1. Introduction

Every child has the right to receive quality basic education, which fosters respect for their families, cultural identity and language to be able to develop their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to the fullest. Many children do not speak Khmer when they enter school. Promoting a child friendly, inclusive learning environment requires an approach, which respects the cultural and linguistic diversity in the classroom and offers interventions to address the specific needs of students from ethnic minority groups.

2. Primary Objectives

To offer students a different mother tongue than Khmer additional support in the development of Khmer language skills, in order to increase their participation in education.

3. Target group

Non-Khmer speaking students in Grade 1 in selected schools who have planned for this activity in their Cluster School Improvement Plan.

4. Facilitators

Teachers of Grade 1, who have been selected to implement SKL activities.

5. Information on Implementation

1. Orientation meeting in the schools who plan for this activity
   Schools who plan for this activity should conduct an orientation meeting for school staff and parents to explain about the activity, how it will be implemented and what the expected benefits are.
   
   
2. Selection of teachers
   Teachers should be interested and motivated to invest in this new activity and therefore selection is preferably based on volunteerism. Teachers who volunteer will receive specific training and support from ESCUP staff to be prepared for implementation.
   
   Depending on the number of students who speak a different language than Khmer, it can be decided to create a special class from students from different classes/teachers or make it an activity for students from the same class (if there are enough students).
   
   
3. Training of teachers
   A four-day training for teachers will be provided by ESCUP staff in the first week of February. Teachers will receive teaching and learning materials specifically designed for SKL activities.
   
   
4. Selection of students
   Teachers need to identify which students will participate in this activity.
   
   
5. Implementation
   The SKL program will be implemented for approximately 18 weeks as an extracurricular activity for 2,5 hours per week (on Thursday or afternoon) and a daily follow up of 10 minutes a day. SKL can be part of the Local Life Skills program of MoEYS.

6. Resources Needed

• Teacher trainers
• Teacher Remuneration - $2.50 per day per person for 3 days
• Stationery for training - $15 per group
• Learning materials