Scholarship Program for Cambodia

Educational conditions in Cambodia

Over the past 100 years, the Cambodian people have suffered a series of misfortunes. They were put under French colonial rule from the latter half of the 19th century through to 1953, when they became independent. Even after their independence, their country was continuously bombed during civil wars and the Indo-China War. Late in the 1970s, they suffered the Pol Pot massacre, followed by another civil war. In the days of Pol Pot, as many as two to three million people were killed and the land of Cambodia and the minds of people there were devastated. Even now, a number of children cannot receive basic education.
According to a statistics report by an international agency, a national average of 82% of school-aged children attend elementary school in Cambodia, and 45% of them finish the fifth grade. However, in rural areas, many families live on subsistence farming with a small cash income. They earn less than a third of what people in urban areas earn. In some villages, less than 10% of children graduate from elementary school.
Children cannot go to school because their families cannot afford to send them. Many children have to quit school to help support their families or to take care of household duties. Lack of teachers and school buildings are other difficulties. People also still feel afraid of getting educated because of their memories of the Pol Pot days, when highly educated people were killed.
Statistics reported by a Cambodian non-governmental organization (NGO) show that about 30% of the population engaged in the sex industry is under the age of 18. Many of the uneducated and illiterate families have difficulties in obtaining and understanding information, and prostitution brokers can easily deceive them. The illiteracy rate runs as high as 90% in some regions.

Transparent way of using funds

The Darunee Scholarship Program is a face-to-face international cooperation initiative, where individuals are directly linked to each other. The 10,000 yen you donate will be used for a one-year scholarship, equivalent to 1,500 Thai baht (the Cambodian currency, the riel, will not be used). With the scholarship funds, the SCADP, a local NGO, will purchase textbooks and other school supplies for scholars. Any surplus funds will be set aside as graduation funds, as in the Laos scholarship program.
After donating, you will receive information about the child you support, along with his/her photo as well as a newsletter, a financial report and a postal transfer slip for the next year's donation. The information pack is designed to let you know clearly who will benefit from your donation.
Scholarships are currently provided in two areas, Kompong Spoe and Koh Kong, west of the capital Phnom Penh. However, extension of the program is being considered. This program is principally designed to support a scholar for three years - from the third to fifth grades of elementary school.

Partnership program with SCADP

In 2003, the Darunee Scholarship Program began to support education for children in Cambodia on an experimental basis. Its purpose was to develop human resources contributable to local communities, as in Thailand and Laos.
The program for Cambodia is administered in almost the same way as in Thailand and Laos. In the latter two countries, it is run by local offices owned by the Darunee group. However, in Cambodia it is administered in cooperation with SCADP (Street Children Assistance and Development Programme), a non-governmental organization founded in 1993 by Ms. Yim Sokhary, who was teaching reading and writing to street children and orphans. The organization is currently represented by Ms. Sokhary and provides educational support and vocational training to children who are deprived of opportunities to attend schools, including those suffering from child labor, prostitution, domestic violence and other forms of child abuse.

Schedule

The deadline for donation is the end of June every year.
The school year begins in October.
The scholarship donor receives the scholarship certificate, along with the scholar's photo, in December.