The French NGO Action Education (AEA), and its partners, announced the distribution of 150,000 exercise books, 12,000 school uniforms, 6,000 backpacks, and 5,000 bicycles to disadvantaged primary schoolchildren across Cambodia.

“These materials are funded by the Education A Child [EAC] of Education Above All Foundation of Qatar and the EU,” said the organisation.

AEA country director Vorn Samphas told The Post on May 10 that the materials would be distributed through three major projects, which aim to provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children.

The Joint Partnership Project supports educational opportunities for disadvantaged children across the country, while the Alliance for Sustainable Development and Voice for Social Equity project is being implemented in the Kingdom’s four coastal provinces. The Community Fisheries Project creates a rotating economy on the West Tonle Sap Lake in target provinces including Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap.

Students in remote areas and those who are migrants will receive scholarship support and study materials.

“For 2023, we procured 40,000 scholarship packages. If a recipient lives far from their school, we will provide them with a bicycle. We source the bicycles second-hand from Japan,” he said.

According to Samphas, in 2023, the AEA and its partners have spent nearly $2 million on school supplies and scholarships directly to children across the country.