Education and Scholarship
School: Rorlous Lower Secondary School
Writer: Mr. Sum Ren, teacher

The education situation at Rolous Lower Secondary School, which locates at Rorlous village, Boeng Thuk commune, Tuek Chhu district Kampot province, has not been improved because of not regular school attendance of students; they had to help their parents get incomes to support the families’ daily need. Some parents did not understood the importance of education; they kept their children out of school to work at the factories where locate nearby school.

Luckily, the education situation of this school has been improved when EDF Scholarship program has been operated to provide study material, uniforms and other study accessories for full one year study; EDF scholarship has encouraged them to regular come to school, and as the result, the enrolment has been increased, the repetition and dropout rates have been decreased notably. For the education situation of poor students who have not received scholarship seemed slowly be improved because they have not regularly attended school and some of them dropped out because of poverty, but however a majority of students have struggled to overcome their study though they have lived in poverty and without scholarship support.

Mss. Phin Nary is 15 years old and studies in grade 7; Nary has six siblings and she is the third daughter in her family. Nary is one among poor students that have not received any scholarship support, but she has struggled with her study. Her mother, as the living situation is poor, has asked her to find a job, but she has refused because she likes studying. She said that “I have help housework and done some works when school is on holiday to get income to help my family”. And she added that” I cannot give up my study though my mother forces not support me to study, I can work at weekend or school vacation to save money for study”. Nary has strong wish to be a nurse so that to take care of her family and the community in her village.

EDF scholarship has a substantial effect on student enrollment and attendance; it can be an effective tool for encouraging student to stay in school. EDF scholarship does not only help economically poor student to stay in school, but also help academically-weak ones.