What’s In Store For EYC in 2022

With 2022 underway, we wanted to share our two main focus areas for the year.

1. “Back to School” Campaign:  Getting students back in the classroom at EYC and state schools and providing them the resources they need to get back on track after two years of lockdowns and school closures.
2. Ongoing Programming Improvements:  Continuing efforts started during the pandemic to improve the overall quality of our curriculum and teaching methodologies and further upgrade our technology and digital offerings.

Back to School Campaign

The impact of the last two years on students’ education has been significant. While we worked to mitigate the challenges of school closures and lockdowns, the reality is that much learning was lost.

The “Back to School” campaign looks to address this learning loss. It includes an Initial Assessment conducted to identify students not yet re-enrolled in classes as well as the barriers they face to resuming their education. The following will be utilized to help overcome the identified challenges:

• Boarding opportunities at the schools for students without homes or families in Phnom Penh.
• Income offsets to families for students who have had to drop out to support their families to return to school.
• Loaner Bikes to help students with transportation needs to and from school.
• Scholarships for English Classes, vocational schools, tutoring, and study materials
• Daycare aid so older children can return to class rather than stay home to look after younger siblings.

Programming Improvements

Program improvements will continue in the areas of STEM, English, Scholarships, Student Leadership, and Measurement and Evaluation.

STEM (Programming & Robotics)

Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we have implemented STEM programming with our students in partnership with Sabai Code. To date, we have offered coding and robotics programs to 92 students (36 males/56 females). Additionally, a group of students (youth and adult) participated very successfully in the World Robotics Olympiad Competition Cambodia Round and International Round Click here to learn more. 

We believe that exposure to the STEM curriculum will aid our students in pursuing future careers and opportunities. This year, we look to further integrate STEM into our overall curriculum, with additional students participating in EYC and Sabai Code classes.

• Weekly STEM classes will be taught at EYC schools by EYC teachers who have attended the Sabai Code Trainer the Trainer program.
  • Students participating include 31 females and 15 males ranging in ages from 10 to 16 years old.
• Six adult students (two females and four males) will join an Advance Front-End course & Full Stack Developer boot camp at Sabai Code.

As 2022 progresses, we expect another 22 students to participate in the Computer Science Discovery and Robotics classes.

Enhancements to English Programming

Strong English skills are critical to future job opportunities. Over the last few years, we have worked to strengthen our teaching methodologies and English curriculum and build opportunities for our students to develop their speaking and comprehension skills through direct communication with native English speakers. This work continues in 2022 and includes:

• Adding an English Program Coordinator who provides real-time English program assessment and ongoing support to English teachers. The coordinator also manages the Library Program and library tutors, the Literacy Planet Program(English Language software), and the Immersion Program.
• Adding 10 tutors to the library program to assist students with accessing and reading books. These tutors are EYC high school students.
• Expanding the successful English Practice Partners Program. The first cohort of EPP participants in 2022 will include 31 EYC students and team members (24 females) meeting weekly via Zoom with native English speakers in the US, Europe, and Australia.
• Operating two sessions of the MatesAbroad Immersion Program. 120 EYC students will meet virtually with Australian high school students over five sessions to improve their English fluency.

Scholarships & Team Leadership

Recognizing the need for additional support, especially after the last two years of the pandemic, we are growing the number of scholarships offered to 80. The scholarships will support tuition, extra classes, study materials, and more.

In addition, we are providing:

• Monthly trainings and workshops for Team Leaders to build connections and further develop leadership skills as well quarterly evaluations and mentoring.
• Twice-monthly personal development sessions for 25 students across the four schools to develop their personal and professional skills, build their networks and expose them to new opportunities. Targets for this program are scholarship students, Team Leaders, job placement candidates, and adult students.
• Ongoing mentoring of scholarship students to help them navigate their scholarship opportunities and prepare them for future careers.

Our goal is to help students build the skills and confidence needed to navigate this changing world.

Measurement & Evaluation

The primary purpose of developing a Monitoring and Evaluation system for EYC is to create a results framework that enables the EYC team to regularly monitor overall outcomes and progress of program activities during implementation phases. An M&E system allows us to show the impact of our interventions through comparative quantitative and qualitative evidence over time and through the life of the students we serve.

In Closing

While we know that challenges persist and the future impacts of the pandemic are uncertain, we are optimistic about 2022, and we are looking forward to helping our students recapture learning that was lost and reengage in activities that open the door to future opportunities.

With gratitude for your support.

Delphine Vann, Managing Director, and Synoeun Nov, Program Director