Mandated closures have challenged schools to quickly implement online learning, which has exposed a digital divide. The gulf appears between students with access to technology and those without. The poor and marginalised children ISF helps are often on the deficient side of the divide, at risk of dropping out of education without support. Rotha* is one of the students straddling this divide while working hard to keep on learning. Without ISF assistance, his dreams of graduating could have faded away.

The 12-year-old lives in a makeshift urban settlement in the centre of Phnom Penh. The community, filled mostly with migrant families crowded in makeshift homes, is built on a disused graveyard. Because Rotha’s family couldn’t afford to send him to school, he missed out on learning for years. Though after being accepted into ISF’s Catch Up Education Programme in 2018, he is on track to integrate into public school in 2021 at grade 5.

While he waits for schools to reconvene, he’s been studying online. Along with picking up homework packs from ISF, he attends virtual classrooms every Monday and Tuesday. Though due to a lack of resources, learning online can be problematic.

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Since he doesn’t own a mobile phone, he borrows a device from his older brother when classes are in session. Yet, sometimes his brother isn’t home, and Rotha misses out on learning that day. Learning online is also quite a new experience for him, so he feels less active and productive than being in a classroom. Rotha also battles a poor internet connection in his area, making it difficult for him to keep up when his teacher’s voice cuts out during lessons. To ensure that Rotha, and many others in our programme, can access online learning, ISF subsidises their monthly internet subscription.  

Like many other students worldwide, Rotha reports feeling lonely without the regular human contact of school. He often studies home alone while his siblings and grandmother are out scavenging at local landfills for recyclable garbage to sell. Since we know such sweeping changes to their lives can be challenging to children, ISF social workers pay regular home visits to the students in our programme. They follow up on school progress and work to understand the challenges students are facing. Students also continue to have access to healthcare through ISF nurses’ offices. 

Rotha was thrilled when he heard that schools were reopening in November. He eagerly awaited being able to study in the same room as his teachers and play with friends. Schools did in fact reopen, but Rotha’s celebration was short-lived. Just a few weeks later, Cambodia experienced a surge in COVID cases, and institutions were closed once again. While ISF’s doors were open though, Rotha was seen adhering to COVID-19 prevention guidelines. He physically distanced from staff and classmates, wore a face mask, and washed his hands diligently with water or alcohol sanitizers. Even though he was incredibly excited to see everyone again, Rotha took take-away lunches from ISF instead of eating with friends. Though the quick closure was a major disappointment to him, he is happy he can continue distance learning with ISF support.

*Names of children under 18 years old are changed to protect their privacy.