The first step to using the ESCUP Activity Menu Toolkit is to select an identified problem from the box to the right. This problem is something that the community you are working in would like to address. Once the problem is selected, a list of activities that can address that problem will appear. Each activity has a brief description and a list of resources needed in order to implement that activity. To learn more about each activity, click on the title and the next page will show you a more detailed synopsis of the activity and how to train a community in the activity's implementation. On the synopsis page there will also be a link to the training manual developed by ESCUP. These training manuals are meant to be used to train communities on how to implement the selected activity.

Please note: Any dollar values given are unique to the Cambodian context and are meant to be illustrative.

In general, ESCUP builds on work done under the Child Friendly School (CFS) Initiative supported by UNICEF/Sida and KAPE, as well as life skills programming supported by World Education under the OPTIONS Program. The key principle in CFS programming is to avoid stand-alone interventions and to approach school development holistically across multiple dimensions including (i) inclusive education; (ii) psychosocial learning environments; (iii) good health and nutrition; (iv) gender sensitivity; (v) parental and community engagement; and (vi) good school governance. Program implementation still relies heavily on the use of school clusters, which are formal groupings of schools overseen by a Local Cluster School Committee (LCSC). The organization of schools into clusters by MoEYS helps to simplify communication between program and schools and greatly expedites the ability of programs such as ESCUP to maximize coverage and increase penetration of rural areas. At secondary school level, the program relies on local school management committees that represent school personnel, community members, and local authorities. The use of local committees for implementation in this way greatly facilitates the stakeholder-driven element in program design. The program's technical approach also includes (i) the use of cluster and secondary school grants as a means of resourcing schools, (ii) the use of activity menus in the development of school improvement plans, and (iii) utilization of local committees such as Local Cluster School Committees (LCSCs) to implement activities on the ground, as noted earlier. Under ESCUP II, the use of school grants has begun a scaling back process in keeping with a greater focus on sustainability.

One of the key features of ESCUP programming is its flexible project design, which allows local stakeholders to develop their own programming content based on their own perceived needs. Open-ended school grants and structured activity menus are key elements of this flexible design. This approach facilitates a very stakeholder-driven program as opposed to one that is top down and prescriptive. In order to assist stakeholders in programming available funds by themselves, ESCUP provides extensive technical support for needs analysis and objective-based planning that enable stakeholders to determine what they need to change in their schools/communities and how they might effect these changes. When development is stakeholder driven in this way, it ensures local ownership, which in turn increases the likelihood for sustainability once program support is phased out. This key aspect of its programming has set ESCUP apart and has been perhaps the most important reason for its success.

ESCUP works within the structures set by the Ministry of Education, which has implemented a cluster system for primary schools. Each cluster is made up of 3-15 primary schools. Each cluster has a committee called th Local Cluster School Committee (LCSC) which is made up of school directors, teachers representatives, and community representatives. ESCUP works with 22 clusters (representing 167 primary schools) and 19 lower secondary schools in four provinces (Kampong Cham, Mondulkiri, Kratie, and Ratanakiri).

ESCUP provides cluster-level grants (called "school grants," but in reality, they are cluster grants). The amount of each grant anges between $3,500 and $8,000 based on the number of teachers in that cluster. Once the grants are distributed, ESCUP will facilitate two- to three-day planning meetings for each LCSC. These meetings are planning meetings assist clusters to:

1. Conduct a needs assessment
2. Set objectives
3. Identify activities to achieve those objectives
4. Develop an activity-based budget

After conducting the needs assessment and setting objectives, the LCSC will use the Activity Menu to identify activities that address the problems and meet the objectives they identified in steps 1 and 2. The decision-making is left up to each cluster, making the whole process non-prescriptive. Not every school within a cluster will do the same activities and each LCSC decides which schools in their cluster will implement which activities. It is also left up to the LCSC to ensure that the activities chosen do not exceed the cost allocated to them through the ESCUP grant. The Activity Menu not only assists clusters in deciding which activities to implement based on the problems it identified, but the menu also outlines the costs associated with implementing each activity. In this way, the process facilitates intensive capacity building for school management in each cluster. For the first two years of ESCUP, the planning meetings also served as training. But, by ESCUP's third year the LCSCs were equipped to go through the process on their own. This has greatly contributed to the sustainability of ESCUP's impacts.

After the planning meeting the LCSC submits the plan and budget, also known as the cluster school improvement plan, to ESCUP for approval. ESCUP ensures that those activities that are chosen do not duplicate state efforts. Furthermore, there are certain activities that are funded out of the ESCUP central budget, as opposed to the school grants. Centrally funded activities are usually big-ticket items that are important to school improvement, but are typically too expensive to be funded out of the grant budget. Those activities that are funded out of the grants are completely discretionary, while those funded out of the ESCUP central budget are decided in a parallel decision process with ESCUP advisors. Once the plan is approved, the grants are disbursed and schools begin implementation. ESCUP facilitates the appropriate activity-based workshops for each LCSC so each cluster is supported in its implementation of chosen activities.