Education grant targets disadvantaged children

A girl studies in school. KT/Chor Sokunthea

The Education Ministry’s Capacity Development Partnership Fund has accepted another multimillion dollar grant from the Global Partnership for Education in order to improve the quality of education for students lacking economic support.

According to a GPE-Education Ministry joint statement issued yesterday, GPE approved a $20.6 million grant to support Cambodia’s initiative to improve the quality of primary education.

The statement said that the grant will particularly benefit disadvantaged children by fostering effective teaching methods and management skills for educators and leaders, such as school principals, as well as local and nation-wide education service providers.

The grant itself is expected to consolidate the efforts of the ministry, Unesco, Unicef as well as Cambodia’s other education development partners such as the EU, Sweden and USAID.

Education Minister Choun Naron said that this is the third time GPE granted support in the education sector, noting that educating disadvantaged children could be better facilitated.

“Additional GPE support will allow us to broaden and deepen our pool of qualified teachers, giving more children from disadvantaged groups the conditions they need to succeed,” he said.

According to GPE CEO Alice Albright, Cambodia has continuously demonstrated its commitment to make education stronger and more accessible to children.

“Through this third consecutive grant, GPE will help accelerate the country’s remarkable record of educational progress,” Ms Albright said.

Debora Comini, a Unicef representative, said the contribution to the Capacity Development Partnership Fund will enable progress in crucial areas of the education system.

“[The grant] caters to the needs of disadvantaged children, more effective implementation of school development plans and mentoring for teachers to improve quality of learning,” Ms Comini said.

Khmer Times
Sen David