University Education for Young Women in Cambodia

The COVID-19 crisis has posed challenges for people across the world. For CATALYST scholars, our continued support during these difficult times is crucial as girls are unable to attend school and no longer have the support of in-person meetings. Keeping this in mind, we have made some adjustments to our approach as this virus continues to affect all of our lives. 

On March 14, the government of Cambodia announced the closure of all public and private schools. Most of our CATALYST scholars left their city dwellings and travelled home to stay with their families, some of them however, are still working jobs and doing self-study. The girls continue to write daily journals and stay in contact with one another through Facebook and WhatsApp groups. Students are engaged with online learning and are able to continue their studies with at home materials. We have ensured access to online learning by providing cell phones to CATALYST girls who did not have internet access. 

Monthly CATALYST meetings have been shifted to online video calls. CATALYST Year 3 girls are continuing group projects while Year 4 students are working on their theses, even as data collection has become difficult. Everyone is very happy that they can stay connected and the monthly meetings encourage and support focus on their studies. One scholar, Sreynich, said “Monthly meetings online are very powerful. They encourage me not to forget my lessons.”

We also began conducting daily online English language classes for all 56 CATALYST scholars. The girls are divided into their language levels and every morning they receive an assignment to complete by the end of the day. We have 90% participation! CATALYST scholar Theary reflects on the online English class: "I have learned and researched with different exercises, and learned to do it on time."

Here are some stories we would like to highlight:

Dina, a 4th year student in Accounting at Vanda Accounting Institute in Phnom Penh, is working in Phnom Penh and still receives her full salary but her studies are affected by COVID-19. Her school has begun giving online classes (through FB live, FB messenger & Telegram) but in order to attend the classes she must use extra data, her phone bill has gone up from $2/month to $5/month to support her online studies. Additionally, the class schedule sometimes clashes with her work and teachers can change the schedule suddenly which makes the balance between online learning and work challenging.

Yanida is a 4th year Economics student at Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh. Her school doesn't provide online study or any form of group assignments. She is currently writing her thesis and contacts her teachers online when she needs assistance. Her thesis topic is “Improving Family Livelihood Through Informal Economy”. COVID-19 has impacted her ability to collect data and it has thus been difficult to get work done. 

We are so impressed by the dedication of every scholarship recipient during these challenging times. First year CATALYST girls are anxious to get back to school while 3rd and 4th year girls are eager to graduate. They miss living in the new CATALYST residential home and can’t wait to be back together and in school. 

Thank you so much for being a part of their journey and for your support during this unpredictable time.