A cause close to my heart....

Some information from the Books for Cambodia website - for more information please contact http://www.booksforcambodia.org"" www.booksforcambodia.org In Cambodia 30 years of war as well as cultural genocide over the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime have had a devastating effect on the country. By 1979 the education system had totally ceased to exist and has had to be reconstructed. In the years since it has been a struggle to rebuild it. The lack of facilities, shortages of textbooks, poorly trained teachers and half-time school attendance have made it difficult to provide quality education for students. In 2000 a government study in cooperation with UNDP and UNESCO revealed that 63% of adults were totally illiterate or had basic skills that were so poor that they were unable to read. Today 93% of children attend primary school but the dropout rate remains very high and only 69% of them reach secondary school because of the poor quality of the education system. Studies have confirmed the close link between the personfs ability to read and write and his or her socio-economic level. (Source: Cambodian Ministry of Education and UNESCO)