Cambodian Minister of Education Endorses Disability Screening Tool and Toys and Games Manual for Nationwide Use
In an effort to provide more inclusive education in Cambodia, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has teamed up with the Cambodian government to produce two new technical materials for teachers and parents. These materials, the “Toys and Games Prototypes Manual for Preschool Teachers and Parents” and “Guidelines for Screening Children with Disabilities in Preschool,” are designed to help families and educators utilize local materials to construct toys and games, and engage preschool age children in play at home and at school.

The Minister of Education has officially endorsed the Toys and Games Manual and Screening Guidelines and encourages their use by all education actors and stakeholders across Cambodia.

The games can be adapted to support children who have difficulties with seeing, hearing, fine and gross motor skills, concentration, self-care and communicating.

“Educational games help build important skills for reading, writing, and calculating numbers. Games make children happy and they help children develop and grow. When children play with their parents or other children, they develop critical social and emotional skills,” explained Kosal Sean, CRS’ Education Specialist.

The screening guidelines are designed to equip preschool teachers and stakeholders with the knowledge and skills they need to identify children with disabilities ages three to five. This comprehensive tool helps teachers raise awareness of a disability, should it exist and take steps to provide a timely intervention. Doing so contributes to a child’s early development and learning, thus facilitating a successful transition to grade one.

“The disability screening tool is very important to a child’s long-term health and skill development. When parents and teachers are able to identify a child’s disability early, and provide early intervention, the child will have a better chance of succeeding later in life,” Sean said.

Official government support means that nationwide, more than 13,000 preschool teachers and administrators will have new tools at their fingertips to meet the individual needs of their students. Additionally, parents and guardians of every preschooler in Cambodia can access information about numerous low-cost educational games for their children, which they can recreate at home.

CRS has been working on improving education for children with disabilities in Cambodia since 2010. It is estimated that among the total disability population in Cambodia, more than 10% are children between 0 and 14 years of age.

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.