Challenge

The World Health Organisation in Cambodia wanted materials for schools to promote health messages in the events of serious flooding of the Mekong River. They approached Educating NZ after hearing a presentation on What’s the Plan Stan, work done for the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

NZAID agreed to provide initial funding to make the project happen as part of its poverty alleviation strategy for Cambodia.

Photo: Educating NZ’s Paul Aitken on a field visit to a Chao Pongahok Secondary School in Phnom Penh during the January assignment.

Approach

Funded by NZAID, we sent a team of two to Cambodia in January 2009 based at the World Health Organisation. The team met with officials from Ministries of Health, Education and Emergency Management and with aid organisations. A detailed proposal for curriculum development and teacher training was written and has gained support from the government.

What’s happening now?

WHO and Educating NZ are working with international donors to gain funding for the proposed project. If successful, Educating NZ will send teams to Cambodia 2009–10 to implement it.

Challenge

Road crashes are the number one killer of young people in Cambodia. Cambodia is a developing nation with a poor roading network – 95 percent of motorcyclists do not wear helmets and 90 percent of cars are without seatbelts. NZAID asked Educating NZ to develop a programme that would help local teachers to increase traffic safety education within the classroom.

Approach

We provided technical advice, expertise and knowledge of international best practice in road safety education:

• We reviewed and improved the existing road safety curriculum.
• We wrote and published teaching and learning materials.
• We developed and piloted a ’Train the Trainers’ programme in four provinces with high rates of road injuries and death.
• We evaluated the impact of these initiatives and made recommendations.

Results

Pre and post-testing results showed a significant increase in students’ traffic safety knowledge. Teaching practice changed to include more interactive teaching techniques. The teacher and student materials were well received with one education official describing them as the best ever published for Cambodian teachers.

Challenge

Vietnam’s rapid economic growth has led to a twenty-fold increase in traffic over the past decade – today it has over 10 million motorbikes. However, the death toll has increased around thirty percent each year for the past three years and road injuries are now the leading cause of death for Vietnamese aged between 1 and 18.

In 2003 NZAID asked Educating NZ to develop and deliver a traffic safety education teaching and training programme for Vietnamese officials, educators and teachers, to increase traffic safety education within the Vietnamese curriculum.

Approach

We provided technical advice, expertise and knowledge of international best practice in road safety education:

• We wrote and designed course materials including a handbook, posters and games.
• We delivered training at a national conference and provincial teacher workshops.
• We ensured the project complemented a World Bank initiative to develop safe highway corridors throughout Vietnam.

Results

Due to the success of this project Educating NZ was awarded a further contract to undertake a similar project in Cambodia.

"The Vietnam Traffic Safety project was a very successful intervention that has worked extremely well to introduce materials and training to 30 provinces. The intervention will undoubtedly have many benefits in terms of increasing access to road safety education for the children of Vietnam." – New Zealand Aid and Development Agency, November 2004