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The primary principle underlying the design of the Expanded Basic Education Program is to ensure the fulfilment of children’s rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was ratified by the RGOC in 1992. As stated in the SEDP II document (Second Draft, 2001) the RGC recognizes that education is a fundamental human right that enables children and adults to access many rights throughout their lives. Education as a human right conceptually comprises of the right to education, the operation of rights in education, and the outcomes of a rights approach to and in education (Sida, 2001, p. 19). Table 1 on the next page depicts these three dimensions: the right to education, and the rights and democracy in and through education. Table 1: The Three Dimensions of Children’s Rights
In the light of the above, UNICEF and the RGoC have agreed to pursue a set of interrelated goals addressing critical states of the life cycle of the child including the following: q Mothers have safe pregnancies and deliveries, and healthy newborns; q Infants are given the best possible start in life to survive, grow and fully develop in a safe, nurturing and caring environment; q School-age children are protected and exert their right to education in a friendly and stimulating learning environment; q Youth and adolescents acquire life skills, express their views and lead meaningful and secure lives. Ultimately, the Expanded Basic Education Program seeks to improve basic education in all its aspects, including the physical and psychological learning readiness of the learner, the content and processes of education, the physical learning environment, and learning achievement. Achieving these goals requires a program that reaches beyond the formal education system to address those factors that negatively affect children’s development in the home, community, and society in general. More specifically, the Expanded Basic Education Program will support the development of a legal framework to take practical actions to make primary education available and free to all. Support will also be provided to develop community led strategies to encourage regular attendance at primary schools, reduction of repetition and drop out, particularly of girls. In the provinces of convergence the program will pilot strategies to apply provisions of the CRC in school management and environment. Within the framework of the CRC as a holistic entity, these strategies will be directly guided by some of the articles of the CRC. In addition to the general principles of the Convention: non-discrimination (article 2), best interest of the child (article 3), the right to life, survival and development (article 6), and the right to participation (article 12), some of the other articles that have direct relevance to the work of schools include: the rights and responsibilities of parents (article 5 and 18) freedom of expression (article 13), freedom of thought (article 14), right to information (article 17), rights of children with disabilities (article 23), right to education for health (article 24),right to education (28 and 29), linguistic and cultural rights of children belonging to minority groups (article 30), and right to rest, leisure, play and recreation (article 31). UNICEF, WHO, Save Alliance and other partners have joined hands to develop a practical model of schools that exemplify the characteristics described above. The model under development, known as Child Friendly Schools (CFS), will foster better articulation of interventions among all partners to promote nurturing learning environments for children. For example, the emphasis on inclusive, and in particular gender-sensitive education of CFS models resonates well with the current UNICEF-MoEYS-KAPE partnership to increase the participation of girls in education.[1] Such a model will also build a bridge to general scholarship programs to be financed by the Ministry under PAP 11. CFS activities can also be expected to provide very suitable contexts to support initiatives to help disabled children currently under consideration by the Ministry's Office of Special Education and the Disability Action Council (DAC). Similarly, CFS models also focus on the nutritional and health considerations and their role in fostering a nurturing environment for young children. Current efforts by WFP to provide school breakfast to children in food insecure areas would, therefore, fit well into such a scheme. So, too, do the de-worming activities that are associated with the school breakfast program. CFS models would likely be able to provide additional activities that would further enhance the ability of these interventions to increase the nutrition and health of Cambodian children. These might include vegetable gardening, monitoring children's growth, and sensitization to hygienic practices before eating. Life skills training, also an important theme in child friendly schools, is another current intervention that will be better facilitated in a CFS environment. In this respect, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) activities supported by World Education (WE) and curriculum enhancement activities for young girls supported by Asia Foundation/KAPE are among the interventions whose articulation could be greatly improved in a CFS pilot. A clearer thematic program to make learning relevant to children's real environment can be expected to improve targeting of these and similar interventions and amplify impacts. Thus, the UNICEF program will be characterized by a multi-sector approach that exhibits strong convergence among programs. The Seth Koma, Health, and Special Protection Programs will concentrate on issues relating to nutrition, health, social mobilization to enhance parental participation, and general development (see Figure 1). The Seth Koma Program will address many of the supply side issues through their work with Village Development Committees (VDCs) Besides the direct education activities such as the parental education, ECCD centers and literacy classes for women, other community based activities such as the regular assessment of the growth and development of children, the village and commune planning processes, the village children’s fund, and the water and sanitation activities would contribute to increased readiness of the children for active learning when they enroll in school and increase the participation of parents in the education of their children. The VDCs, together with the School Support Committees (SSCs) will play an active role in ensuring the regular attendance of children and teachers in schools. The improved health services including the direct delivery of Vitamin A capsule and iron supplement, de-worming and tetanus toxoid immunization to school children is expected to have a direct impact on the learning ability of the children. The Child Protection Network of the Children in Need of Special Protection program will help to integrate the most vulnerable children in the school system. The Expanded Basic Education program concentrates on improving the school governance and teaching learning process in order to provide quality education in a child friendly environment. Together, all UNICEF supported activities will lead to making children ready for school and schools ready for children. The policy implications evolving from these practical field experiences will be fed into the national policy formulation process. In this respect, the MoEYS will be supported in developing enabling policies required to bring about changes at school/classroom level. This multi-sector program design will ensure congruence between the Expanded Basic Education program and a national agenda for macro-economic and social sector reform that seeks to reduce poverty. UNICEF is in particular well positioned to assist the government in its social sector reform efforts given its role as chair of the Social Sector Working Group, as well as its active participation in the various Social Sector Sub-working Groups including the Education Sub-sector Working Group (ESWG) chaired by UNESCO. UNICEF’s partnership with the MoEYS to implement the Expanded Basic Education Program in combination with its broader role in the social sector reform process will help greatly amplify the efforts to promote good governance and increased resources for the social sector. The interrelationships between the Expanded Basic Education program and the overall UNICEF program will contribute to and facilitate the implementation of the government’s Poverty Reduction Strategies and Socio-Economic Development Plans (PRSP/SEDP II). Advocacy, social mobilization, capacity building, service delivery and community empowerment strategies will be differently combined according to the levels of interventions. (see also RGoC/UNICEF MPO 2000-2001). [1] See Girls' Scholarship Program in Prey Veng and Kampong Thom Provinces. | ||||||||||||||
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