Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Rural Cambodia

The new school year will soon be upon us and the students in rural Cambodia. There will be students who have graduated from the primary level and will be heading to the secondary level. Among the students who will be going into the secondary level this fall, there will be many who live too far to walk to school and will, therefore, likely drop out. It is time to seriously consider the educational needs of poor rural Cambodian students.

In a 2022 study done by Cambodia Travel, Cambodia suffers one of the highest rates of school dropouts in the world. According to UNESCO, more than 60% of students in Cambodia do not complete primary school. One study done by Knoema in 2013 reported the drop-out rate for primary education for Cambodia was 53.1%.

There are a lot of reasons students drop out of school in Cambodia. The most common is that families are too poor to send their child to school, so the child must work to help support their families and themselves. Students dropping out of school is causing a major problem for the country, because it limits opportunities for the ability of individuals or families to improve their social and economic status. In recent years the Cambodian goverment has made some progress to reduce the dropout rate, but more needs to be done to ensure all children have access to education.

In a 2011 analysis and report done by USAID, dropout prevention is a relatively new focus of concern in developing countries. Dropout rates are now getting more attention and have emerged as a major access to education issue. With larger numbers of vulnerable children and fewer resources per child, education systems are having an increasing challenge to retain students all the way through school to the completion of their basic education cycle. Many students leave school without acquiring basic skills and the diplomas that are so important, not only for higher education but for future employment. Students' premature departure is also a significant waste of the already scarce educational resources.

A bicycle is one simple way to help reduce dropout rates. By providing a student with a bicycle, your $55USD gift can give the access needed for his/her education and to the development of that student's and the country's future.

Time is running out. We need your financial help now to acquire and distribute bicycles to students who are wanting to continue in school, but need transportation to make it possible. Thank you.

Years ago, Trailblazer was visited by a representative of the Ministry of Education. He reported that students were dropping out of school between the primary and secondary levels of school, greatly due to the lack of having bicycles. The distance between primary and secondary schools can be 10 kilometers or more. With no means of transportation, it is too difficult for students to walk such great distances, and so they simply drop out of school. He asked if Trailblazer would help keep students in school by providing bicycles. This request from the government official furthered Trailblazer's support of education projects, beyond building schools.

Cambodia has a 6-3-3 formal education structure that has been in place since 2009. Primary school has an official entry age of six and a duration of six grades. Secondary school is divided into two cycles: lower secondary consists of grades 7 - 9, and upper secondary consists of grades 10 - 12. In principle, primary and lower secondary school are compulsory. Students sit for the basic education diploma at the end of grade 9, and the high school diploma at the end of grade 12. The school year lasts 38 weeks and is divided into two semesters, running September-January and February-June. (UNESCO IBE, World Data on Education. Revised 4/2011)

Out of school rates are reported to be highest for children [population ages 7-14] in the poorest rural areas (13%), in comparison to children from urban areas (7%). Reports show that more girls (12%) are out of school than boys (11.5%). USAID data in 2011 showed that primary enrollment reached 96% of the child population, with lower secondary school rate at 34% and upper secondary at 21%.

These statistics clearly indicate that enrollments decrease at the secondary levels of school and makes Trailblazer's efforts to keep students in school all the more important. In January 2022, Trailblazer was happy and proud to report the delivery of 113 bicycles. Now we are working on what will be possible in 2023! We always wait until we have a truck load of bicycles [an average of 50 bicycles] or 300 uniforms before we make a delivery to a school, in order to be able to service all the students at a school who have been identified in need.

We appreciate your contribution in making an impact to grow the development of Cambodia through educating one of its major resources - its children. Thank you.