the visit at NIE make us understand the

whole picture of how ministry of education trains teachers. For example, Provincial Teacher

Training Colleges located across the provinces in Cambodia plays a role for training primary

school teachers, Regional Teacher Training College which is located in Kandal province is

responsible for training lower secondary school teachers and NIE is in charge of training high

school teachers in Cambodia.

July 07, 2016: We went to Hosanna School for Cambodia, a Christian private school, which is

situated in building 38, street 592, Toul Kork District, Phnom Penh city, to have a discussion with

Ms. Chan Mitona, School Director, over her experience in running the school as a private school

combined with public school curriculum and Korean curriculum. We had a school tour initially in

the morning before we were allowed to talk to her since she had a group of students coming from

South Korea to perform praying in the conference hall. We went to see different classes and school

facilities. At noon, we asked her many key questions so that we could have an idea in case Smiling

Gecko Village School would run as a private school. On top of that we could also receive various

hard copies of a Hosanna School’s time table, a school feel list and study time tables.

Picture 6: at National Institute of Education, Phnom Penh.

Mr. Ly Sam Ath (Left), Mr. Mao Sareoun, Dr. Rolf Gollob and Mr. Kong Sopharith

photographed by Mr. Phearak, Smiling Gecko Driver

Picture 5: at Provincial Teacher Training College, Kampong Chhnang province.

Group photo with a group of four students conducting group focus with us.



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Here are some of the key questions we asked her:

How is the school legal registration process, and how much does it cost?

How Hosanna School for Cambodia work on human resources development?

What are the special courses that the school provides to the students?

Is there any influence from the donors to run the school?

The outcomes of the investigation in this Christian school see many areas of the school we should

avoid once we would love to run Smiling Gecko Village School as private school. One big

problem is that the school allows the ideology of Christianity to be included in the curriculum of

the school. Secondly, the school is not clean. For instance, we could see small piles of garbage

littering around in front of the school main gate which makes a very bad impression for us. Last

but not least, small kids are used to perform an act of different type of show to attract the attention

of donors.

July 08, 2016: We had a dialogue with Mr. Kann Puthy, Vice Chief of Administration Office,

Primary Education Department, located along Norodom Blvd, Phnom Penh City. Our

discussion mainly focused on getting the support from Ministry of Education as one of our

potential partner. Mr. Vice Chief of Admin is very approachable, so we think that he will be our

strong partner for organizing MOU process with Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the

future.

Picture 7: at Hosanna School for Cambodia (HSC).

Mr. Ly Sam Ath (Right), Ms. Chan Mitona, School

Director of HSC, Phnom Penh.


Picture 8: at Hosanna School for Cambodia (HSC).

Dr. Rolf Gollob (Right), Ms. Chan Mitona, School

Director of HSC, Phnom Penh.


Picture 9: at Primary Education Office, Phnom Penh.

Dr. Rolf Gollob (Left), Mr. Kann Puthy, Vice Chief of Administration Office.



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July 09, 2016: We came to Smiling Gecko Office for a discussion, and then we came up with an

overall picture of our Smiling Gecko Village School Project. We produced a draft of Strategic and

Operative School Components of the Village School.

July 11, 2016: In the morning, we went to Mea Nork Primary School, Kampong Chhnang

province, to have a dialogue with Mr. Sophorn, School Principal and Ms. Theary, School Vice

Principal about how this primary school is managed, what are the strength and point to improve of

the school and how the teachers in Mea Nork primary school receive in-service training. After our

discussion had finished, we had a school tour, along with Mr. School Principal to witness how

teaching and learning from class to class. The result of the going to see different classes in Mea

Nork primary school was not impressed us at all. For instance, the teacher’s teaching seemed to be

boring for students. Students did not have enough learning material especially text books. If they

had ones, most of the students’ textbooks appeared very aging, and even some pages were torn

apart! We could jump to conclusion that the teacher there in Mea Nork primary school are in need

of more in-service training for improving learning quality of the students. One question we were

not quite sure was that whether or not there would be any willingness for the teachers over there to

take part in training session?

Picture 10: at Smiling Gecko Office, Phnom Penh.

Dr. Rolf Gollob is drafting Time Plan of the Project.


Picture 11: at Smiling Gecko Office, Phnom Penh.

Mr. Ly Sam Ath is drafting Time Plan of the Project.


Picture 12 (Left), 13 and 14: at Mea Nork Primary School, Kampong Chhnang province.

The view of the school campus.



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July 11, 2016: In the afternoon, we went to Chrok Sang Ke Primary School, Kampong Chhnang

province, to have a discussion with School Leader and the other three teachers about the

challenges of the school. It amazed us that this school has only four male teachers to work in the

school, from kindergarten level to sixth grade.

We learnt that the school is lack of teaching staff. Although the teachers are all male, as we

observed, we could feel the energy of the teaching was very powerful. Both teachers and students

were very active. The teachers are doing a very good job. After discussion had finished, we had an

opportunity to sit at the back of a math class taught by teacher Dara. We were amazed by his

teaching because the way he taught really made students learn effectively! The lesson learnt from

this visit really makes us understand that not all the teachers in the rural areas are bad. Different

teachers have different commitment in teaching.

Picture 15: at Chrok Sang Ke Primary School,

Kampong Chhnang province.

Group Discussion with School Leader (Left), 1st Grade and

Kindergarten Teacher(Middle), and 2nd & 3rd Grade

Teacher(Right)


Picture 16: in the classroom of

Chrok Sang Ke Primary School.

Teacher Chandara is guiding his students to do

combination exercise, while Dr. Rolf and Mr. Sam Ath are

observing the teaching and learning.


Picture 17: inside Chrok Sang Ke Primary School’s grade 1 classroom.

A student is trying to solve the combination exercise after she fully understands the instruction.



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July 11, 2016: In the late afternoon, we continued going to have another discussion with Mr.

School Principal of Chrok Sdech Primary School which is located in Kampong Chhnang

province. Our talk aimed at seeing how the school is running and the challenges of the school. The

outcomes of the discussion made us see a common problem of teacher absenteeism that whenever

there is a teacher absent, the principal has to either combine the class or let the student go home.

July 12, 2016: We went to Sethey Lower Secondary School, situated in Kampong Chhnang

province, to have a discussion with Mrs. School Principal about statistics of students who have

passed sixth grade and come to study at Sethey Lower Secondary School, school facilities, teacher

training program and challenges. We also had a small group of six teachers siting around the bench

where they named it their outdoor administrative bureau! We asked each teacher how they felt

about the career as a teacher in the public school and their expectation over the chances of moving

out from the school. We learnt that Sethey Lower Secondary School is facing lots of problems

such as the lack of specialized teacher, especially mathematics teacher, the lack of a classroom, the

lack of textbooks (New English Subject Textbook). Most importantly, students who have passed

sixth grade to study at seventh grade (15%) dropped out of school as they could not read, write and

do the calculation.

Picture 18: at Chrok Sang Ke Primary School’s back yard.

School Tour with Mr. Ly Sam Ath (Right), Mr. Silvan, Restaurant Manager, Smiling Gecko Cambodia (SGC), Mr. School

Leader, Mr. Phearak, Diver (SGC) and Mr. Kong Sopharith, Assistant Director SGC.


Picture 19: in front of Sethey Lower Secondary School’s outdoor bureau.

Group photo with Mrs. School Principal (the one who is expecting to deliver a baby) and teachers.

Photographed by Mr. Kong Sopharith


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July 13, 2016: In the morning, we went to Mea Nork Primary School for taking part in My

Village Clean-Up Day. We could see cooperative involvement from Mr. School Principal of Mean

Nork Primary School to organize the event. The purposes of the event aim at raising the awareness

of the villagers living around the school to understand the value of cleanliness neighborhood.

Picture 20: at Mea Nork Primary School, Kampong

Chhnang province.

80 students are getting ready to take part in My

Village Clean-Up Day


Picture 21: at Mea Nork Primary School, Kampong

Chhnang province.

A student is presenting a poster picture drawn by her

before going out with their group to pick up the

rubbish around the school’s neighborhood.


Picture 22: along the entrance path in front of

Mea Nork Primary School Gate.

A group of students and Mr. Ly Sam Ath are picking

up the rubbish.



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July 13, 2016: In the afternoon, we went to school at the farm house to observe how the learning

and teaching were conducting. We could see that both Khmer teacher, Ms. Rotha and Swiss

teacher, Ms. Femmy, are very committed to their role. We were really happy to see kids were

enjoying the learning with lots study material to be provided on site. I (Mr. Ly Sam Ath) also

encouraged the Khmer teacher over there to continue working hard, and I also gave her some extra

teaching techniques for her to customize in the context of her teaching.

The outcomes of the visit showed the difficulties of teacher Rotha who has to teach in three

different categories – kindergarten level, those who can’t read category (Grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 mixed

together) and those who can read (Grade 3 and 4 mixed together). Teacher Rotha told me that in

case Smiling Gecko Village School Project would have any training regarding with teaching and

learning in the future, she is pleased to join.

Picture 23: along the entrance path in front of

Mea Nork Primary School Gate.


Picture 24: At Smiling Gecko Farmhouse School

Teacher Rotha is dictating the alphabet for students to write.



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3. Findings A. Teaching and Learning

During the observations and discussions, it becomes obvious, that the difference between teaching and

learning has for many education professionals we met not really been a topic of importance. What is good

teaching, how can I explain well, how can I prepare better, how can I prepare materials or classrooms etc.

Are questions being asked by many of the interested partners, as while those with no specific interest

don´t ask any questions at all? The core question on how students learn what their activities shall be and

what the outcomes of teaching should be is not in the centre of those teachers, principals or education

administrators we have met. It will be important to help all involved to put the focus more onto the

learning situation of the students on all levels and only then look at the question, through which teaching

this can be supported, organised and realised. Nevertheless it is obvious that also in the small sample of

classrooms and schools we have visited, the differences are quite big. Not surprising either good or bad

teaching and learning are really consciously reflected. This is not specific to Cambodia. It will be

important to support teachers in getting a clearer view on the fact, that only the concentration on good and

successful learning of a majority of the students will improve the result.

B. School Organization

Schools are in difficult situations. All of them we have visited. Either they are quite far to reach for the

students or therefore (especially girls) a quiet high number of students do not go on after 6th or 9th grade

or anywhere in-between. Many basic conditions are not fulfilled. There are the lack of text books, lack of

subject teachers (lower secondary), lack of teachers, lack of classrooms, lack of sanitary facilities, etc.

Show only maybe the most important missing elements. We have seen schools with no staff room or

schools where students had to be instructed outside. We met acting principals with only little additional

trainings or with no support at all. It will be a task to find out, what the clear tasks given by the ministry

are. We will look for the respective papers and legal framework. Certainly must be mentioned the salaries

paid. The salaries for teachers and principals simply are not enough to guarantee the beneficiaries a decent

life. Either asking the students simply fees for being taught, to give additional lessons or to look for a

second job in a private school or another profession is for many if not most teachers a sheer necessity for

survival. We have to make an important remark though: the differences in schools, in learning quality, in

school (yard) property, in content discussion shows: persons can make a difference. We don´t want to

Picture 25: At Smiling Gecko Farmhouse School

Teacher Femmy is dictating the English words for students to write.



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minimalize the structural and financial difficulty behind many lacks. But it cannot be denied, that the

potential also inside the given conditions are not fully used. As much as one can feel the necessity for

improvement of the conditions when it comes to buildings, materials and salary, changes must be taken

from inside the system by the teachers and principals themselves. Under the ‚conclusions’ we describe

this part more detailed.

C. Learning Materials

We have until now not started yet the process of analysing the obligatory teaching and learning materials

means, the official textbooks. There were some remarks, that some of them don’t really suit the goals they

should aim to. Nevertheless, most important is the sheer lack of textbooks in many schools. In every

classroom we have visited, only around half of the students were either working with their own textbook

or were sharing one. We were surprised to see, how often students were simply sitting quietly at their

desks, not disturbing but also not fulfilling any task simply because they were not in possession of the

textbook, a notebook or a pencil.

D. Ministry of Education

Our contact person in the ministry of education showed great interest not only in the project but also in the

professional discussion. Mr. Khann Puthy, Vice Chief Administration Office, Primary Education

Department, showed his support in general but especially when it comes to the MOU, for us it seems to be

of highest interest, not only to do the expected reporting properly, but to actively include key persons in

key divisions into the development. The Education Strategic Plan 2014 – 2018 and the revision of the

teacher training by 2020 have to be carefully considered when working on the development plan of the

Smiling Gecko Village School. Mr. Mao Saroeun, Deputy Head of Education Department, NIE, made

very clear that many international projects were making the mistake, not really taking the conditions and

legal framework of Cambodia in consideration. Too many projects would not show any sustainable result,

simply because they only would sustain as long as there is projects support. He used the term ‚education

projects in a bubble’, meaning that many education activities were either not taking care of local

conditions or would not try to involve the local, regional and national key holders. He mentioned that this

would not always be simple and admitted that corruption and lack of interest has to be tackled also in the

field of education and educational reform.

E. Provincial Teacher Training College

The visit in the Provincial Teacher Training College was both interesting and of high importance. The

discussion with the Director, Mr Hou Phearin and four teacher trainees gave good insights into the

situation of teacher training for primary teachers. All students that pass the national 12th grade exam with

the grades A, B or C are eligible to attend the College without further entering tests. No ‚A’ student ever

chose the teacher profession and in this year only three of the new students passed the test with the grade

‚B’. This fact by itself is not surprising having the international standards for professional choice in mind.

Working on making the teacher profession more attractive is never the less a big task of the ministry of

education, youth and sports. The director also pointed out, that any decision by the ministry would only

have an effect, if it would be backed off by the needed support and consequences. If there is a simple lack

of English professors not only in schools but at the beginning in the colleges and institutes no effect will

be seen in the schools. He made this clear by pointing out that a plan does not mean that a house is being

built. The director showed great interest in cooperation with SGC but also with the Zurich University of

Teacher Education if ever possible and it has to be discussed, if a long standing support and partnership

should be envisaged.

The discussion with the four teacher trainees touched several topics such as personal reasons for the

choice of the teacher’s profession and views on the effectively of teaching in society. Only one of the four

comes from a teachers´ family, the other three seem to come from families, in which the teachers´

profession is a step upwards in the social status. They all agreed that their parents were proud of their


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decision. All four made very clear, that they wanted to improve the situation of their country. They see

their task in passing on their own knowledge to the next generation, mentioning teachers they had

themselves as important examples. One of the discussion partners pointed out the difficult economic

situation and meant that it would be a win-win situation, if students could pay additional money to the

teachers and get in return a good education. It was not really clear, if this interview partner meant money

for additional classes or simply additional support for the regular teaching hours. They all pointed out that

they love theory. By asking additional question concerning this point it became clear, that they were

asking for additional knowledge both in content and in professional background information such as

psychology and methodology. We could not find out in which way the attached primary school is part of

the educational program and curriculum.

4. Conclusion A. Smiling Gecko School Setting

We propose the Smiling Gecko Village School (SCVS) starts as a full fledge private school starting with

childcare program, pre-school education, primary and lower secondary. This approach can guarantee all

pupils from Mea Nork Primary School to start and also other pupils living in the neighbourhood to attend

lower secondary together with their siblings. It also will make SGVS more attractive. A private school has

advantages as well as disadvantages. The decision to be a private school has different reasons. On the one,

SCVS needs to be a laboratory school if it wants to develop new approaches to learning and teaching. It

needs to have – in the framework of the national curriculum and fulfilling goals described in the national

Strategic Educational Plan 2014 – 2018 – certain space and liberties to develop and explore. Then SCVS

is dependent on teachers and school leaders who are fully committed to the schools basic ideas. We

propose that the decision to run a school covering the ages from 2 to 15 has its implications on the

construction program and time planning. It will not be necessary already to have a secondary school

centre from the beginning on, but at least one unit needs to be reserved for this level and the respective

teachers need to be hired.

The teachers for SCVS will be selected through an open school process. A profile for SC teachers shall be

developed and mentioned in the MOU. Teachers from Mea Nork Primary School will be able to apply

(see below) as well as teachers from all regions of Cambodia. Dormitories for single teachers as well as

couples will be ready for those coming from far. It would be favourable if the school could star at the

beginning of the official school year, since there are legal limits for pupils to transfer to a private school.

B. Options Concerning with the Mea Nork Primary School (MNPS)

The plan to build SCVS in combination with Mea Nork Primary School (MNPS) is more likely not a

realistic option. First and most important, there is not enough available land for the future development of

the school. The decision to be a private school also is hardly possible, if it is completely combined with

MNPS. There is a concern also, that teachers with public contract can be hindering the necessary

development process which could be an important reason for failure.

There has been already been invited allot of money and time into the renovation of MNPS. The school

leaders as well as the teachers have been part of a process to improve the teaching and learning quality as

well as the living conditions of the children. First results can be seen and it cannot be a plan to drop

MNPS when SCVS starts its programme. There are several options.

1. The school decides by itself not to be part anymore of any further development and is

disconnected from support and influence. Teachers can apply to work at SCVS and will go to the

planned assessment programme. Pupils can transfer to SCVS in accordance to the legal conditions.

2. Smiling Gecko School Component (SGSC) integrates all staff members of MNPS into a training

programme. Through this the teachers (and the school leaders) can show their commitment and have

the possibility for a priority Zulassung to SCVS. MNPS will never the less stay a state school ad it’s

teachers will be allegeable to trainings and support as well as the school itself being something like

the first Smiling Gecko Satellite School (SGSS).


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3. The two existing buildings will serve either both as Primary School premises during the day and

serve as Adult Education rooms in the afternoon or evenings. We strongly propose a different

solution: It is more likely that the number of students will drop in MNPS once the village school has

started. We propose to keep only one of the two buildings to be a primary school and the other to

become a Life Long Learning – Centre (LLL Centre) for the region. In this way the equipment of the

school but also the day long use can be adapted to the needs. In this way all the knowledge of the SC

Farm but also of the factory can be used and supported. It even could be thought of a possibility to

integrate the theoretical and academic education part for the dual apprentice approach for the

professions delivered by SGC.

C. In-service Teacher Training

The selected teachers will take part of an intensive and supportive in service teacher training programme.

The Cambodian school system proposes this approach but not all schools can or want to follow this most

needed professional development. The School based In-service Teacher Training (SITT) is mostly skill

based never the less supporting teachers with the needed academic and professional didactic and

pedagogic background information. Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich) will develop a

teachers’ manual together with a teachers’ portfolio. A team of Swiss and Cambodian professionals

(hopefully together with lecturers from the Provincial Teacher Training College - PTTC) will be

responsible for the training workshops, the distance learning program and for the mentoring on the job.

D. In-service Principal Training

Good School governance is a core factor for success. Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich)

will develop a principals’ manual together with a principals’ portfolio. A team of Swiss and Cambodian

professionals will support first the SGVS and afterwards also the satellite schools in their development.

We propose that specialist(s) from PH Zurich will realize especially for this purpose a fact finding

mission by the end of 2016.

E. Pre-service Teacher Training

As mentioned before, we plan to cooperate with the PTTC as much as possible. All new developments

and especially all materials shall be tested and backed up by the professionals of PTTC. They also shall

make use of the approaches and materials in the pre-service training of Primary School Teachers. If and

when this shall also be enlarged to the regional training centres and the National Institutes of Education

(NIE) has to be discussed and decided together with the respected institutions and administrations.

F. National Curriculum/Development Policy for Education 2014 – 2018/ UN Agenda 2030

Being aware of the recent development policies as well of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable

development, all plans and actions of SGC are in line with the National and international plan, policies

and programmes. SGSC aims at supporting Cambodia in fulfilling their commitments and promises. The

plans and reporting’s shall be in line with these important policies for quality education. Here are the three

policies of Education Strategic Plan 2014-2018:

Policy 1: Ensuring equitable access for all to education services

All children have access to all type of educational services, primary schools, secondary schools

and then opportunities to continue learning. For children who are unable to access formal

education alternatives will be provided. Increase the number of children and youth that have

access to all education levels with a focused attention on equity and access for the most

disadvantaged areas and groups of children. Increase opportunities for children to finish 12 years

education with a good knowledge and reasoning and logic skills who can build these skills and

knowledge through technical training, higher education and other means.

Policy 2: Enhancing the quality and relevance of learning

All children and youth have a relevant and quality learning experience enabling them to contribute

effectively to the growth of the nation. Ensure learning is of high quality and relates learning to


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socio-economic goals of the country and of local contexts; a quality framework that provides

learners, parents, communities, teachers and managers with outcome standards and monitoring and

reporting against these.

Policy 3: Ensuring effective leadership and management of education staff at all levels

Education services are provided effectively and flexibly. Efficient and professional management

provides best value (with a focus on results), timely and relevant monitoring and reporting of

results with effective feedback, measures for accountability and mechanisms for adjustment to

policy, strategy and programs at both national and subnational level. Management of public

education institutions can respond efficiently to emerging needs at school level.

G. Cambodian Student Textbooks

Another very core element for the development of teaching and learning is the proper use of the existing

(and obligatory) textbooks. Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich) will – together with the

professionals from Cambodia - develop a series of supportive materials, teacher’s guides and handouts for

students on how to work effectively with the official textbooks. Additional teaching aid and learning

materials shall be constantly developed. Once the school has started, this process shall be done together

with the willing and competent Village School Teachers (VST). This could then also be a source for

additional income for them. This development needs a close cooperation between Switzerland and

Cambodia. A skilled translator with pedagogical background needs to be hired as soon as possible.

To start with, PH Zurich will work on proposals on how to use the many amazing Cambodian Story books

(many of the bilingual). In the entire visited schools story books for all levels are available hardly ever

being used, only for display in the not intensively used libraries. We will integrate bookshelves and

reading corners in all the classrooms, where students have unlimited access to reading and working

materials. No student will ever be without learning and playing possibility during the class room hours.

The prepared additional support materials will bring allot of meaningful reading and writing moments to

the Cambodian pupils. No 6th Grade student will leave SGVS as functional as an alphabet.

H. Additional Teaching and Learning Material for Smiling Gecko Farm

The Smiling Gecko Farm has an amazing potential to be a realistic learning environment. During the

coming two years learning and teaching materials shall be developed to support pupils of all ages in real

life learning. It will be foreseen to have gardens and life stock possibilities of the pupils on the farm.

I. Extra Classes

Since we can follow our own organisation of the curriculum we suggest staying always with the state

curriculum classes in the morning 7 – 11 o’clock a.m. After lunch we will go on with 3 units of 40

minutes each finishing school around 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This gives the students the time to support

their parents for needed work at home or on the fields of the family farms. Day-care certainly will go on

and there is also a possibility for students to stay longer to work on their individual home tasks for school,

supported by one of the teachers or teacher’s assistants.

The afternoon classes shall on the one hand be filled with art, crafts, sport and music. Additional English

shall be provided. But another main element will be all the content given by the farm and its surroundings.

The possible subjects shall not only be taught through the conventional 40 minute slots. Gardening or

farming, repair work of furniture, bicycles etc. might need the afternoon in one block. There is the

proposal that at least two afternoons will be practical work for each student. Workings stations will be set

up one after the other, supported directly by the staff working there and/or by teachers.

J. Manual Working Station for Students

As mentioned above, practical work will serve on the one hand as balance to the academic learning. It is

on the other hand also direct support for the future choice of an apprenticeship if possible. Job orientation


15

will start in lower secondary at the latest, prepared by life skills in primary. The following working

stations shall be set up step by step:

• Bicycle Maintenance

• Wood Work

• Gardening

• Livestock

• Irrigation System

• Construction

• Cooking

• Waste management

K. School Facilities

Smiling Gecko Village School (SGVS) facility is much more than a passive container of the educational

process: it is, rather, an integral component of the conditions of learning. They layout and design of

facilities contributes to the place experience of the students, educators and community members (villagers

in the farm houses). Depending on the quality of its design and management, the facility can contribute to

a sense of ownership, safety and security. Here are some of SGVS’s facilities:

• Soccer Field

• Dining Hall

• Teacher Dormitory

Student Learning Lab

Library

Clinic

THE END

Documents

1. Objectives of Mission The objectives of our mission are ... · The meeting with Mr. Principal gets ... the morning before we were allowed to talk to her since she had a group of