Teaching in Cambodia

Our teaching projects in Cambodia are based in Takeo, a small town about 50 miles south of Phnom Penh. You will be based in either a school or orphanage that has been set up to provide free education to the children of the local town.

Education is not free in Cambodia so most children have to fight to be educated to a reasonable standard. If parents can’t afford to send all of their children to school they simply send the eldest boy, which means there is a huge difference in literacy between men and women in Cambodia.

You will work with a local NGO that is providing free education to the children of the town. They have 10 schools in the area and one orphanage. The school facilities are understandably basic as funding for classrooms and materials is limited. You will also have to work unusual hours as Takeo is a rural community dependent on agriculture and it’s not unusual for children to disappear to help with harvest or taking produce to market!

You will also have to get used to teaching children of vastly different ages and abilities. Many of the children, particularly the girls, have not been able to go to school and so are desperately trying to catch up.

Your main role is to help teach English to the children. Demand for good English speakers in the tourism sector has meant that schools are keen to have good English speakers to supplement what the children are already learning in their English lessons.

English is already taught in most Cambodian schools and you will be surprised at what the children already know. Pick up some of the work that the children have written and you will wonder why you are there, their written work is immaculate. However, ask the children to read out what they have written and you will quickly see where they need help. Most of the children have been taught English by people who's first language is not English. Often that means that they have been taught to speak English through the phonics of their own language. Y's, R's, L's, Th's, Ph's are pronounced differently in the Cambodian language so your role is not to teach the children grammar, but to teach them the phonetics of the language - how to pronounce the letters that form the building blocks of the English language.

Note all projects working with children require a background check. This is an extra cost of about £10 but we will make the necessary arrangements. Parking tickets, speeding fines, and some criminal convictions will not prevent you from joining us; we simply check if you have any prior convictions relating to harming children.

Cambodia

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2008	£995	£995	£895	£895	£895	£995	£995	£995	£895	£895	£895	£895
2009	£995	£995	£895	£895	£895	£995	£995	£995	£895	£895	£895	£895
2010	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795	£795

All costs shown above are for one month. Additional months can be added for £495.

You choose your dates for teaching, orphanage, journalism and medical placements but spaces throughout the year are limited so reserve your space now.

What's included?

Why are some dates cheaper than others? Our pricing policy explained.