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Foundations for the future of Cambodia: Transforming early grade teaching and learning
In a lively and vibrant classroom at Prey Totueng Primary School in Prey Chhor district, Kampong Cham Province, Grade 1 teacher Ms. Theary Heang is teaching a Khmer language class, engaging their students as active participants. As the morning sun filters through the wooden shutters, Theary captivates her students with colourful props and flashcards, making vowels leap off the page. The room comes alive with the sound of discussions, clapping and laughter, as charts and drawing boards serve as tools for discovery. The steady rhythm of encouragement from Theary fuels the students鈥 enthusiasm, creating an environment where learning is both interactive and joyful.
Theary was born and raised in the Prey Chhor district, and she decided to return to her community to teach at the Prey Totueng Primary School after teaching for one year elsewhere. Now, she is in her fifth year of teaching at the school.
Reflecting on her journey, she shares, 鈥渓earning now is very different from when I was in primary school. Back then, there wasn鈥檛 any interactive teaching or classroom activities, and I always wanted to become a teacher to improve how knowledge is shared with students.鈥
Her passion for thriving in effective and student-centred teaching has been supported by the national early grade learning programme focusing on Khmer reading and mathematics, launched by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and UNESCO with financial support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Equipped with the enhanced content knowledge and pedagogies she learned from the teacher training and the comprehensive teacher guide, she now brings her lessons to life. The students in her class have also received a package of colourful support books and flashcards with everyday examples to facilitate learning of Khmer words and numbers.
With the new package, especially the learning aids such as picture cards, I see students are now more engaged, and they learn faster with effective teaching methods and content relevant to their context and daily lives.
This transformation is made possible through UNESCO鈥檚 Strengthening Teacher Education Programmes in Cambodia (STEPCam) 鈥 one of the largest teacher education programmes in Cambodia with a total investment of USD $27.02 million from the GPE. In collaboration with the MoEYS, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 supported the development and distribution of new early grade classroom materials, along with the training and mentoring of teachers like Ms. Theary in age-appropriate, play-based learning methods. The MoEYS is on track to achieve its goal of nationwide rollout for Grade 1 early grade reading in 2025, with ongoing investments to progressively achieve nationwide rollout across Grade 1 to 3 for early grade reading and mathematics.
Counting numbers, building futures
Working in close collaboration with the MoEYS, through its STEPCam Programme, UNESCO supported the development of the full set of early grade mathematics packages from Grades 1 to 3, consisting of a teacher guide, four student exercise books, a student support book, , printable teaching and learning aids, teaching demonstration videos, and Training-of-Trainers (ToT) guides. The package marked the first time in Cambodia that high-quality teaching and learning materials for mathematics have been consolidated as a single, easily accessible set. These materials are now used all across Cambodia in the national early grade learning rollout led by the MoEYS.
With the new national early grade learning programme, primary schools in Kampong Cham and across Cambodia are providing young children with more than just an enjoyable environment to learn and play. These classrooms focus on creating engaging and interactive learning, helping students build critical skills and develop a passion and curiosity for learning from their earliest days in school. Theary beams with pride at her students鈥 enthusiasm, watching them as they eagerly participate in her classes and enjoy their time at school.
School is my favourite place because I like my friends and teachers here. After learning how to read, I want to learn how to calculate because that makes me clever. When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.
Through STEPCam, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 supported the national rollout in multiple provinces 鈥 including Siem Reap, Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Kratie, Steung Treng, and now Kampong Cham under its second phase. The investment in early grade learning has now reached more than 4,700 teachers in early grade Khmer and over 3,000 in early grade mathematics, benefiting more than 253,000 students. In total, nearly 17,000 teacher guides and almost 250,000 student exercise books have been printed and distributed across Cambodia, ensuring education access for the country鈥檚 young learners.
Becoming a mentor
Opportunities for teacher development and professional support are essential to a teacher鈥檚 professional and personal growth. In its first phase, STEPCam supported the MoEYS in establishing a national early grade school-based mentoring programme that is built upon best practices and lessons learned from past interventions by development partners, creating a single unified programme.
This mentoring programme has been introduced as part of the rollout of the early grade learning programme and provides ongoing professional support to early grade teachers in Kampong Cham by school-based mentors. Theary was one of the senior teachers recognised for her experience and performance as an early grade teacher and was trained to become a school-based mentor so that she can support other teachers.
When I was invited to be a mentor, I felt very excited because my work was recognized. I accepted the role without hesitance because I wanted to learn new methods from other teachers to improve my own teaching. Additionally, I wanted to help other teachers who struggled with teaching in Grade 1.
During the mentoring training, Theary was trained on the responsibilities, approaches and steps to conduct classroom observations, as well as how to provide positive and constructive encouragement to teachers, especially on specific and growth-oriented feedback to help teachers become better and more confident in their teaching practice.
The training helped me to understand a systematic way of conducting and receiving mentoring sessions. I used tools I learned during the training such as 鈥榝ive steps of teaching鈥 to observe the classroom during mentoring sessions.
The mentoring sessions normally involve two hours of classroom observation and reflective mentor-mentee meetings. Theary highlighted that her feedback has focused on aspects more relevant to Grade 1 teaching. 鈥淪ome teachers are good at encouraging students, some at classroom management, and others at teaching techniques. For example, in my mentoring sessions, I tend to focus on classroom management and teaching as they play an important role in early grade teaching,鈥 she added.
In addition to mentoring support to teachers, STEPCam has provided training to school directors and education officials at the provincial and district levels, promoting a holistic approach to transforming early grade learning. Ms. South Samnang, the school director at Prey Totueng Primary School, has observed positive changes translating from the classroom to the school level since the introduction of the EGL programme.
The collaborations and peer learning between teachers have created a better teaching and learning environment at the school and it鈥檚 reflected in student performance with better learning results.
Under STEPCam, the mentoring programme has developed the capacities of more than 2,600 teacher mentors to provide ongoing professional support to early grade teachers, with more than 28,000 mentoring visits conducted. The teacher training has been integrated in the broader framework of a national teacher professional development system, enabling teachers to earn Continuous Professional Development (CPD) credits registered in their Human Resource profile that can contribute to teachers鈥 personal growth and career advancement.
Together with other components of STEPCam including support to pre-service teacher education programmes, expansion and strengthening of the system of CPD, and digital transformation in education, UNESCO takes a comprehensive approach to teacher development and the teacher policy reform. Theary鈥檚 experience reflects the transformative impact of STEPCam to support teachers throughout their professional journey. By equipping educators with the skills and resources they need to succeed, STEPCam ensures that every child in Cambodia has access to quality education and the opportunity to thrive.
Young learners are like a blank piece of paper. As a teacher, I guide them in sketching the basic strokes, so they grow into beautiful and unique paintings as they grow up.
About STEPCam
STEPCam is one of the largest teacher education programmes in Cambodia with a total investment of USD $27.02 million. STEPCam Phase I was implemented from 2018 to 2022 with a USD 14.4 million grant financed by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Phase II has been implemented starting in 2024 for over three years, with a total budget of USD 12.62 million through the GPE System Transformation Grant. STEPCam emphasises comprehensive and robust capacity building and system strengthening, investing in the development of a high-quality, professional and competent teaching workforce throughout the continuum of their careers 鈥 from quality pre-service teacher education to continuous professional development (CPD) and career pathways advancement, training and mentoring support for classroom teachers, and systematic approaches to ICT in education to enhance teaching and learning quality.
More about STEPCam click here
