In the remote villages of rural Cambodia, countless children aged 3 to 5 wake up each morning with no pre-school to attend – no place where their dreams can take root. To address this, Action Education / Aide et Action has built 13 community pre-schools and renovated 42 more across the coastal provinces, as part of the EU co-funded CO-SAVED project.
While progress has been made, the road ahead remains long. Early childhood education faces deep-rooted challenges – including low parental awareness, inadequate infrastructure, and persistent inequity. Children from ethnic minority groups, remote communities, and low-income families remain the most disadvantaged.
Furthermore, many community pre-schools operate with untrained staff and limited resources. Crumbling buildings, unsafe learning spaces, or the complete absence of classrooms have kept thousands of young children from accessing early childhood education. Yet even in the face of adversity, hope has never been lost.
Co-Action: Building Schools, Empowering Communities
By upgrading and building early learning facilities, we’ve turned that hope into action. Our mission is to empower children, families, and communities with the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty through education.
With support from international donors, our objective is to deliver sustainable, community-led impact. Community engagement is a key part of the process, ensuring that local voices, needs, and aspirations shape the outcome.
Working closely with local authorities, community leaders, and families, our projects go beyond construction – they represent true community dedication. We witness remarkable acts of solidarity and shared hope: parents volunteer their time, local craftsmen contribute their skills, and everyone plays a part in creating spaces that belong to them.
Co-Impact: Investing Early for Lifelong Success
The importance of early childhood education cannot be overstated – it is the foundation of a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. Each pre-school is a safe, nurturing environment where children can grow, learn, and dream. The construction and improvement of school infrastructure include not only buildings but also essential facilities such as latrines, learning materials, and playgrounds.
The impact extends far beyond academics – pre-schools become community hubs where parents gather, where mothers feel safe leaving their children, and where the seeds of long-term change are sown. When we invest in early childhood education, we invest in everything – health, confidence, future jobs, and peace. We know what happens when children are given a fair start: they thrive.
Pre-schools are being built, but more importantly, brighter futures are being shaped.
Multimedia resources:
- Take a peek inside one of the community preschools we built: > Watch our video
- Discover the power of early childhood education in a fun way: Watch our cartoon”> > Watch our cartoon
- This CO-SAVED activity in Cambodia is also featured on our international website: > Check our Southeast Asia section
