From Hardship to Opportunity: How STEM Education Helped an Orphaned Student Rebuild Her Future

Grade 12 student Khun Monorum, 17, from Svay Rieang province, who studies at Tomorrow Academy, with the support of the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF), said she restarted her education in 2023. She got an opportunity to continue studying from Grade 10 after taking one year and a half off due to her family’s financial situation and tragic circumstances.  

In 2020, her father committed suicide due to debts and two years later, her mother passed away after a sudden serious illness which caused her and her two siblings to become orphans.  

Monorum is the second among three girls in her family. At the time of her mother’s death, she was in Grade 9, her older sister was 18 while her younger sister was only six years old. After her parents' passing, their financial situation became worse. With no other choice, she and her older sister were forced to move to Phnom Penh to find work to support the family, especially her younger sister who was living with their grandmother in Svay Rieng province.  

When Monorum and her sister arrived in Phnom Penh for the first time, they tried to look for organisations that would support them to continue studying and find part time jobs. One organisation rejected them after an interview although they were orphans and in urgent need of shelter, education and an income. 

As they had no other option, Monorum and her eldest sister decided to work as edible bird’s nest collectors in Phnom Penh. It was her first job in life, earning $100 to $120 per month. She and her sister had to pay their room rent and utilities that would cost approximately $180 per month, as well as food. What ever remaining money would be sent to her grandmother and her sister in the province.  

Rebuilding future through STEM after tragedy 

A year later, Monorum met a student, who was studying Tomorrow Academy, and introduced her and her sister to the CCF who decided to fund their studies in order to prepare them for a brighter future.  

“Since the time I started studying here, I have been amazed by the opportunity and am very happy. I don’t only learn from class but also life skills from workshops outside and all this has helped me find a clear goal in my life. I understand myself better and have a good connection with people,” she said.  

“When I was studying in my hometown, I had to pay for extra classes. My parents also did not have enough money.” Although studying in public school in rural areas is free of charge, her parents had to pay for her and her older sister’s education, she added. 

The teachers asked her to attend extra classes to catch up on her lessons, where one subject costs about 10,000 riel or $2.50, and had to attend five different subjects totalling $25 per month, which did not include her older sister’s classes. Her parents spent $50 per month for both of them. 

But, studying at CCF Academy has transformed her life and inspired her to dream big to pursue a higher education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Her favourite subjects are Khmer, English, Math and Computer, especially financial skills.  

‘I felt like I was working in an office’ 

“I feel amazing, like I am working in the office as I always dreamt of working on a computer,” she recalled the feeling when she first touched a computer in her life as she had no access to it in the village. 

However, at CCF, the computers funded by Wing Bank brought her closer to her dream where she learned various computer programmes and skills.  

The 17-year-old girl also imagined dressing well, working in an office as an accountant or financial manager in future rather than doing intensive labour jobs, like being a bird's nest collector, after she became drawn to the Excel programme.  

“Having a computer will help me in the future. I think there is progress from one era to another. The more knowledge I gain about computers, the better my life will be in the future. I can also help my younger sister learn about computers because she is still in the village,” Monorum told Kiripost with a big smile. She is positive about her future after gaining computer and STEM skills, and hopes that the technical skills would inspire her younger sister to secure a good job. 

“Information and Communication Technology skills would be very helpful for me because in the future, work would require computer skills. So, I have to study harder,” she said, adding that she hardly paid attention to computer lessons in Grade 10, and failed it. However, now she feels “blind” without a computer, she joked. 

“Through Wing Bank’s funding, we have high quality and good speed computers. It really helps us learn better,” Monorum said, urging youths to pick up computer skills for a brighter future.

  

Call for government support as computer skills improve STEM education  

Kong Veasna, Head of Education at the CCF Academy, told Kiripost that their students learn computer skills from Grade 1 to Grade 12 as it is a significant skill to develop their learning abilities and mind in a modern world.  

Wing Bank sponsored 33 computers at Tomorrow Academy, locking in funding for three years to help female students in STEM education since 2023.  

Prior to Wing Bank’s funding, students faced difficulties with STEM education through computers because there were only 10 computers and they were over 15 years old, so the software could not be updated. At the time, students could not turn on some of the computers, some programmes that were installed showed error and it could not integrate STEM. It hindered thousands of students from expanding their potential in STEM education. 

“After we got good computers with the latest series, we saw an improvement in the curriculum the school had set,” Veasna said.  

The computers from Wing Bank enabled students to access up-to-date STEM education with high speed internet access and use the programme more effectively and smoothly than in the past.  

“With the AI revolution, we have to be up to date with these technologies and digital systems. It will help students use it to their advantage for their studies, and get better jobs and develop the society,” He hoped that students would take in more knowledge of modern technology through computers, not only for work opportunities in the future but also for society growth.  

Som Komsan, STEM lab officer at Tomorrow Academy, said STEM subjects are significant as they improve students’ critical thinking skills and the knowledge they gain could be used in their daily life to solve problems. Wing Bank has contributed to the students’ skills growth by offering new computers with better functions than the old computers, she added. 

“Previously, the computers were very old and it was difficult for us to install newer softwares. It caused limitations for students, especially those learning STEM,” she told Kiripost, noting that coding and robotic knowledge were not taught at the time.  

For rural students where access to good computers and STEM knowledge is harder, she encouraged stakeholders, including the government, to provide funding support for vulnerable students in some classes so that they can break away from traditional learning methods and gain knowledge of the modern world.  

“I think the Education Ministry should give computers to rural schools, not for all classes but they should at least have access to computers. So, students can learn some basic computer skills because it is the soft skills that can help students with their higher education at university,” she said.  
 

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