Development of 'Sex Ed' E-Learning Kicks Off in Cambodia

Youth and teachers that participated in the workshop, along with OneWorld’s Mobile4Good Program Coordinator, Uju Ofomata

Image by OneWorld

The focus of the three-day workshop, led by OneWorld’s creative design partner Butterfly Works and held in Phnom Penh, was the conversion of the national Life Skills curriculum into an e-learning format – what content will be included and how.

The Cambodian Life Skills curriculum was recently revised by the national government with support from civil society organisations and international agencies, including the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC), the People Health Development Association (PHD), and UNESCO. These organisations are now collaborating with OneWorld and Butterfly Works to develop the eLearning environment.

The revision greatly improved the Life Skills curriculum, transforming the previously dry and narrow set of materials into a far more comprehensive and dynamic programme. Facilitating teachers’ application of the lessons and making these increasingly accessible, interactive, and engaging for students through the e-learning platform is a natural next step.

The online version of the curriculum will include audio and video content featuring virtual peer educators as well as games, quizzes, and other resources designed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes about critical life issues. In addition to writing scripts and creating games, an important aspect of developing the e-learning environment will be ensuring that it is true to the Cambodian context and that young people can relate to the virtual peer educators as well as the issues they address.

“Young people feel ashamed to talk about sexual relationships,” said Ou Ratanak, Executive Director of the Cambodian People Health Development Association, but the e-learning environment will open up a safe space for students and teachers to engage on sensitive topics.

The first five lessons will be developed by March 2014. Teachers from approximately 20 schools in four provinces – Koh Kong, Preasihanouk, Kampong Chhang, and Phnom Penh – will then be trained to facilitate Life Skills classes using the e-learning materials beginning the following month. Peer educators will also be trained to use the platform, equipping them with the skills to lead young people through the pedagogical activities as part of after-school clubs and other sensitization activities. Feedback from this testing phase will inform the adaptation and completion of the final, full eLearning programme in time for the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year.

Many benefits are expected as a result of the implementation of the e-learning platform in Cambodia. First and foremost, the stimulating and fun approach will increasingly engage students in the learning process while also freeing young people – and particularly girls – to speak about sensitive topics and difficult psychological and social situations they may be confronted with. The e-learning platform will also support teachers as they seek to tackle a subject that is both critical to their students’ immediate health and well-being yet also the most difficult to discuss due to cultural and societal taboos. Finally, young people’s capacity to use important ICT tools such as computers and online applications will be developed.

The e-learning platform is part of the Learning about Living project recently being introduced in Cambodia to promote gender equality and youth’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. OneWorld originally developed the Learning about Living concept with Butterfly Works in Nigeria in 2007, and has since implemented the program in Egypt, Mali, Morocco, and Senegal.

In Cambodia, the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC) will coordinate the local partners involved in the development and implementation of the eLearning environment, including the National AIDS Authority (NAA), the School Health Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the People Health Development Association (PHD), Women’s Media Centre, with technical support from UNESCO and UNFPA. Funding for this pilot phase of the project is provided by Oxfam Novib in Cambodia.