Rapidly changing circumstances and educational needs of the Bending Bamboo villages in Ratanakiri, Cambodia.

Abstract

“The biggest problem and the root to all the changes is the lost of the forest that we witness at the moment. Not only the organisation of our livelihood changes, but it changes the whole culture of the Indigenous People”. This quote comes from a Tampuen man who lives in Ratanakiri, Cambodia. He is very concerned about the impact of human beings on the natural environment and that is what underpins discussion in this thesis.The Indigenous People are subjected to an increased influence of their surrounding world. These new contacts can cause rapid changes, especially regarding their natural environment, which is the main reason for outsiders to seek contact with Indigenous People.11 Cambodia is an example of this tension between Indigenous People and their surrounding world.How can the Indigenous People of Ratanakiri preserve their livelihoods and identity in relation with this growing dominance of outsiders? An appropriate and adjusted educational system, which meets up to the needs of the People of Ratanakiri, is a way to answer to this question.“Deprivation of access to quality education is a major factor contributing to social marginalization, poverty and dispossession of indigenous peoples.” 13 Ratanakiri has the lowest school enrolment rates of Cambodia. This has to do with the language barrier. The official language of Cambodia, Khmer, is hardly spoken or understood by most of the ethnic minority groups. The language of instruction in the schools is Khmer and most teachers do not speak the languages of the minority groups.14 Due to the remoteness of most of the villages, accessibility is a problem and there is a lack of school materials relevant to their culture, in terms of language and content.15

CARE Cambodia started up an educational program, which aims to improve these barriers for education. They started with setting up bilingual schools to overcome the language barrier. Secondly, they want to contextualise the curriculum of the schools. Their biggest challenge is to find out which knowledge and skills the Indigenous People need, to cope better with their rapidly changing environment. This thesis tries to answer this question for CARE Cambodia. Chapter 1 will give an overview of the background and theoretical framework. Chapter 2 will present the conceptual model and research questions followed by chapter 3, the methods used. Chapter 4 is empirical research finalised with chapter 5 the conclusions and recommendations.