CCH Educational Efforts

CCH is deeply commited to education for all of its children. This commitment takes the form of a strong effort to provide every child who wants it a strong formal education through high school graduation, and then guidance and some financial help for university studies. Such formal education goals are not appropriate or desired by many CCH children, however, who prefer to go the route of vocational training. CCH makes these kinds of programs available to its children too (see "Vocational Training" section).

Educational programs at CCH range from the newly formed CCH International School, currently serving grades 1-6 at the CDCC facility, public school for children in grades 7-12, supplemented by after school tutoring. In school year 2010-2011, CCHIS will extend from Grade 1 through Grade 9. Finally, CCH has arranged world class International Baccalaureate education for 9 of its students, who are attending high school in IB schools in Cambodia, Singapore, Italy, Canada, and England. These lucky students will qualify for university education abroad.

The great majority of CCH's children are in grade 8 or under, where general education is still the main priority. However, as CCH children get older, the higher level educational programs, both vocational and academic, which prepare them for life as adults, will come more and more to the forefront.

CCH International School

In its quest to provide the best future possible for all of its children, Center for Children's Happiness has expanded its operations through the creation of the new CCH International School, operating on the orphanage site, serving grades 1-6 in school year 2009-2010, and grades 1-9 in school year 2010-2011. CCH children in this age range no longer attend public school, but will be educated on the CCHIS school campuses.

CCHIS is for CCH children only, but is "international" in the sense that it aspires to move, where appropriate, beyond traditional Cambodian teaching methods to encompass

• techniques of active learning,
• student classroom participation,
• text-to-world connections such as field trips,
• regular, research-based, computerized English language instruction from first grade on,
• development of strong staff mutual support and in-service training, and
• an approach to learning which takes advantage of the natural enthusiasms and curiosity of childhood.

For all that, CCHIS is a school licensed through the appropriate Cambodian ministries, and must adhere to the Cambodian National Curriculum. All teachers hired by CCHIS are credentialed through the relevant Cambodian authorities.

At morning classes (CCHIS campus at the facility formerly called "CDCC")

Classroom scene

Monthly testing to monitor academic progress

Field Trips

An important part of the CCH International School is field trips. The goals of the field trip program are: 1) To help students make connections between academic learning and the real world; 2) to expose students to many facets of their own culture and the natural world in Cambodia; 3) to have fun while learning---to experience the joy of exploration and curiosity; and 4) through that curiosity, to foster question asking and problem solving skills.

The field trip pictured below was to Independence Monument, a Phnom Penh landmark erected in 1958 to commemorate Cambodian National independence from French colonial rule in 1953. Students were prepared for this trip by studying the relevant history of Cambodia and its colonial past.

Cooperative Learning

CCH children are already adept at doing projects together, so cooperative learning is an easy thing for them to practice. CCHIS encourages a spirit of mutual exploration and helping one another succeed in academic pursuits.

Computer Skills

Computers have been part of the CCH scene for several years now. However, thanks to some generous recent grants, exposure to computer skills and educational software is being taken to a new level. CCHIS now has regular internet access at both CCH 1 and the CCHIS campus (CDCC facility), and even the youngest CCHIS students have some access to the computer lab at school.

English Language Instruction

CCHIS is committed to high quality English language instruction for all its students, beginning from Grade 1. English is not taught in Cambodian public schools until Grade 7, but CCHIS realizes that the younger a child is when beginning language instruction, the more capable they will become in that language.

In school year 2010-2011, CCHIS will use a combination of Cambodian English language instructors, and native English speaking interns. The program teaches the basics of vocabulary and grammar, but gives equal emphasis to fluent conversation skills though daily interaction with native English speakers and with computerized instruction programs.

Science and Nature

CCHIS is concerned with raising students' awareness of the natural world, so that they may become good stewards of the environment as adults. In addition, many future jobs will very likely be in the "green" sector, so familiarity with the basic ideas of environmentalism and conservation is a good practical step forward as well for these students.

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Libraries

An integral part of CCHIS is its own libraries. They are not developed enough to serve as resources for research. However, they are packed with lots of good books in the Khmer language, which encourage children in habits of lifelong reading.

Physical Education

Children (and staff) spend a great deal of time in class, so PE is a must, to keep the mind sharp and the body healthy. CCHIS allows the children to have 15 minutes between classes, plus a special PE time. Fortunately, there is a big space in which to exercise and play games.

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Staff Training

Since CCHIS is a relatively new operation, it is a time for searching to find the right staff who will stay long term at the school. It is also a time of continual training, as more experienced teachers impart their knowledge and skills to less experienced ones, and new techniques of active learning more common in Western countries are tried out in this Cambodian context, to see what works and what does not.

. In Service Training for CCH Teaching Staff

Staff Meetings

Nothing is certain in life, and this is especially true for orphanages in developing countries. The challenge of CCH International School will be to walk the line between over-extending itself in a difficult fund raising environment, and under serving the children at CCH by being too cautious.

CCHIS aims to serve all of its children (about 140) educationally. In school year 2010-2011, it will serve almost 130 of them, in grades 1-9. However, as the years pass, these same children will become 10th, 11th and 12th graders, so CCHIS sees it as imperative to expand its funding to create a true grades 1-12 school.

How much CCHIS will be able to grow in coming years depends entirely on fund raising efforts only now getting under way.