Obtaining students’ retention and regular attendance is the foundation of Blumont’s Food for Education program.
The Blumont-implemented Food for Education program has partnered with Klung Popok secondary school since 2012, focusing on Cambodian Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. The project, funded by USDA, aims to increase school enrollment and prevent drop-out by providing nutritional incentives to attend school reguarly, such as take-home rations. Many students face barriers making it difficult for them to attend or concentrate in school.
One such student is Heng Sreypich, a 16-year-old studying at Klung Popok school. She says, “My family depends most on rice farming for daily living which is insufficient. During my time in primary school, my study was not satisfactory at all. I was always absent from school and help my parents with housework activities. In addition, I always went to school on empty stomach in the morning. This made me feel hungry and could not pay much attention on my teacher’s lessons.”
School Master Mr. Or Sapheun and IRD field monitor provide take home rations (THR) to Sreypich and her classmate.
However, Sreypich’s secondary school experience has improved greatly due to the take-home rations – she has passed her Grade 9 exam and is continuing on to Grade 10.
She says, “My study in secondary school was much better because of school feeding and take-home rations.”
School feeding not only increases students’ retention in school, but it serves as incentive for students passing the transitional period from primary to secondary school. Over 350 students and teachers currently benefit from the program and according to Mr. Or Sapheun, head master of Klung Popok school, the grade completion rate has increased from 87 to 100 percent over three years.
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