Students take class in Think!Think! Learning Lab in Phnom Penh. MOEYS
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports plans to launch Japan’s number one curriculum “Think! Think!” this month at Preah Norodom Primary School in Phnom Penh.
The school is one of eight in six provinces which will be targeted with the programme, in a private-public partnership between the ministry, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and WonderLab (Cambodia) Co, Ltd.
Think! Think! is a new STEM curriculum – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – that helps develop in-depth thinking skills, social relationships, creativity, motivation and soft skills for students in the 21st century, according to the ministry.
At a meeting on March 4 with JICA representative to Cambodia Shinji Yanagawa, education minister Hang Chuon Naron showed the results of a survey on the app, which demonstrated that the programme was effective at improving math scores, intelligence, motivation and self-confidence.
“Chuon Naron introduced the app and thanked JICA for its support in providing students in public schools with the opportunity to study with this high quality Japanese app,” the ministry said in a March 4 press release.
It quoted Yanagawa as saying at the meeting that Think! Think! is Japan’s number one educational app and had been awarded Google’s Best App for Kids.
It added that JICA agents have been launching classes in Toul Kork at the Think! Think! Learning Lab to provide the public with the opportunity to access the app. Think! Think! helps to develop in-depth thinking, social skills, creativity, motivation, self-confidence and self-love, it added.
In April 2020, the ministry – in collaboration with JICA – officially launched Think! Think! to provide children with online learning opportunities that improved children’s thinking and ability to do math. The launch took place at a time when Cambodia was facing the spread of Covid-19 and schools were shuttered, and meant children could enjoy studying at home.
“Think! Think! is a good curriculum that helps increase children’s IQ, in-depth thinking and social skills,” Chuon Naron added.
