By Meg Davies | Senior Development Officer
Poverty, domestic expectations, and cultural traditions already present major barriers to education for Cambodian women and girls. As schools across the country remain closed, ongoing COVID-19 restrictions threaten to exacerbate these vulnerabilities as they create further obstacles for disadvantaged girls.
ISF has pivoted to remote support to make sure students’ education is not further disrupted. Students like Theary are benefiting from a wealth of online lessons and resources so they can continue their learning, alongside monthly data-top up cards to provide internet access. Her family can also receive additional livelihood support – including access to extra monthly food parcels and rental subsidies – to ease increasing financial burdens.
With many state schools not having the finances or resources to offer online classes, Theary recognizes the magnitude of the opportunity to continue learning through ISFs initiatives. However, she shares that the virtual classroom has introduced new obstacles - like stress from social isolation and trouble focusing due to a poor internet connection.
Fortunately, with the help of ISF, she’s come up with a creative way to battle these challenges. Her teachers have allocated more time to work one-on-one with students who have missed lessons due to an unstable internet connection and she communicates with her teachers and peers via mobile apps like Telegram. This all ensures she is getting the support she needs to prepare for her upcoming exams in October.
Before the pandemic, Theary shares that she didn’t have much experience in technology. In response to the shift to online learning, she's developed transferable skills - such as using technology to supplement her studies - which she’s excited to implement in a post-pandemic world. Despite the new challenges faced, with your help ISF is continuing to educate, motivate, and empower vulnerable students so they can continue their education.
Thank you for helping young women build brighter futures.
Join us in breaking barriers to education for disadvantaged Cambodian Children
As Cambodia continues to tackle the outbreak of COVID-19, ISF is unsure when we will be able to welcome our students back in-person to our Education Centres. Unfortunately, restrictions are also having an ongoing impact on our fundraising activities with our annual events once again being postponed. To streamline our efforts, going forward we will be focusing our fundraising activities through our Break Barriers to Education for Cambodian Children Project.
Inspiring, empowering, and educating girls and women remains at the heart of all our initiatives and the holistic support provided to girls to ensure they can remain in school is incorporated into this project. You will continue to receive updates from ISF and what we are doing to break barriers to education for vulnerable children via this project.
We hope you enjoy future updates about our Education Programme as a whole and thank you once again for kindness and generosity to ISF.
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