Education ministry to distribute home learning packs to young children to improve home learning

Education ministry to distribute home learning packs to young children to improve home learning

The Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports will distribute this week home learning packs to support young children affected by school disruptions in Cambodia, while many schools have begun to re-open, the majority are using a blended approach which combines face-to-face learning and home learning.

According to a press release, the home learning packs are supported by its Capacity Development Partnership Fund (CDPF) partners, the European Union (EU), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The distribution of the home learning packs was announced at a launch event held in Phnom Penh on Sept. 28 by videoconference. Speakers included Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Ms. Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador to Cambodia, Magnus Saemundsson, First Secretary of the Swedish Embassy, Hanh Nguyen, USAID/Cambodia Deputy Mission Director, and Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF Representative in Cambodia.

The distribution, starting this week, will reach every Grade 1 and Grade 2 student in all 7,304 public primary schools across the 25 provinces.

An additional set of materials has been developed to support 5,000 minority language students in Cambodia’s northeastern provinces to learn in their own language.

The new home learning packs have been designed to support children in classrooms and at home, making them relevant and effective in all situations.

They will also be invaluable to children whose schools remain closed due to COVID-19 risk factors, ensuring they are not left behind.

The packs include age-appropriate books and self-study materials to improve reading, writing, spelling and mathematics, all complementing the MoEYS Grade 1 and 2 curricula.

They also include information on how parents can support their children’s education and continue to protect them from COVID-19, accompanied by a bar of soap and delivered in an environmentally friendly, reusable bag.

Dr Naron said that this has been a very challenging time for education, around the whole world, including here in Cambodia.

“We are beginning to reopen schools now, but we have to do so with caution, adopting an approach which blends in-person learning with home learning. These new materials will help to make this approach successful, and are particularly crucial to the 50 percent of students who cannot access online learning in their home. Thanks to this support, our Grade 1 and 2 students will be prepared when classrooms are fully open again.”

Ms Moreno, EU Ambassador to Cambodia, said that schools will re-open but these children will never be six or seven again, the age that provides the best window of opportunity for children to learn to read, spell and count well.

“We know that paper-based learning is more effective for learning amongst this age group than online learning, which is why we have been so pleased to work in partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia and all our CDPF partners to deliver the home learning packs,” she said. Chea Vannak – AKP/ Khmer Times