The Khmer Rouge were re­spon­sib­le for the deaths of mil­lions of Cam­bo­di­ans during the 1970s. They clos­ed down schools and sys­tem­atic­al­ly sup­pres­sed edu­ca­tion. The negative effect of this per­iod is still be­ing felt to­day. Edu­ca­tion is thus crucial for achiev­ing sus­tain­able de­velop­ment.

 

Since 2013, the Cam­bod­ian NGO Go Ahead has been of­fering Eng­lish le­ssons and co­mputer cour­ses in Kam­pong Thom pro­vince, and si­nce 2015 on the is­land of Kam­pong Leng. The is­land school has 1,000 pu­pils and needs a well-equip­ped li­bra­ry with lap­tops to cre­ate a mo­dern lear­ning cen­tre. The li­bra­ry buil­ding has al­ready been con­struc­ted next to the new se­cond­ary school.

 

Go Ahead’s track re­cord in Kam­pong Thom, where the exis­ting li­bra­ry has been running successfully since ten years, ser­ves as a model. The new is­land li­bra­ry will si­gni­fican­tly im­prove educa­tion­al op­portu­nities. The foun­da­tion is pro­vi­ding fur­ni­ture, books, lap­tops, and a bea­mer for the li­bra­ry. Mea­sur­able pro­gress in for­­eign lang­uage lear­ning am­ong the chil­dren shows that this ap­proach works.