University Education for Young Women in Cambodia

Despite all the challenges due to COVID-19, 27 CATALYST scholars have successfully graduated their bachelor degree programs and a graduation ceremony is planned for February 21 in Siem Reap Province, where their families will be invited to witness this meaningful and hard-earned achievement.

With 27 students leaving the program and continued commitment from current donors to fill their spots, in mid-December CATALYST informed year 12GATE beneficiaries who were about to graduate high school and placed an announcement on Facebook that we were providing 23 scholarships to girls from low-income families for their tertiary education.

Soon after the announcement, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport announced that all year 12 students would pass the board exam automatically due to the disruption of COVID-19 on education in Cambodia. With this new development, within two weeks of putting out the announcement, CATALYST received more than 300 applications country wide to fill 23 places, which made our social audit very difficult. We had to limit our social audit to only two main areas where we work, Phnom Penh City and Siem Reap Province. We conducted 56 social audits of those who were shortlisted and went through a tough decision to finally grant 23 scholarships to the most deserving girls. We are certain that through the support of CATALYST, their lives will change forever.

Last year, CATALYST started a residential house in Siem Reap for 17 students to stay and this year, the program decided to rent a house in Phnom Penh as well, for the 16 new scholars to stay together. We now have two residential houses! This is something we have always wanted to make happen so we can work with our scholars better to build their capacity to become the agent of change and role model in their community through an immersive CATALYST experience.

Thanks to the generosity of all the donors, we are making a difference in many young women's lives. We hope in the future to be able to offer more girls opportunities through CATALYST, to meet the huge demand for higher education scholarships here in Cambodia.