Have Skills, Can Work

The paper illustrates the positive effects that The Basic Skills Project, funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), has brought to the lives of poor people in poverty-stricken Cambodia by quoting several small stories. This is an especially significant achievement when seen in light of the fact that less than one percent of Cambodians are graduates of higher education.

The Basic Skills Project:

• Targets the disadvantaged members of the community;
• Provides training in several basic livelihood skills like tailoring, computer training;
• Provides equal opportunity for training to men and women, boasting of 52% women trainees at its vocational training centers;
• Has helped nearly 70 percent of its graduate enrollers in securing a job;
• Has distributed micro credit to several of its trainees.

Finally, with the aim to develop human resources in Cambodia through training and education, the project has also helped in:

• Creating a national training board to provide policy and planning guidance in skills training;
• Coordinating with the private sector, funding agencies, and non-government organizations;
• Upgrading physical facilities of technical institutes and provincial training centers;
• Building capacities of educators and officers through overseas fellowship trainings.