Mobile School Pulling Into Villages

Since 2020 and with COVID spreading fast, children in rural Cambodia could not access any learning for months and this is what sparked the idea for a Mobile School.
 
Together with the district Governor of Bakong, PeopleStories recently announced the Smart School Anywhere initiative to bring digital and vocational learning to children in rural Cambodia. 
 
Director of the Ministry of Education, Youth & Sports (Bakong District) Mr. Tann Reangsey said, “One thing we (the Ministry) value about working with PeopleStories is our ‘common goal’ which is to help our children gain a better future through education. I really enjoy our open, honest and understanding partnership with PeopleStories.” 

Stage 1 of Smart School Anywhere is launching a Mobile School, bringing digital learning to Secondary Schools in rural Cambodia. The Mobile School is nearing its launch! With the help of a very determined tuk tuk, children in the villages will have digital education resources brought to them. 
 
Speaking of the tuk tuk; a local tuk tuk driver wanted to donate his “retired” (and very broken) tuk tuk to us.  Our Founder & CEO Victoria, accepted the driver’s kind donation and worked with teacher Kimsong to find a local repairer to convert the once passenger tuk tuk into a carriage / classroom. 
 
Teacher Kimsong shared, “Because the tuk tuk was so broken, it took a month to repair, replacing many parts, right down to the wheels.”

Developing digital programs to bring to the children has been a huge part of making the Mobile School a reality. Our international volunteer Vata has been working hard with others in the development of the e-learning modules. Vata shared, “I am glad to be part of the Learning & Development team.  Currently I am supporting our Smart School Anywhere project by designing the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) e-learning modules.” 
 
He continued, “I am pretty excited about getting the children to discover the world of ICT in a fun way.”
 
Bringing digital learning to some of the most remote areas of Cambodia certainly presents unique challenges. Access to stable internet and children that do not have experience with online technology are just a couple of those hurdles that need to be explored when creating digital educational programs. 

Vata expressed how he had to keep these things in mind while bringing his programming ideas to the table and shared, “Yes, of course in these types of projects there are lots of challenges and things we need to bear in mind when creating a program, the first one being the user experience, then we have the language barriers and finally the content to be aligned with the Ministry of Education. How to overcome these is with two simple words: creativity and adaptability.”
 
The Mobile School pilot is scheduled to go live on 21 Feb and it will be at Chea Smonn secondary school. 

Lowering school drop-out, keeping the children engaged in education, teaching them 21st century skills to better their lives is at the heart of this project.  Everyone involved has been working hard for months to get to this moment with one clear purpose: to bring quality education to the Cambodian children. 
 
Help empower the next generation today: https://ps-schoolforlife2022.raisely.com
 
 
Story written by: Volunteer Kathy Aunkst