23rd July, 2013

According to UNICEF, in Cambodia, the average literacy rate is less than 75% - a rate which is even lower in the most isolated parts of the country, such as the Banteay Meanchey province. The learning process is significantly slowed down due to the lack of essential ICT tools available to the children.

Recurring crises isolate thousands of people from the rest of the world. Since its creation, Télécoms Sans Frontières’ priority has been to combat digital isolation in regions deprived of the necessary telecommunication infrastructures.

The local NGO, Enfants du Mékong, leads sustainable development projects in relation with education and child protection. For this reason, TSF and Enfants du Mékong joined up to work on narrowing the digital divide for the Cambodian children of the Banteay Meanchey province.

Thanks to the various equipment transferred from the Svay Chek district by TSF, this project will allow for the installation of an IT centre, fitted out with computers fed by solar panels in the village of Banteay Chhmar, situated in the north-east of Cambodia.

From the start of the coming school year (2013-2014), the installations supplied by TSF and Enfants du Mékong will be used to give IT lessons to the pupils of the centre. As well as these classes, the pupils will also be able to access openly the computers that they will use to put into practice the information they have learnt in lessons.

Thanks to Télécoms Sans Frontières, Enfants du Mékong is able to lead the development of the Banteay Chhmar centre with the indispensable ICT tools in order to promote education in one of the most isolated areas of the country. Telecommunication holds a crucial role amongst rural populations and TSF is continuing its fight against the digital divide so that education remains a priority.