Cambodia is one of the countries in the world which has about 90% of the population vaccinated. The government of Cambodia allowed all business activities and schools to fully open for a second time this year. KKO school ran online classes using zoom for the older students since June. However, distance learning doesn’t work for our younger students. They got worksheets from the teachers and did the work at home.
In November we stopped online classes in order to have time for all our teachers to do preparations before the reopening of school. All teachers and volunteers were busy reorganizing, cleaning classrooms, and straightening the school yard. All of our students were required to enroll again with a copy of their vaccination card. At the same time, the school manager developed documents which indicated the rules for health and safety, which will be implemented as the school reopens.
The KKO English classes fully opened on the first of December which has returned with the loud voices and smiles of our students which were missing for almost eight months. The real class teaching is always much more effective for the younger students. The teachers asked the students “what are their impressions of being back to real class”. Every student said the same thing. They really missed the classes, teachers, and classmates. It was so boring and stressful to stay and study from home. Not only for the students, our teachers are also very happy and excited to be back to direct teaching. Unlike the online classes, they can use educational games and fun activities to interact with the children’s learning.
At the same time, we care about the safety of our staff, teachers, and students. Although everyone has been vaccinated, we still do temperature checks upon entering the school, keep distancing, sanitize hands, and wear masks. We hope the school will stay opened, not closed again and we are looking forward to a good year, 2022.
