Education a path to a brighter future

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, students from poor families in Cambodia like Kanya are at high risk of dropping out of school.

Our Xavier Jesuit School program is working to make sure these students are able to stay on the path to a brighter future.

Kanya is a scholarship student at Xavier Jesuit School, located in one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia.

Like many schools around the world, Xavier Jesuit School was forced to close its doors in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant, for over six months, the school’s 700 primary and secondary students had to return home and continue their learning remotely.

The school’s 54 scholarship students – young people from marginalised families living in remote villages across Cambodia – were the hardest hit.

Difficulties working from home

Many students like Kanya have returned home to find their families fighting for survival.

For a huge number of vulnerable families, the pandemic has brought crushing poverty – taking away jobs and livelihoods.

People already living day to day have been pushed further into the margins, and students returning home are compelled to put aside their studies to help support their family.

Kanya disappears

When Kanya returned home, at first she attended her Year 9 Zoom classes. Then, she disappeared.

Concerned, Kanya’s teachers did not rest until they were able to contact her. When they finally reached Kanya by phone, she revealed that a prolonged drought affected her parent’s crops, leaving the family in heavy debt.

With no options left, Kanya’s mother and sister were forced to find work as cleaners at a construction site 520 km from their village.

“Kanya told us she had been in Kampong Saom helping her mum to pay the debts and her mobile phone had been broken, so she couldn’t join her classes,” Fr Jinhyuk from Xavier Jesuit School reported. “Kanya was devastated with her situation.”

However, the team from the School was there to support Kanya every step of the way. As Kanya cried rivers of tears, they encouraged her to speak openly with her mother about her desire to remain in school.

Thankfully, Kanya’s mother gave her blessing, and Kanya returned to school.

About the Xavier Jesuit School

Funded by the generous support of our donors, the Xavier Jesuit School has been providing:

• Online classes via Zoom for secondary students
• Lessons available via YouTube for primary students
• Modems, mobile phones and phonecards to poor students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access online learning
• Emergency relief packages (including rice, cooking oil, sugar and canned fish) to families severely affected by the pandemic.
  

Find out more about the school program.

Kanya's story appeared in our Christmas Appeal 2020.