Shaping the leaders of tomorrow
In a lush, gated compound 12 kilometres south of central Phnom Penh, the young minds that will one day lead Cambodia are being shaped – or at least that’s what one philanthropic foundation, which is investing millions of dollars in a unique, long-term project, hopes.
“When I was at [government] school, I just learned math and science. Here I learn about social business and renewable energy,” says 12-year-old Maya, one of 50 pupils at the Liger Learning Center, a school unlike any other in Cambodia. …
Aside from a practise-based curriculum that emphasises the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, alongside English and Khmer, the school prioritises hands-on learning and exposing the students to issues that will face Cambodian policy-makers and businesspeople in decades to come.
The fact that they are aged between 9 and 12 years old is no matter.
So far this term, they have camped out in Mondulkiri’s Seima rainforest learning about ecosystems, made a documentary about Angkorian waterways and worked on a bio-digester project with farming communities in Kampong Speu province. …
At the “Innovation Centre”, once a week the kids are left in a room with all manner of trinkets and building materials – think anything from bamboo poles to Play-Doh to fire hydrants – and basically left to their own devices to invent and build.
“The other day, they built a mini-golf course with a windmill and everything,” Dominic Sharpe, the long-haired, ebullient Australian country director of the Liger Charitable Foundation, which set up the school, says nonchalantly. …
A key part of the “difference” that these kids could make seems to be geared towards entrepreneurship and business. The foundation’s website, in its explanation of why the school was set up, argues that if only a dozen of the 100 kids that go through Liger succeed professionally – the next cohort of 50 kids will arrive in 2015 – “their adult contributions will in turn help thousands of people”. …
American Trevor Gile, who founded the Liger Charitable Foundation with his wife, Agnieszka Tynkiewicz-Gile, runs an investment firm and gives 30 per cent of his profits to the foundation. As a result, building socially responsible business acumen is one of the school’s key priorities.
Earlier this year, one class of kids set up a bag-selling business called “Carry It!” as part of an entrepreneurship “exploration”. As part of that, they created a business plan, took out a $270 loan from Liger, designed the bags, had them made at a disabled artisan cooperative, and managed to persuade a number of hotels to sell them. …
The foundation has committed to funding 100 kids through to an overseas university education. …
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/shaping-leaders-tomorrow
