promoting the development of education in that area. The
Battambang Diocese, in partnership with New Humanity, has started in 2002 the
preliminary stage of an Integrated Community
Education Project in BORIBOR district, Kompong Chhnang province, for the
purpose of promoting the development of education in that area.
The Integrated Community Education Project is expected to have a duration of 3 + 3 years, and as a Community based and People centered project is an attempt to tackle the complex poverty related issues in Boribor district.
( see project proposal )
A formal request was made in June 1992 by the Ministry of Education of Cambodia, asking New Humanity’s cooperation to assist the U.P.P. in promoting Social Sciences.
In
April 1994, New Humanity began a Cooperation
Program with the Royal University of Phnom Penh in the
Faculty
of Humanities & Social Sciences. A
5-Year Agreement with the Ministry of
Education of Cambodia was signed on 19 October 1995.
Aim of the program was to assist the R.U.P.P. in establishing a Department of Sociology and developing human resources in the Philosophy and History Departments. At issue was the modernization of Cambodia's Higher Education System not its westernization.
The main task was to train Cambodian Lecturers of the 3-Departments on the fundamentals of each discipline. They were enabled to improve and develop teaching methodologies and resources, and prepared to assume gradually the full responsibility of lecturing the students on all subjects.
Secondly,
they were trained to formulate and develop new adequate Curricula of Studies and
Academic Programs for 
the students, aiming to achieve sound and accepted
scientific standards modeled on other Academic Institutions of Southeast Asia.
Provision of a new library greatly benefited teachers and students for pursuing research studies. Renovation of basic facilities provided a conducive academic environment. The first batch of 22 students graduated from the RUPP with a BA degree in Sociology in June 1998. Since then, most of the new graduates have succeeded in finding a job with NGOs, Public Administration, Private Sector.
New Humanity, thanks to the partnership with the University of Bologna, the Catholic University of Milan, the University of Pisa, and with the collaboration at personal level of many Lecturers from other Italian and Asian Universities, has brought to a successful completion at the end of year 2000 the first program.
A sponsorship program for Master studies preferably in Universities of Southeast Asia started in 1999 for the human resources development of the two Departments of Sociology and Philosophy.
The
Master course of studies is planned for a three year duration and at present
there are eight students studying at the Ateneo de Manila University. Other
three are pursuing Master studies in Sociology at the University of
Philippines
Los Baños (UPLB). In the near
future, ten more candidates will go abroad for Master studies.
AMPOEU PREY Commune
Previous Involvement :
In
April 1992, New Humanity made a written Statement
of intenion to the MFA-IC to open an office and start operations in Cambodia and
on 5/12/01 signed also the MOU.
On 23/10/1992, New Humanity signed an Agreement with the Ministry of Education on a Program of Community Education integrated with Rural Community Development to be implemented for 6-year (renewable) in the two provinces of Kandal and Kompong Speu :
LOCAL SITUATION:
Ampoeu Prey commune, 40 Km south of Phnom Penh, Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, with 9 villages, 1.030 families and a population of over 5.000.
Ampoeu
Prey comune
has been the recipient of New Humanity's Education and Development projects
since its
inception in 1992.
At present, its Community Development Centre serves to promote all New Humanity's activities in the area.
Children education is still a priority. The great number of drop-out schoolchildren needs special care, a plan for promoting education for all with various activity based learning projects, special classes to help out-of-school or weaker students to improve their learning skills with new teaching methods and materials and also adequate learning environment.
Due attention needs to be given to development oriented adult education projects, particularly literacy for women, field trainings for farmers, rural workers and village teachers. The aim is to improve the human environment by promoting self-confidence and helping people to get better organized in the various sectors of social life.
Social
services and
poverty alleviation are still very much needed as a response to the
emergency situations of 
the poorest of the poor, and for providing a basic
health service with priority attention to preventive & primary health care
for mothers and children. Health education
has to be promoted in schools and villages, focusing on people's awareness about
deseases prevention.
Te priorities of development are identified in agriculture skills training and animal farming with basic veterinary care, family food production, income generating activities. Particular care has to be given to women development activities with livelihood skills and income generating activities. The community development centre is a great asset in facilitating and promoting all the activities of the project.
The
needs of infrastructures for development are pratically been satisfied with
canals and dikes, family and community ponds, traditional family wells and
tubewell, roads and bridges, water gates and road culverts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AND OBJECTIVES:
COMMUNITY EDUCATION and DEVELOPMENT is an integrated program and is an attempt to tackle the complex poverty related issues in Ampoeu Prey commune.
The Main Objective of the program is to educate village people to an integral human development, aiming at promoting a sense of community, improving the overall quality of life and supporting local initiative.
Activities are an attempt to deal with the complex poverty related issues that village people have to face daily.
The main community problems that the program aims to address are
1) high rate of out-school youth and students drop-out
2) high illiteracy rates
3) cultural bias against girls and women
4) high incidence of malnutrition
5) high incidence of infant mortality and morbidity
6) lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing (especially as to widows and the elderly)
7) low agricultural productivity
8) lack of alternative livelihood
9) lack of access to market for local products
10) insufficient government services in education, health, agricultural extension.
The
Strategy is a Community based and People centred Project, more appropriate
to local realities and involving the local communities with a participatory
approach to develop their own project, implement and manage it in close
cooperation with New Humanity, and encouraging them to take on their
responsibilities for community education and development
activities.
The Projects are within 2 Programs framework
· COMMUNITY EDUCATION
· COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Component Projects target different groups of beneficiaries, i.e. children, women and farmers, and are designed to improve the overall quality of life in the community.
Community education promotes capacity building projects targeting the different groups of beneficiaries in the community. While community development promotes income generating activities and provides direct assistance for poverty alleviation.
Below are the descriptions and objectives of each component project.
1. Children Education & Development
This project is designed to ease the problem of high illiteracy rate, the main goal is to prepare school age children from 5 to 9 year for integration or reintegration into the formal school system. And alternatively provide an appropriate 2-year special class program of studies for grown up students, between the age of 10 to 14, who will not consider going back to school. Activities are spaced in 3 hour regular daily classes. Coordination with local school authorities to integrate the children into the formal school system and follow-up with students of the special class are regular.
The project involves also advocacy for education of the children. Parents and other community members are made aware of the importance of education through various promotional activities, facilitating the students registration into the formal school system. Moreover, uniforms and other school items are provided to very poor families to assist them in providing an education to their children.
2. Women Initiative Support
The project is aimed toward increasing the empowerment of women and the reduction of the gender gap, as follow-up of the Women Non-formal School that provided crucial knowledge for any transaction with any individual in their community.
It provides financial support to start small-scale enterprises such as village shops, handicrafts, sewing works, animals raising, rice processing etc. Besides, it provides also marketing as well as technical support to women in their livelihood projects.
A long-term goal is the establishment of a savings and credit association for women groups.
3. Mixed Farming Development
The project is aimed at promoting local initiative as an opportunity for farmers to apply farming skills training and improving their agricultural productivity and animals farming. In this connection, the project is trying to promote farmers' cooperatives in the area facilitating the distribution of selected seeds, fertilizer and tools, introducing integrated pest control and providing veterinary services for cattle, swine and poultry vaccination besides selection, raising and breeding.
4. Community Health Education & Social Services
The
project aims to address the health problems of the community focusing on public
health education. Women groups and primary schools are priority targets.
Local school teachers are given training on various health issues as prevention of diseases, proper nutrition, personal hygiene, treatment of wounds and simple illnesses such as colds, fever, diarrhoea, as well as awareness of critical diseases like malaria, tubercolosis, dengue, AIDS etc. Teachers then echo the lessons to their students via the formal health curriculum and together with a selected group, they go around the community to teach the villagers and other children. Monitoring and results are reported and discussed by the students in their class.
Community Social Services are an immediate response to the emergency situations of the poorest of the poor. This project provides nutrition care for malnourished children, medical and dental services; health referrals; subsidies for medical expenses; regular food subsidy to the abandoned and the elderly; occasional food subsidy to victims of natural and social calamities; construction materials for homeless and very poor families and implies home visitations for follow-up and monitoring of the status of the beneficiaries.
Outreach Services are also part of the project and aimed at providing a training and follow-up service to other Communities and Organizations for their Social Workers in the fields of Literacy, Crops Growing, Farm Animals Raising, Village Health, Fieldwork.
The Ampoeu Prey Community Development Centre is promoting and facilitating all the Outreach service activities of the community education and development program.
KANDAOK Commune
Previous Involvement :
In April 1992, New Humanity made a written Statement of intenion to the MFA-IC to open an office and start operations in Cambodia and on 5/12/01 signed also the MOU.
On 23/10/1992, New Humanity signed an Agreement with the Ministry of Education on a Program of Community Education integrated with Rural Community Development to be implemented for 6-year (renewable) in the two provinces of Kandal and Kompong Speu :
LOCAL SITUATION:
Kandaok commune is infact the natural extension of N. H. projects in Ampoeu Prey, since it is adiacent to it and is one of the 28 communes of Kandal Steung district which lies directly on the south of Phnom Penh, in the Kandal province situated in the plain region surrounding the capital.
Kandaok commune consists of 8 villages with about 1120 families and average size of 4-5 people. Total number of population is estimated to be over 5,000 people.
The commune life is typically provincial, with villages far from each other and connect by dirt roads built along the canal system. More than 70% of the population travel on foot, the rest travel by bicycles, oxcarts, motorbikes with cart, or by boat.
The provincial statistics show that 42% of the population are children (0-14 age). The economically productive age group (15 -64) forms about 54%. The elderly comprises the remaining 4% of the population.
Bias against women can be observed in many aspects of the village life. In the area of education alone, the consistent lesser number of girls enrolling in each school level points to this cultural bias. Provincial records show a 76.4% male literacy rate over 62% female literacy rate. The women disadvantages are further aggravated by incidence of male-spouse death (generally due to war related reasons), divorce and separation. In each of the categories, provincial records show a higher percentage for women than men (widowed: 1.9-M vs. 11.1-F; divorced: 0.9-M vs. 4.1-F; separated: 0.1-M vs. 0.5-F). Indeed the percentage of female headed households of more than 25% is considerably high compared to average in other developing countries.
There are two primary schools in the entire commune, the Kok Romiet Primary School and Vihear Kambao Primary School. For secondary education, the children have to go to the adjoining Seam Reap commune. Kok Romiet school has 8 classrooms, 8 teachers and 712 students. While Vihear Kambao School, located within the pagoda, has 6 classrooms, 6 teachers and 326 students. Student-teacher ratio averages 60 per class. There are a total of 1,038 students enrolled in the two schools. Assuming all 65 grade-6 students proceed to secondary education and similarly happened in the past two years, the total number of children enrolled in the formal school system would be about 1,230. This number is 18% short of the estimated 1,500 total number of children belonging to the school age group (5-14 years = 30% of the entire commune population). In addition to the high rate of out-of-school children, drop-outs rate is also a dramatic high 76%.
This means that out of 100 students in grade 1, only about 24 will remain to take the national exam for entry into secondary education.
The government has a health center in the commune, but pratically it is non-functioning as no health personnel is working there. Common illnesses among children are malnutrition, bronchitis, fever and skin infection. Cases of tetanus are also reported. Among the women common illnesses also include skin infection, colds, fever and diarrhea. Gastritis, tetanus, beriberi, tuberculosis and miscarriages are likewise reported. Men common illnesses include skin infection, problems in the nervous system, malaria, gastritis and eye infection.
Agriculture is the main source of people livelihood. Rice remains the main crop in the area. About 20% of the total agricultural land can implement three cropping seasons (dry season, early rainy season and rainy season). Despite a canal system, about 80% of the land is almost idle during the dry and early rainy season. Most farmers shift to vegetable farming and fishing during the dry and early rainy season (December–May). Non-heading cabbage, cucumber and bitter gourd are the main vegetables produced in the area. Some farmers also increase their income by raising pigs and ducks. Farmers normally sell their produce to middlemen who come to the area. On rare occasions they organize themselves and bring their produce to sell to Takhmau, the main town of Kandal province, or to Phnom Penh. In general, the agricultural system in the area is characterized by low yield and backward technology. Pests and natural calamities (persistent flooding) are also big obstacles to agricultural development in the area.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AND OBJECTIVES:
COMMUNITY EDUCATION and SOCIAL SERVICES is an Integrated Project and is an attempt to tackle the complex poverty related issues in Kandaok commune.
The Main Objective of the project is to educate village people to an integral human development, and promote social services to foster a sense of community and improving the overall quality of life.
Activities are an attempt to deal with the complex poverty related issues that village people have to face daily.
The main community problems that the program aims to address are
1) high rate of out-school youth and students drop-out
2) high illiteracy rates
3) cultural bias against girls and women
4) high incidence of malnutrition
5) high incidence of infant mortality and morbidity
6) lack of basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing (especially as to widows and the elderly)
7) low agricultural productivity
8) lack of alternative livelihood
9) lack of access to market for local products
10) insufficient government services in education, health, agricultural extension.
The Strategy is a Community based and People centred Project, more appropriate to local realities and involving the local communities with a participatory approach to develop their own project, implement and manage it in close cooperation with New Humanity, and encouraging them to take on their responsibilities for community education and social services activities.
The Projects are within 2 Programs framework
· COMMUNITY EDUCATION
· COMMUNITY SOCIAL SERVICES
The Component Projects target different groups of beneficiaries, i.e. children, women and farmers, and are designed to improve the overall quality of life in the community.
Community education promotes capacity building projects targeting the different groups of beneficiaries in the community. While community social services provides direct assistance for poverty alleviation and promotes activities for improving the quality of life.
Below are the descriptions and objectives of each component project.
1. Children Education & Development
This project is designed to ease the problem of high illiteracy rate, the main goal is to prepare school age children from 5 to 9 year for integration or reintegration into the formal school system. And alternatively provide an appropriate 2-year special class program of studies for grown up students, between the age of 10 to 14, who will not consider going back to school. Activities are spaced in 3 hour regular daily classes. Coordination with local school authorities to integrate the children into the formal school system and follow-up with students of the special class are regular.
The project involves also advocacy for education of the children. Parents and other community members are made aware of the importance of education through various promotional activities, facilitating the students registration into the formal school system. Moreover, uniforms and other school items are provided to very poor families to assist them in providing an education to their children.
2. Women Non-formal School
The project is aimed toward the empowerment of women and the reduction of the gender gap, firstly by providing basic literacy classes. Here, women beneficiaries are taught reading, writing and arithmetic classes, crucial knowledge for any transaction with any individual in their community.
Livelihood skills are likewise imparted to the women to enable them to increase their family income.
Pre-natal and post-natal health education, preventive and primary health care and basic nutrition are also thaught to help women in taking care of their family.
3. Farmers Agricultural Skills
The project is aimed at improving the agricultural productivity in the area. Topics include lessons on farming technologies for various crops, integrated pest management, and environmental protection and sustainable agriculture.
Complementary to agricultural skills, N.H. promotes also Animal Raising Skills, a project aimed at promoting animals farming. Topics include selection, raising and breeding of cattle, swine and poultry. Veterinary skills training are likewise provided for selected farmers to act as village local veterinarians, for the promotion of animals vaccination.
Agricultural education in schools is assessing the level of application of the farming skills training by teachers and students and the impact at family and community level.
4. Community Health Education & Social Services
The project aims to address the health problems of the community focusing on public health education. Women groups and primary schools are priority targets.
Local school teachers are given training on various health issues as prevention of diseases, proper nutrition, personal hygiene, treatment of wounds and simple illnesses such as colds, fever, diarrhoea, as well as awareness of critical diseases like malaria, tubercolosis, dengue, AIDS etc. Teachers then echo the lessons to their students via the formal health curriculum and together with a selected group, they go around the community to teach the villagers and other children. Monitoring and results are reported and discussed by the students in their class.
Community Social Services are an immediate response to the emergency situations of the poorest of the poor. This project provides nutrition care for malnourished children, medical and dental services; health referrals; subsidies for medical expenses; regular food subsidy to the abandoned and the elderly; occasional food subsidy to victims of natural and social calamities; construction materials for homeless and very poor families and implies home visitations for follow-up and monitoring of the status of the beneficiaries.
KANDAL STUNG District
Previous Involvement :
In April 1992, New Humanity made a written Statement of intenion to the MFA-IC to open an office and start operations in Cambodia and on 5/12/01 signed also the MOU.
On 23/10/1992, New Humanity signed an Agreement with the Ministry of Education on a Program of Community Education integrated with Rural Community Development to be implemented for 6-year (renewable) in the two provinces of Kandal and Kompong Speu :
LOCAL SITUATION:
The history of Cambodia has been one of massive trauma and displacement of people due to war. Health of body and mind is a key element in the overall well-being of the individual functioning within the context of the family, community, village and nation. When one dimension is adversely affected it causes disturbances at all the other levels also.
A survey in Ampoeu Prey and Kandaok communes, where New Humanity works, has provided information about people with mental and physical disabilities. It was the first systematic approach and contact with the disabled people and their families.
As children or young people often present with complex interplay of symptomatology, it requires four to six visits to make a detailed assessment and arrive at a therapy plan. A Day Care Center is of crucial importance as the ideal place where patients can stay for a short period of assessment before they could return home.
Many of the children of Ampoeu Prey and Kandaok communes suffer from impaired speech, hearing, sight, and motor functions or other disabilities, either in single or multiple combinations. Right now in the area, there are no services of any kind for the mentally and physically disabled to make them autonomous and active members of the society.
New Humanity has established a Day Care Center for the Disabled, a simple structure providing therapeutic exercises and appropriate educational activities for the disabled of the two communes of Kandaok and Ampoeu Prey where it is located about 40 km southeast of Phnom Penh and where New Humanity has been operating for many years a Community Education and Development Program.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT AND OBJECTIVES:
The Education and Development Project for the Disabled is a social service of crucial importance operating through the Day Care Center for the Disabled, which is a human resources development service giving priority attention to the needs of children at risk or in difficult circumstances and with physiological troubles or development disabilities.
By providing appropriate services like speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, skills training and social rehabilitation, the center is trying to promote social autonomy for mentally and physically disabled persons.
Activities are an attempt to deal with the complex issues related to disabilities that disabled people have to face daily.
Speech development
§ Sharing about the weather and drawing using different materials
§ Story telling using different face and body expressions and asking simple questions
§ Objects identification, picking up each object asking what it is
§ Recognise objects inside a box and take the object out one by one and name it.
§ Songs and role play
Classification development
§ Classifying things is the first step to systematic organizing and counting. Recognize objects color, size and shape and develop touch and fingering
§ Recognize and name the colors red, yellow and blue, usually the first colors that a child learns to know. Collect objects of different colors such as flowers, fruits, clothes...
§ Put objects of the same color together. Place 4 different colors in front, to be named
§ Collect sticks of different lengths. Show how to arrange them in a row from big to small. Help to make different shapes, like people and animals, using sticks, beads and pebbles.
§ Play with objects of different shape round, square and star. Arrange objects according to shape and after let do it by themselves and ask to name the different shapes.
§ Coloring and Drawing is an important application to develop creativity. Start with books for coloring, then go to free drawing of people (with head, body and legs), different animals, flowers and objects. Use writing tablet and chalk, paper and pencil, puzzles etc.
Mathematics
§ Recognition of the numbers
§ Counting methodology. Show any single well known object to teach the number one. Repeat the operation increasing gradually the number of the same object up to 5, then proceed with the second step up to 10. Addition and subtraction.
Khmer language
§ Recognition of the Alphabet
§ Use creativity with poster of Khmer consonants
§ Cards with Khmer consonants and vowels
§ Cards for Syllables combination and word making
Workshop Room
§ Under the guidance of a trainer, given the opportunity the disabled can learn the skills to do a lot of things by themselves. Activities at the workshop room develop their creativity and stimulate their ability and capacity to work and to be responsible, allowing them to gradually gain more self-confidence and autonomy.
§ With a proper use of hand-tools the disabled can manufacture toys and teaching materials that can easily be made from bamboo and other raw materials readily available in the villages.
Physiotherapy
§ Stimulate the disabled to use their senses and their motor abilities
§ Improve their limbs movement autonomy
Group Playing
§ Small groups to facilitate the socialization with others. Plays variety
§ Play ground facility. Out-door activities
Although right from the start it was obvious that it will be very difficult to bring an adequate solutions to all their problems, yet New Humanity is trying at least to offer basic services, because the Disabled need more than just "not being ill"; they need personal-material-social well-being. This is important and it can only be achieved through the work of the families, communities and individuals.
It is only when people have a sense of meaning and purpose in life, feel that they are respected by their family and the community that development and growth can occur. Because it is then that they have good self-esteem, are able to maintain friendly relationships, feel at peace with themselves and secure, are confident enough to function at their potential capacity. We believe that the disabled and handicapped people could improve their lives and their knowledge and identify themselves as individuals and as members of a group.
Goals
§ Integrate the people with disabilities into their communities.
§ Try to empower them and encourage them to make their own decisions, as self-reliant and autonomous persons.
§ Help families with disabled members to connect them to others, being involved and co-responsible in the process of their education by supporting each other.
§ Promote and inform about different disabilities (mental and physical).
§ Try to make the disabled feel self-confident and believe in themselves by pointing out positive things they can do according to their capacities (handicrafts).
§ Use the existing facilities at the villages or nearby.
§ Training of trainers about specific methodologies of teaching for the disabled people.
Objectives
§ Stimulate the disabled to use their senses, their motor abilities, their ability to learn and to solve problems, their ability to communicate with others and their curiosity to experiment with objects in the environment through educational activities.
§ Make easy handicrafts from local materials according to their capacities.
§ Provide opportunities for basic education in the village to create some awareness through posters, meeting and seminars.
§ Check new cases of people with disabilities throug continuous homes visit.
§ Find solutions for families, linking them up with the community and the Day Care Center.
§ Keep in touch with different services working with disabilities (NGOs).
§ Integrate the disabled in the society doing out-doors visit in the villages or nearby.
Strategies
§ Home visits.
§ Monthly meeting with families.
§ Personal assistance.
§ Integration activities: - visit other families
§ Games
§ Out-door activities: in the villages or nearby
§ Exchange activities with other students from the local government schools
Desired Results & Significant Changes
§ Develop as much as possible the disabled own capabilities, promoting self-monitoring and autonomy with cognitive and motor skills progress.
§ Promote in the families of disabled the sense of cooperation and co-responsibility.
§ Full acceptance, no discrimination, of people with disabilities at community level.
§ A positive impact on families and villagers, support to activities and information
§ A positive attendance in ongoing activities (in quantity) at the Day Care Center.
§ A good service methodology (in quality) adopted by the field teachers.
Values to be promoted:
§ Respect for the disabled as a human being.
§ Support each other.
§ Cooperation among the people.
§ Work as a service for others.
§ Service as a love for others.
Standard criteria for Monitoring:
Project's situation to be checked every week to see if activities are implemented as to the project's action plan:
§ activities being completed as planned, as to quantity (number of people-meetings-materials, etc)
§ activities being organized as planned, as to quality (target beneficiaries being reached; applying what they have learned; satisfactory community participation; working-out of strategies; etc)
§ activities being conducted within the specified time-frame
§ budget being spent as to plan
§ changes needed in the implementation of the activities
§ changes needed in the management of the activities, as to human & financial resources
§ action plan in need of being modified (what-why-how)
BORIBOR District
For the purpose of promoting the development of education of Cambodia, New Humanity (N.H.) is starting an Integrated Community Education Project in the district of BORIBOR, province of Kompong Chhnang.
The project's duration is foreseen to continue till the End of December 2005, (renewable).
The Project is Community based and People centred, educates village people and encourages their participation to promote educational activities that are more appropriate to local realities.
The Project's implemention and management is carried out in close cooperation with New Humanity and aims to promote community capacity building by motivating village people to take on their responsibilities for community education and development projects.
Previous Involvement :
In April 1992, New Humanity made a written Statement of intenion to the MFA-IC to open an office and start operations in Cambodia and on 5/12/01 signed also the MOU.
On 23/10/1992, New Humanity signed an Agreement with the Ministry of Education on a Program of Community Education integrated with Rural Community Development to be implemented for 6-year (renewable) in the two provinces of Kandal and Kompong Speu.
LOCAL SITUATION:
The Integrated Community Education Project will be located in BORIBOR district, 35 km north-west of Kompong Chhnang city, and situated in the Tonle Sap lake region.
The project's components are :
Children Education & Development -- Women Non-Formal School – Farmers Mixed
Farming Skills – Community Health Education & Social Services.
The economically productive age group (15-64) forms about 52%. The elderly comprises the remaining 3.5% of the population. People aged 18 years and above (voting age group) constitute 48%.
There are primary schools in each of the 11 communes of Boribor district. However the data of the population educational level show that those who have achieved the primary level are only 19.5%, it means that in addition to the number out-of-school children there is also a high rate of drop-outs.
At the lower secondary level there is a mere 6.5% and the upper secondary level make up 1.3%. Those with tertiary education only 0.1%, while a 2.7% has acquired literacy through non-formal education.
The analysis of the educational level of the population as a whole has revealed that a dramatic high 70% rate of the population aged above 7 has not completed even the primary level, with 76% incidence among females, whereas for males the percentage is 64.5%, in general the male literacy rates are considerably higher that those of females.
As it is to be expected in rural areas literacy rates are lower, infact we have a 57.8% in comparison to the 69% in urban areas.
The provincial Departmenent of Education has recorded 904 illiterates in the year 2001-02 in Boribor district, and 356 boys and 141 girls drop-outs from school in this period alone.
The under-privileged status of women can be observed in many aspects of the village life. In the area of education alone, the consistent lesser number of girls enrolling in each school level points to this cultural bias. Provincial records of literacy rate in rural areas show a 66.4% male over a 50.3% female literacy rate.
The women disadvantages are further aggravated by incidence of male-spouse death (generally due to war related reasons), divorce and separation. In each category, provincial records show a higher proportion of women than men (widowed: 1.7-M vs. 13.2-F; divorced: 0.8-M vs. 4.4-F; separated<