Schools for Children of Cambodia (SCC) is a UK-registered charity that was established in 2003. To date, SCC has supported seven primary schools, improving access to and quality of education for almost 3,000 students.
Our Mission
Schools for Children of Cambodia is committed to ensuring that every child has the equal right to enjoy a quality education, and believes that this is the route out of poverty and the basis for sustainable development.
Our Vision
We see a day when every Cambodian child will have access to a free, quality education, which empowers them, their families and communities to realize their full potential.
Our Core Values
Schools for Children of Cambodia (SCC) supports, develops and partners programs that reflect our core values:
- Access to a free, quality education for every child
- Inclusion and empowerment of those we seek to help
- Honesty and transparency in everything we do
- Respect for the culture, environment and national laws of where we work
- An egoless approach to fulfilling real needs with limited resources
What Quality Education Means to Us
SCC observes and supports the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education, and the widely accepted standards that define a relevant, quality education for all:
- The shared belief that every child can be educated
- Safe, clean and orderly schools, providing an environment conducive to learning
- Educational content that is relevant to the lives of the students
- Adequate books and learning materials
- Ongoing training and development of teachers
- Strong school leadership
- Parent and community involvement in the education of their children and the running of their schools
Our Programs
SCC engages in the following programs to advance access and quality of education:
Primary School Development: We work alongside communities and schools to identify problems that affect access to and quality of education and to implement solutions. Our approach is to empower communities to develop their schools, improve education and ensure long-term sustainability. We respond to the needs of the community and school by providing new classrooms, libraries, teaching and learning resources, teacher and principal training, and community-capacity building.
Student Sponsorship: We sponsor secondary education for disadvantaged children who otherwise would not be able to complete their schooling. We provide uniforms, school supplies, and financial support to cover informal class fees. Our mentoring and encouragement help keep students motivated to complete their education.
Advocacy & Awareness: We inform communities of their right to free, basic education as well as raise awareness of the value of educating their children. We also share the problems we see at the grassroots level with other NGOs and government education authorities to help bring about positive and sustainable change.
Why Cambodia?
The infrastructure of Cambodia's educational system was devastated by the Khmer Rouge and subsequent civil war. Schools were destroyed, books were burned and nearly an entire generation of the country's educated people was killed. Years of rebuilding have helped to re-establish schools and train new teachers, but Cambodia continues to struggle to educate its children. Today, more than two thirds of children in Cambodia still do not complete a basic education.1
There are a myriad of challenges that contribute to the country's poor access and quality of basic education:
- Poverty forces children to forgo school to support their families' basic needs
- Education is undervalued among parents and children, particularly for girls
- Children's poor health prevents them from attending school
- Schools are far from children's homes
- Lack of adequate teaching and learning resources and high student-teacher ratios contribute to high repeat and drop-out rates among students
- Lack of early-learning education means children are not school-ready
1 EMIS Office, Department of Planning, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 2006-2007