Case Study - Community Learning Centre in Chres commune

Children from the Community Learning Centre showing their age with their fingers

On the 4th of August, CCPCR visited the Community Learning Centre that it built in Chres commune in 2014, with the support of Caritas. This Community Learning Centre consists in a small open classroom with two boards and sixteen desks. It welcomes more than 30 children six days a week for pre-schooling and tutoring lessons.

Before the establishment of the Community Learning Centre, people from this area had little access to information and many poor families used to go to Vietnam with their children. The nearest school is a bit far from this area so children here usually don’t go to school until they are 5 or 6 years old because they would need to be old enough to ride a bicycle. When they finally start studying, they are faced with many difficulties due to their lack of knowledge.

With the establishment of this Community Learning Centre, CCPCR’s purpose is to empower the children and their families. From Monday to Saturday, children are given the opportunity to learn at their own pace. The children going to the public school can attend remedial class so that they won’t get lost and be tempted to quit school while the youngest ones, who are not able to go to school by themselves yet, are provided with pre-schooling lessons. Apart from that, the Community Learning Centre is also a place where people from the community can come to learn, thanks to the materials from the small library of the center. They are also empowered by the ability to organize meetings with other NGOs or government officers to raise awareness about children’s rights or receive trainings. Since the establishment of this Community Learning Centre, fewer families go to Vietnam and more children attend school.