LET THEM EAT CAKE

I just happened upon an article in The Phnom Penh Post which has concisely described many of the pitfalls, most of them, unnecessary, which are hindering education in Cambodia.  It is against this background that we are struggling to teach not only English, but critical thinking as well.   

I tried to find the article but their website did not respond to my search requests as it previously did.   In an age of lawsuits where wounded politicians from officialdom walk around holding their fragile egos as if they were cradling a bird's egg in their hands, it's no wonder if they text has "disappeared".

AGELESS IN CAMBODIA

If I could put a black border around this thread I would. We just lost a good sixteen-year- old student to poverty. He (nameless) worked with his family in a brickyard, but with the economic crunch on building has slowed down. So, he enlisted in the army even though he was only sixteen, two years short of the legal age. No problem in Cambodia, you just see the right people and they will adjust your age up or down for a fee. So, what is he doing now? Defending his country from all enemies foreign and domestic? No, he's on a work crew run by a military officer building God knows what, but most certainly not his future.Here's how it works in the other direction. A young girl in my wife's family, her niece actually, really loves school and studying. They tried to keep her from entering school years ago on the grounds that she was too small.

She held on to the doors of the school room, refusing to let go -even when her embarassed mother tried to pull her off-education was that important to her. She reached a realisation at an age that many villagers never realize in their whole lives. The upshot is that she has just been told that she must now (years later) stay back a grade, even though she is a top student, because she is too young!The family has been told that the solution is, of course, to visit the right functionaries and have her age legally (?) changed. What is the moral to all this? I don't know, but it would appear that excelling is not sanctioned.

WE OFTEN ASK OUR GUESTS TO SPEND THIRTY MINUTES OR SO IN CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH OUR STUDENTS. THEY REALLY ENJOY THE NON-STRUCTURED

FREE EXCHANGE WITH FOREIGNERS; LOOK AT THE SMILES ON THEIR FACES! IT ALSO ENHANCES THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT CUSTOMS AND ALSO IMPROVES THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF GEOGRAPHY.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT ALLOWS THEM TO KNOW THAT IT POSSIBLE TO SPEAK FLUENT ENGLISH AND STILL HAVE AN ACCENT. MOST OF OUR GUESTS SPEAK EDUCATED, FLUENT ENGLISH, BUT STILL HAVE THE TRACE OF AN ACCENT.

OUR STUDENTS COME FROM A CULTURE QUITE SENSITIVE ABOUT "STANDING OUT" OR BEING DIFFERENT FROM THE NORM. THANKS TO OUR GUESTS THEY ARE GAINING CONFIDENCE AND ARE LESS AFRAID OF MAKING MISTAKES AS THEY BECOME AWARE THAT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION INEVITABLY INVOLVES ERROR.

HOW WE GOT STARTED

They came to us first. We were perfectly happy developing our homestay and I was particularly happy tending my own garden-sorting out good advice from bad. I'd had horticultural experience before, but it was my first time to create a veggie garden in a jungle. But as I say they came to us and asked us to teach English. With two young kids and a hectare or so of weeds to transform into a family garden, we didn't think that we would have enough time. But kids and young adults who really want to learn are hard to refuse.

I'd spent over twenty years of my life teaching to kids who tried to learn German and French between lunch break and a joint and spoiled children from Cambodian families whose parents wanted them to learn, but there was in both cases very little interior motivation. This was different-way different and therefore impossible to refuse.

COSTS TO STUDENTS

IF STUDENTS CAN AFFORD IT, WE CHARGE $5 PER MONTH FOR 12 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION PER MONTH . IF THE FAMILY CAN'T AFFORD THAT WE TRY TO BARTER-RICE, VEGETABLES, WHATEVER. I AM A FIRM BELIEVER THAT IF PEOPLE GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, THAT IS EXACTLY THE VALUE THEY WILL PLACE ON IT AND THE ENERGY THEY WILL INVEST IN IT. HOWEVER, NO STUDENT IS REFUSED ON THE BASIS OF FINANCIAL INABILITY NOR DO WE HOUND, CAJOLE OR HASSLE STUDENTS ABOUT LATE PAYMENT.

WE ALLOW SOME STUDENTS FROM IMPOVERISHED FAMILIES TO STUDY FOR FREE AS LONG AS THEY SHOW ENTHUSIASM AND DEDICATION AND THEIR PARENTS SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT EMPHASIZE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE, THAT IS A VALUE THAT IS NEGLECTED IN THE RURAL GRADE AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS. IN SHORT NO ONE FAILS, ALMOST ALL ARE PASSED IRREGARDLESS OF LACK OF ACHIEVEMENT. I'LL COME BACK TO THIS POINT IN ANOTHER BLOG, BUT SPARE YOU THE HARANGUE FOR NOW.