Education Cambodia Project #44450

Empowering Cambodian children with language

by ODC Organization

Project Report | May 5, 2021
First Quarterly Report -- 2021

By Chhaiya IM | Project Leader

Dear Supporters, Teachers, Students, Parents and Family Members,

The three months since we started our new academic year have passed in a blink of an eye. We hope you are well and safe during this uncertain time and would like to express our thanks for your continued support to help us make the impossible possible.

Last year, we told you of our plans to run the first pilot of the Full-Time program, teaching our students English, Math, Science and Social Studies in English starting from May 2021, but in response to the over-enrolment the ODC board decided unanimously to revise that decision and move the start of the program forward for those who met the full-time program’s criteria. As a result, we managed to accommodate 121 pupils in our classes in accordance with our limited resources, for the first term of the year, 29 of whom are attending the pilot program which started on 1^st February.

Midway through the first quarter of 2021, while many countries have recently been successful in slowing Covid-19, our region of the world has seen a recent surge in cases. Even though we have received vaccines from the international community and an increasing number of people have been vaccinated, our daily new case numbers continue to be high.

Since the start of the latest outbreak, the government has announced the closure of all schools to prevent further spread. Like all schools, ODC has remained closed in compliance with the local regulations. During the closure, ODC’s team has been active in ensuring our students are able to keep learning in the hope that we can maintain their level of understanding, if only by treading water, through delivering worksheet packages, creating internet-based learning approaches and keeping in touch with them through telephone calls and Facebook messenger.

20^th January 2021, we sent three teachers on a training course on How to Teach English. The course focused mainly on teaching the four Macro skills. They have completed the training course successfully. Before the school lockdown, it had been clear that each teacher had tried to use the techniques they learnt from the course and each classroom was much more active and the students got engaged actively.

Last year, we created two scholarship programs to help our students’ families endure the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. So far this year, through these programs we have provided opportunities to three young, capable and enthusiastic girls to train as teachers. ODC has also found an additional qualified teacher to cover one shift of the full-time program.

Conscious of the students placed on the waiting list, the ODC board has discussed expanding facilities by creating additional classroom(s) in order to accommodate them when the Covid-19 situation allows us to go back to our normal in-person classes. We want to seize this great opportunity to build the classroom(s) whilst students are not allowed on campus. This will also ensure that with our student numbers still increasing year on year, our facilities are ready to implement our future plan for growth from 2022. More details on this will be forthcoming.

In closing, we would like to reiterate our whole-hearted gratitude for your on-going supportand generosity. It has been very clear that your commitment to ODC’s cause has been tremendously significant in keeping us moving forward in our endeavor to achieve the betterment of Cambodian society and in particular to open as many doors to opportunity as possible for our students.

Sincerely,

Chhaiya IM

Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization

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Feb 19, 2021
ODC Organization End-of-Year Letter--2020

By Chhaiya IM | Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization

Dear Supporters, Teachers, Students, Parents and Family Members,

As Cambodia and the world continue to grapple with the pandemic, we hope you’re in good spirits and health! While there’s a lot of uncertainty, we know that we need to adapt fast to our changing reality. Your continued support in these challenging times has enabled us to innovate to better serve our community.

2020 started well but due to Covid-19restrictions, the school was ordered to close on 7^th March. ODC had to adapt very quickly and switched to distributing learning packages weekly andutilizing cell phones to enable students and teachers to interact. Online based learning via Facebook Messenger was also introduced. On the 9^thNovember, ODC received permission from the government to re-open. However, on 28^thNovember, there was again community outbreak of Covid-19, and all schools were closed. Thankfully the conditions have improved in Cambodia and we have resumed our in-person teaching in early January 2021.

ODC is one of a handful of educational NGOs that has innovated and continued to support our students and community during this pandemic. Teachers may not have been able to have their students physically in the classroom, but they remained connected and continued to teach creatively and passionately. The commitment, resilience and hard work of our teachers were outstanding and ensured that our students were able to continue learning. The “silver lining” to our new remote learning strategies meant that parents became much more involved in their children’s education and gained a better understanding of our ODC mission.

In December, ODC began its open-enrollment procedures for 2021. To our utmost surprise, 73 new students registered! The reputation of ODC as a school that delivers quality English teaching by caring and committed teachers has spread to villages further afield. The children aged between 5 and 16 were given a placement test and all parents were interviewed. ODC was able to offer places to most of the children but due to a lack of classrooms some had to be put on a waiting list. In February 2021, ODC will start its full-time curriculum pilot program for primary aged students. A group of 30 students will study English, Math, Science and Social Science, with all subjects taught in English. This program will greatly accelerate and improve the students’ proficiency in English and broaden their understanding in important learning areas. In 2021, ODC will have 121 students enrolled in both our full time and part time programs and 25 children on our waiting list. It is hoped that ODC will be able to conduct the full-time curriculum and follow through the 7-year plan for our primary school students. The part-time English classes will ultimately be for secondary school students and young adults. All of our students will be prepared for the advanced language certification testing that will open new educational and employment doors for them.

We are very confident that our students will also be empowered to play a positive role in our Cambodian society and the world. In times like this, we’re reminded of how connected we all are. Thank you for being part of our community. Without you, none of it is possible. Your impact will be long lasting and the people of Cambodia thank you most wholeheartedly.

Sincerely

Chhaiya IM

Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization

P.S. For those interested in even more detail, please follow this link to our 2020 Annual Report.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yb51kDjhli5yDtC8Plq9PduAetMVQ8Jk/view?usp=sharing

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Oct 26, 2020
Third Quarterly Year Report- 2020

By Chhaiya Im | Founder and Headmaster

Dear Supporters, Teachers, Students, Parents and Family Members,

With the Covid-19 pandemic impacting everyday life, we hope you’re in good spirits and health! We would like to begin by expressing our deepest gratitude for your continued support in these unpredictable and challenging times.

We had hope to reopen and welcome back our students to the classroom but unfortunately the Cambodian Ministry of Education has not given permission for NGOs to do so due to the ongoing pandemic. In the meantime, we have adapted to this new reality of non-contact learning and found innovative and creative ways to engage our students and reach out to our community safely. Our teachers continue to work tirelessly to connect with our students daily, via telephone or/and the internet. Educational materials are distributed weekly and students’ progress are closely monitored. These new approaches have provided opportunities for the teachers and students to utilize technology as a fun and effective way to learn. We are extremely proud of our ODC staff, students and parents who continue to show tremendous resilience during these uncertain times.

ODC has taken advantage of this time to provide additional professional development to our teachers by upskilling their IT competency and introducing creative and more inclusive teaching strategies. Teachers are undertaking an advanced English course to further improve their own English proficiency. They are looking forward to putting into practice their new skills and further engaging their students whenever they are allowed to return to the classroom.

Our Teaching Scholarship program has begun with three young trainees who have a real passion for teaching English to young children. They are learning valuable professional skills that will assist them in their future career. They will act as Teacher Assistants at ODC when the school reopens. They are very keen to share their own experiences with students. The ODC Merit Scholarship introduced in July identified three students with outstanding academic potential whose families were particularly devasted by Covid-19. ODC has been able to provide some financial assistance to these families.

The pandemic has given us much time to reflect upon and evaluate our work. We are constantly seeking better ways to deliver our educational outcomes. After due consideration, we have decided to pilot an extended curriculum to include Maths, Science and Social Sciences and increase teacher-student contact time to two and a half hours daily. The pilot program will commence in May 2021 and the first cohort of students will be children aged 5-6. This will expose them to the learning of English at an early age and broaden their understanding in other important learning areas. All subjects will be instructed in English, with greater emphasis on the 4 macro-skills; listening, speaking, writing and reading. In December we will be providing you with more detail on the scope and intended impact of this new program. We are very confident that it will enable our students to achieve much more advanced educational outcomes and empower our students through education. Our dream is that our students will be able to access greater opportunities to build a bright future for themselves and the country.

In times like this, we’re reminded of how connected we all are. Thank you for being part of our community. Without you, none of it is possible. Your impact will be long lasting and the people of Cambodia thank you most wholeheartedly.

Sincerely

Chhaiya IM

Founder and Headmaster, ODC Organization

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