Tag: Education

Educational Transformation in Cambodia?

The Minister of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia, Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, has a dream. He dreams of a transformed education system in Cambodia where students no longer learn by rote but use their own reason and imagination freely under the guidance of their teachers to grow in knowledge and wisdom. He dreams of classrooms, schools, colleges and universities where learning is an enjoyable and enriching human experience empowering Cambodians to choose what is best for their long-term happiness and fulfillment rather than for short-term gain.

 Fe y Alegría Education Workshop in Siem Reap

Over the last thirty-two years, I have attended many boring workshops on Cambodian education.  Yet the workshop in Siem Reap on the 19th and 20th of November crackled with energy and joy.  Carlos Fritzen S.J. had travelled all the way from Brazil in his capacity as the international coordinator of Fe y Alegría, the popular education movement that originated in Latin America.  He was accompanied by two other experts from the Spanish NGO Entreculturas, Pablo Funes and Maria Laiglesia.   The real genius of this movement is its capacity to work within the structures of Government schools to help improve them in all the countries in which it works. Continue reading “Educational Transformation in Cambodia?”