According to the report of UNDP published in 2009 showed that Cambodia is still falling far below other ASEAN countries on education, receiving the lowest rank compared with other ASEAN countries. Cambodia stands on number 122nd for the quality of education, 87th for the primary enrolment and 121st for education expenditure.

In Battambang the primary schools still not enough for the children to study. Some of the school buildings are almost fall down as they are eaten by the insects and as they are the old. Even so, those children are still using those building as their schools and their classes. They are disturbed very much during the rainy and the windy season. Beside the interruption, it is also dangerous for those children to sit inside those buildings. There are many schools are situating like this at the moment and some of the directors of schools are already alert and inform to the local authorities as well the department of education of Battambang that those buildings are about to fall down one day but there is no action yet on those buildings.

Like in Kompongpil Primary school, it was built in 1993 and it was made by the wood. PKO and KCF as the donor of PKO decided to work out with this school and willing to reinforce this school as the model school for other schools in Battambang as well for other province. In this pilot school, with the financial support of our donors and in cooperation with the department of education, PKO is now implementing different actions in order to offer good education for those children who are studying in this primary school.

What PKO is doing in this pilot phase at this school?

• We are constructing different necessary buildings such as one building for the school with 6 rooms and installing with all equipments and materials, latrines, water storage, hand pump, office for school staff, library installing with all necessary equipments, materials, books and games, Fence and gate…etc. This construction is on the process of constructing and is about to finish all the construction at the end May of 2010.

• PKO encourages and supports this school to implement the children friendly school program as it is a new teaching approach that the ministry of education committed to implement in every school in Cambodia but this commitment can not be met yet because of different reasons. It is a student centered approach. PKO provides the financial package for this school to implement the activities of the child friendly school approach. We also provide to those teachers and school director the training about the child friendly school approach.

• PKO provides the monitoring support to this school by its staff, by one representative of the department of education and by one representative of the district education office. During the visit they provide the technical support to the teachers and the director of the school.

• PKO organizes the study tour for the teachers, local authorities, one representative of department of education, one representative of district education office, chief of village and the representative of the parents to visit the school in the other province which is good school to learn from.

• PKO helps this school to establish the School Support Committee in order to help this school stronger in term of management of the school.