How can we turn learning crisis to opportunity?

Quality of Education is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the members of the United Nations in 2015 as a blueprint for peace and prosperity for the people and the planet.  In recent  years, we have witnessed tremendous improvements in the quality of learning and collaboration especially in our modern world.  

In many countries, education is a huge business. For example, in Australia, education is it's 3rd largest industry, still growing and estimated to be worth over $33billion by 2025! The EdTech sector just saw Yuanfudao raise $1billion to service its 400m users and they are joining a group of 14 EdTech unicorns valued over $1billion.

​Great news, right? Surely education should be easily elevated to the next level? Unfortunately, reality is showing us a different picture especially in developing countries like Cambodia.

Despite the amazing technical possibilities and success of online tutoring, the WorldBank has clearly called out the issue of ‘Learning Poverty’.

What does this mean? 53% of students in low to middle income countries cannot read a simple text by the age of 10.  In poor countries this can go up all the way to 80%!

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​Sadly Cambodia faces a Learning Poverty as well with an estimated 51% of students not being able to properly read when they leave primary school. Furthermore, students are dropping out of school or not attending schools at the right age which compound the quality of learning challenge.
 
To holistically tackle this challenge requires broad government, NGO and societal collaboration in order to advance the necessary infrastructure for schools, teachers and students.  Ideally this also includes investment into technology and broader access to internet as a means to deliver high quality education but also as a backup and recovery for systemic shocks like COVID-19.

The question for a relatively young charity like PeopleStories is then obviously ‘where do we fit into this puzzle’?

​The first and most basic step is to raise public awareness, to foster discussion and also empathy and compassion for those less fortunate than most of us. This does not mean pitying others but realizing that education drives everything from increased job prospects and wealth to greater tolerance, protection of the environment and a more stable and peaceful society.


However, we obviously want to take one step further and literacy, as identified by the WorldBank, is one of the key enablers for successful education. Without it, school becomes hugely frustrating, the quality of learning suffers and students drop out.  
 

​With our  Khmer For Success literacy program we have identified and started to address exactly this issue. Through accurate student assessment, teachers and schools able to effectively direct their efforts to specifically help those students who need it.

Whilst we do not have the means to install the next 5G network to enable digital education, we strongly believe that our efforts (with your kind support!) are going a long way to start tackling the learning poverty from the ground up with a combination of school infrastructure support, teacher training, student motivation through sports, learning assessments and of course the sponsorship of underprivileged students who will hopefully become role models for their communities of what can be achieved through the power of education!
 
When we talk about collaborative effort then this also includes you!
 
Want to help education more inclusive, effective and  resistant?  
Share your idea with us below or email us at [email protected]
 
Want to bring more awareness to this learning crisis we are together facing?
Share this post with your network and have a conversation about what you can do.


*Links to data source and references have been embedded in the contents.