Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...

Komly Boek: Bilingual NFE TeacherMy name is Komly Boek. I am a 23-year-old Bunong womanfrom Bu Hyam village, which is in Saen Monorom commune,O’Reang district in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia. I workas a bilingual literacy teacher in Bunong-Khmer, teachingin Group Seven in my village.In my family, I am the fifth of eight siblings. I studied in theformal school system up to seventh grade but, since myfamily was poor, I decided to not continue. It was a decisionof my own.It is only because the Provincial Office of Education Youth and Sport (POEYS) chose literacyteachers out in the villages that I am a bilingual literacy teacher in Bunong and Khmertoday. This plan for the minority people was supported by UNESCO. The POEYS had seenthat I am able to both speak and write the Khmer language clearly, and that I also knowmy own mother tongue well. As a result, they chose me to be a Bunong-Khmer bilingualliteracy teacher in the village that I lived in. I also volunteered to teach to help my brothersand sisters in the village. After that, I was trained in how to teach bilingually at ICC inMondulkiri by POEYS, who also trained me in adult education methodology.There are many reasons why I wanted to become a bilingual teacher of Bunong andKhmer. In the past, there was no alphabet nor any way of recording my language. But nowI have a writing system to record things, which clearly represents my way of speaking. Ibelieve that language is a unique bridge that we ought to teach all minority people sothat they get better access and are able to study the national language. It is also valuableto preserve the Bunong minority culture, traditions and language and prevent a loss ofthem in the future.ChallengesOne challenge has been to oversee the needs of the project without sufficient Bunong staff in the PoEYS.One of the trained teachers of the project was therefore employed as Coordinator for the bilingual NFEclasses. He is still being trained to gain a better understanding of the components of running a bilingualeducation programme. A new teacher is now being trained to take over his teaching role in the village.Another challenge has been the differences in learning needs with both young and older participants.By dividing up the time or dividing the classes into groups, the teachers were better able to meet theneeds of all students. Learning games and extra reading material have been provided to teachers toallow more reading opportunities apart from the texts and activities in the primers.The POEYS desired gender equality and managed to recruit two female trained teachers for theprogramme. Later one of the teachers had a baby, which disrupted her classes for a few months. Sheis now back teaching full force. Finding women with qualifications as high as men’s is difficult, butprogramme organizers have made a stronger effort to find women teachers for the second phase. Asa result, two of the four teachers in this new group are women. The POEYS is not alone in this struggle.[ 68 ]