Child peer educator keeps children’s spirits high

San Seat

18-year-old San Seat’s efforts to continue studying have been in vain. The nearest secondary school is 20 kilometres away, taking about three hours to get to  by bicycle.
 
Like Seat, no one in his village pursues education further than primary level. Not many of them manage to go to school at all.

“Only 50 per cent of the children in the village attend primary school,” says Seat. 

The four wooden classrooms that make up the village school are dilapidated - but that’s not why children don’t go to school. Living in poverty, most families find it a struggle just to meet day-to-day basic needs - and they often need their children to help them too. The children’s work usually includes farming, household tasks and tendering to the cows.

However, Seat doesn’t let despair get to him. Besides his routine work in supporting his father’s teaching at the primary school and helping out with the farming, Seat also dedicates  his time to being a child peer educator, working to help give ‘informal’ education to the children in his village.

With support from Plan, Seat receives training on facilitation skills and basic project cycle management, which enable him to coordinate children’s meetings and identify children’s problems in the village.

The long-term goal is to raise awareness of children’s rights and build their confidence towards participating in community development.
 
“There are about 16 children that meet up every week.  I share with them what I learn when I attend meetings with Plan’s staff, especially information on the rights of the child,” said Seat.
 
What Seat would like for his village are very basic things like clean water, and a proper primary and junior high school. 

Plan is working in Seat’s village as a partner with the community to improve their livelihood. A village development plan has been designed by Plan and the community, which focuses on practical needs like clean water, schooling, promoting family income and enhancing children’s participation in community development.