JWOC’s Access programme inspires poor kids to learn new skills

 


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

The ‘Journeys within Our Community’ (JWOC), a NGO created an Access Programme to provide English language skills and other life skills for poor children in Siem Reap in order to improve their job and educational prospects in the future.   

The US Ambassador to Cambodia, Patrick Murphy who led the embassy delegation to visit and meet the students who studied at the JWOC on Thursday, said that the US was pleased to help Cambodians, especially the Cambodian youths who are the new human resource to have basic English skills and other life skills so that they will have better jobs and educational prospects in their lives. 

The Access Programme, which was founded by the US Department of State via the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, aimed to support Cambodians from economically disadvantaged communities who have limited access or opportunity to further their educational development, particularly in English language training, Murphy said.

“I am really, very, very impressed and proud of the guys who have participated in this programme. It is a great programme,” Murphy told the students during a meeting at the JWOC.


“I hope that you all will have success with your studies with this programme to learn English language, leadership, team work and other life skills,” he said.   

Mok Boda, Access Programme Teacher at JWOC, told Khmer Times that the JWOC had four programmes, comprising Scholarship, Better Futures, Youth Leadership Project, and Access Programme.

The Access Programme aims to equip students with effective English language communication and critical thinking skills through meaningful interaction, cooperative and student-centred learning strategies, interest and age-appropriate activities, and real-life application, he said.

Currently there are about 200 students from the poor families in Siem Reap and from other provinces near Siem Reap attending the JWOC’s Access Programme, he added.

He emphasised that most of them are the high school students studying are at grade 10 or 11.   

The training is free but the students have to pass an examination and interviews conducted by the JWOC’s education officers, he said.

The training is over a two year period.  After completion, the JWOC will award completion of study certificates, he added.

“Through the Access Programmes, the students will study English, computers, leadership skills for life and work, engagement skills and how to write a CV to apply for jobs,” Boda told Khmer Times.

“On behalf of the teachers here, I have noted that since the students have engaged in the Access Programme, they had made a lot of progress and understand the skills they have learned,” he said.

“I strongly hope that after they complete their graduation with the JWOC, they will have better job opportunities and other educational prospects, such as, student exchange or study abroad,” he added.

After the students complete the two-year-training successfully, the JWOC will help them to find jobs with other local or international companies, associations or non-governmental organisations in Cambodia, Boda said.

Vin Sonech, 16, one of the students, said that currently, she is studying at grade 11 of the Samdech Euv High School in Siem Reap province. 

 “I decided to study with the JWOC because I wanted to learn English language, computer and other life skills in order to improve my communication and speaking and other life skills,  so that I can have a better job to support my parents,” Sonech told Khmer Times on Thursday.

“Since I had studied the Access Programme, I can write and speak English with foreign people. I have computer skills, time management and other new life skills,” she said. 

According to a report of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh obtained by the Khmer Times, the US State Department’s English Access Microscholarship Programme (Access Programme) provides a foundation of English language skills to talented 13 to 20-year-old-youth from economically disadvantaged background through a two-year-programme with after school classes and intensive sessions.

The programme helps participants to develop English language skills that lead to better job and education prospects.  Since 2004, over 205,000 students in more than 80 countries have participated in the Access Programme, including more than 1,500 in Cambodia with a total funding of more than $ 1.7 million. 

The programme aims to increase participants’ English language skills through general English courses for a period of two years or a minimum of 360 hours and has a completion rate of 90%.

Currently, 140 Cambodian students are studying English through the programme in Kampot, Battambang, Prey Veng, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu and Siem Reap provinces. 

The programme’s success over the past 18 years and has inspired many of its participants to pursue advanced degrees, tutor their fellow classmates in English, become teachers, work as reporters at local radio stations, become interpreters and translators to increase organisational communication with foreign counterparts, and aspire towards higher positions in the private sectors. 




 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Laotian gets life for drug trafficking

Image
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has sentenced a Laotian drug trafficker to life imprisonment after the 42-year-old was convicted of trafficking about 7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Presiding Judge Sin Sovannroath said Houa Choua was from Champasak province’s Moeung Khong district, Laos.     “The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has decided to sentence the accused Houa Choua to a life sentence and a fine of 100 million riels,” Judge Sovannroath said in his judgment yesterday.   He said that the accused was charged with “drug possessing, transport and trafficking” under Article 40 of Cambodian Law on Drugs Control and with “money Laundering” under Articles 38 of the Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Financing.   Judge Sovannroath stated that Houa Choua was arrested by police at a guesthouse in Por Senchey district’s Kakab commune on October 16, 2022, night.  Houa Choua was detained after he had transported the drugs by car from the Cambodia-Lao border in
Read more

Sorn Elit, the Tallest Cambodian Taekwando Champion

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA There are 18 Taekwondo fighters on the national team, according to Hem Samnang, Secretary General of the Cambodian Taekwondo Federation (CTF). He was speaking to The Southeast Asia Weekly on July 22. The Secretary General said that Sorn Elit, 22, is currently the best Taekwondo fighter in Cambodia. He has attended many competitions both at home and abroad and has achieved success in both fields. In 2008, he won the national heavyweight title in the Taekwondo championships. “I am very proud of Sorn Elit as he is the best fighter in Cambodia,” Samnang said. “I believe that he will continue to bring honor to the country, the sport and himself as he competes in still more competitions at home and in the international fighting arena. He is completely committed to his training schedule and is a credit to the sport.” The Secretary General said that to improve Elit’s skills, the CTF sent him to get Taekwondo training in South Korea over two weeks in 2007. The CTF plans
Read more

Chan Tra: Life of a Cambodian Traditional Tattoo Artist

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Among tattooists in Cambodia, Chan Tra, 46, is the only tattoo artist to retain the ability to ink a wide range of subjects in different styles. His modern counterparts are limited in their repertoire in comparison. His subjects include the human form, birds and abstract patterns. Chan Tra is now an expert in drawing Ankor Wat on the skin of foreign clients, thus turning them into walking, talking promotional materials for Cambodia’s tourist sector. Chan Tra was born in 1963 in Sihanouk province and has two sons and one daughter. He is an orphaned and a Survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. He lost his entire family during the years of terror between 1975 and 1979. “I have loved drawing and painting ever since I was a child and practised my art every day before the arrival of the Pol Pot regime. Consequently, I like the art of tattooing and it makes a solid source of income to keep my wife and kids happy,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly during a personal i
Read more