As the new school year will begin on January 2, local authorities and education officials in remote rural areas have launched a campaign to promote the enrolment of younger children. Six year olds should begin primary school, and younger children should be attending kindergarten.
This school calendar has changed due to Covid-19, so there are challenges, authorities admitted.
“As in previous years, before starting new school year, the management of each school have prepared maps showing where students should gather,” said Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports spokesman Ros Soveacha.
“The next academic year will follow the instructions numbered 45 and 46, dated December 5,” he told The Post.
Nine villages in Rolea Ba’ier district’s Teuk Hout commune of Kampong Chhnang province launched campaigns on December 17 to inform parents and guardians of the importance of enrolling their children.
“We are using remorks and tractors with loudspeakers to spread the word about enrolments,” said Teuk Hout commune chief Chey Mot, who collaborated with nearly 100 school principals, teachers and officials.
Since registration began in two villages, Trapeang Krapeu and Teuk Hout, in mid-November, 43 children have enrolled at Teuk Hout Primary School.
The school’s principal Sim Chenda said there many children in both villages who were yet to enrol.
She acknowledged that due to the changes to this year’s school calendar, some parents were unaware that enrolments had begun.
“If we didn’t run this campaign, parents who go to work very early in the morning might not receive notice. I am pleased at the work the school committee has done on the campaign,” she added.
She emphasised that it was important to run the campaign each year, not just to ensure the enrolment of new students, but to reenrol those who had dropped out.
Chenda said several students had left school at the end of grades four or five to help their parents farm and earn money for their households.
“Their teachers have spoken to their parents and urged them to reconsider, and most of the parents will try to make sure the students come back. There is also one student who has elected to become a monk, rather than returning,” she added.
“As we prepare for the new school year, we are cleaning up the school grounds and preparing the classrooms for the January 2 start of term,” she said.
Chhen Sophat, a villager in Kampong Damrei commune’s Brama village of Kratie province’s Chhlong district, has two grandchildren, aged six and seven. She said the campaign had not yet reached her village.
“My grandchildren go to work with their parents at a rubber plantation,” said the 62-year-old.
Kratie province’s Veal Kanseng Primary School principal Koeun Phearum said that his school had been late to start the campaign as the education ministry instructions were delayed.
“We will start the campaign on December 25, a little closer to the start of the school year. We will place loudspeakers in the villages and will also visit the rubber plantations to let the parents know as much as possible,” he said.
Phong Kea, chief of the Kampong Seila commune of Preah Sihanouk province, had not yet received information from the education ministry on the outreach campaign.
He said that once he got the notification from the commune council, he and the teachers of the commune would work with village authorities to conduct the campaign.
Kea added that with more than 1,800 families in the commune, kindergarten and grade one enrolments had increased annually.
“It is very important to let families know when it is time to enrol their children,” he said.
He acknowledged that there were some difficulties regarding documents such as birth certificates and confirmation forms, as they had not all been returned by ministry from last year.
However, he said the commune council had met and decided that students who lacked the correct documentation would be allowed to enrol, and the documents could be submitted later.
“Even in the most remote parts of the Kingdom, we must adhere to the government’s principles. One of these is that all children have the right to an education,” he added.
Education ministry spokesman Soveacha requested that the media and all stakeholders participate in sharing the new dates for the school year.
“The ministry conducts annual reviews to determine the best time to begin the enrolment period for the following school year,” he told The Post.
