Effects of UNICEF’s CASD Literacy Program on

Learners’ Income Generating Activities

－A Case Study of Bamboo Ware-Making

in A Rural Village in Takeo Province, Cambodia－

IDO Ayako

Doctoral Student (D1)

Graduate School of International Development,

Nagoya University

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The eradication of illiteracy of women has been of international concern of critical

importance for quite some time. One of the six major worldwide goals set by the 1990

World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) in Jomtien, Thailand was the

reduction of the adult illiteracy rate, especially for women. However, in 1998 there

were still 880 million illiterate adults (aged 15 years and over) in the world, two-thirds

of which were women (International Consultative Forum on Education for All, 2000).

Based on the Education for All Year 2000 Assessment, in the Dakar World Education

Forum in April 2000, a more concrete commitment “achieving a 50 % improvement in

levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and

continuing education for all adults” was reaffirmed by participants from 164 countries

(World Education Forum, 2000). The Millennium Development Goals adopted in

September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit reinforced these two

previous international agreements by emphasizing “achievement of universal primary

education” and “elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education”

(United Nations, 2000). International trends that put more emphasis on poverty

alleviation since late 1990s prompted the eradication of illiteracy, particularly of women

in developing countries.

In Cambodia, gender disparities on literacy rates and educational attainment are great

and the situation is particularly acute among women in rural areas where 85% of the

population lives at present. In order to improve the situation, the Royal Government of

Cambodia (RGC) formulated a policy on literacy to increase literacy rate by 20% within

15 years from 2001 to 2015. This aims to ensure that non-formal education (NFE)

programs will contribute to poverty alleviation through the increase of functional

literacy and life skills among the disadvantaged group that forms 36% of the total

population (ACCU, 2003). This manifested that RGC intended to tackle problems of

illiteracy in order to respond to pressure from international community on poverty

reduction and EFA efforts. In Cambodia, except for Phnom Penh, Capital City, major

source of income is agriculture in which women assume a major role. However, in

recent years, growing numbers of people go to Phnom Penh to earn more stable and

higher income. Young women with literacy skills have higher chances to be employed

at garment factories in Phnom Penh where higher and more stable salaries can be

expected. Women living in rural areas support their living by engaging in craft making

or sales activities of agricultural products or food at markets nearby to supplement their

income from agriculture, whose amount is easily influenced by the weather. How does

literacy education lead to improvements in the lives of rural women?

Literacy education, which was initiated by the United Nations Children’s Fund

(UNICEF) under its five-year (1996-2000) community-based development program

called the Community Action for Social Development (CASD), was implemented in

Takeo province from 1998 till 2000 (Ky, Dorina, Sovannarith & McAndrew, 1999).

The CASD, which was composed of six inter-related components1, was operated in

eight provinces in Cambodia in cooperation with the Cambodian government (ibid.).

After the withdrawal of the UNICEF from Takeo, the Ministry of Education, Youth and

Sports (MoEYS) and Provincial Office of Education (POE) requested the Graduate

School of International Development (GSID) of Nagoya University to carry out baseline

surveys as well as literacy tests in 50 out of 103 CASD villages in Takeo. Apart from

group work of conducting baseline surveys and literacy tests, participants (graduate

students) of the survey were given individual assignment to do individual fieldwork and

write a report on one particular activity of interest that women of villages engage in after

they complete the CASD literacy program.

As part of an individual assignment, this paper attempts to explore effects of the

UNICEF’s CASD literacy program on a learners’ income generating activity with a

special focus on the case of bamboo ware-making, which is one of the most popular

income generating activities among rural Cambodian women in Seimar village in Takeo

province, Cambodia.

The remainder of this section provides a definition of literacy and methodology of this

research. Section 2 discusses the present conditions of Cambodian women regarding

education and income sources as a background for my field research. In Section 3, the

case study of bamboo ware-making as an income generating activity of rural Cambodian

women will be analysed, to examine the effects of CASD literacy program on a

learners’ income generating activity. Section 4 summarizes findings from this research

1 The six components of CASD were: 1)capacity building focused on women and youth, 2)communityeducation and child care, 3)food, water and environment, 4)health, hygiene and caring practices,5)protection and care of vulnerable children and women, and 6)credit, employment and income (Ky,Dorina, Sovannarith & McAndrew, 1999).

and includes some recommendations for future literacy programs which are linked with

income generating activities.

1.2 Definitions of Words

“Illiterate” and “literate” are used in this paper following the definitions provided by the

UNESCO/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2000).

Illiterate: An illiterate is a person who cannot, with understanding, both read

and write a short, simple statement on his everyday life. A functional

illiterate is a person who cannot engage in all those activities in which literacy

is required for effective functioning of his group and community; and also for

enabling him to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his own

and the community’s development.

Literate: A literate person can, with understanding both read and write, a short,

simple statement about everyday life. Functional literacy is a matter of

growing concern in a world where technological progress demands ever higher

levels of skills. Special measures are required to deal with this problem

which also depends on skills learned outside the school－informal education.

(UNESCO/UNDP, 2000: PP. 17-18)

1.3 Methodology

Both quantitative and qualitative data are utilized in this paper. Primary and secondary

data were collected from various sources. The quantitative data were collected by our

survey team from questionnaire surveys and literacy tests conducted under the

Nagoya–Takeo Rural Education Program (NT-REP). In addition, group interviews

carried out with female literacy learners in Seimar village in Takeo Province in

Cambodia and personal observations of the village were also used as primary sources

for this paper. Details of the field research in Seimar village for a case study are

summarized in Section 3.1. Official papers published by United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNDP, UNICEF, and Ministry of

Planning (MoP) of Cambodia were used to supplement the information on education

and income sources of Cambodian people. Based on the results of questionnaire

surveys and literacy tests, group interviews and observations, the effects of the

UNICEF’s CASD program on a learners’ income generating activity, particularly

bamboo ware-making in Seimar village were identified and presented.

2 Background Facts: Education and Income Sources of Cambodian

Women

This section provides brief background facts regarding education and income sources of

Cambodians with a particular focus on gender disparities for the analyses of effects of

UNICEF’s CASD literacy program on a learners’ income generating activity.

2.1 Education

2.1.1 Adult Literacy Rate

There are wide gender disparities in literacy rate in Cambodia. According to 1998

Census conducted by Cambodian government, the national adult literacy rate for those

aged 15 and over resulted low of 67.3% as shown in Table 1, being the second lowest

among seven neighbouring countries2. At the national level, female adult literacy rate

was extremely low of 57.0% while that of males was 79.5%. The situation became

worse in rural areas where adult literacy rate dropped to 54.3% for females and 77.6%

for males. The gender gap is smaller in urban areas with a difference of 17.5%

compared with that in rural areas with 23.3%, while the average difference between men

and women existing at 22.5%. These figures clearly show that the low female adult

literacy rate in rural areas is a critical problem in Cambodia.

2 The seven countries include Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Malaysia, Myanmar,Thailand, Viet Nam and Cambodia. Lao PDR had the lowest adult literacy rate among these sevencountries in 1995 (MoP, 2000a).

Table 1: Adult Literacy Rate for Population Aged 15 and over by Sex and

Residence (1998)

(%)Residence Both sexes Male Female Difference

Cambodia 67.3 79.5 57.0 22.5

Urban 79.1 88.3 70.8 17.5

Rural 64.9 77.6 54.3 23.3

Source: Final Census Results, National Institute of Statistics, 1999 cited in GeneralPopulation Census of Cambodia 1998-Analysis of Census Results Report 7-Literacy andEducation, Ministry of Planning, 2000a, P.7.

2.1.2 Educational Attainment

Educational attainment is also low in Cambodia. According to the Cambodia Socio-

Economic Survey 1999, nationally, 1.547 million persons (34.6%) aged 25 years and

over had not attended school as shown in Table 2 (MoP, 2000b). 1.128 million

persons, which amounts to 73% of the population that had no schooling, were females.

While in Phnom Penh, the proportion of persons with no schooling was lower at 16.5%,

rising to 36.9% in rural areas. At a national level, the proportion that had only a

primary education accounted for 40.9%. Though in Phnom Penh 50.6% of the

population had a secondary education, this figure remains less than 20% in the rural

areas.

Girls are under-represented at all levels of formal education in Cambodia as shown in

Table 3. School attendance for girls is lower than that of boys across every age group

regardless of urban or rural areas.

Table 2: Population Aged 25 Years and Over by Education Level and Stratum,

Cambodia 1999

Educational Attainment Cambodia PhnomPenh

OtherUrban

Rural

Both SexesNo Schooling (%) 34.6 16.5 34.0 36.9Primary Education/Grades 1-6 (%) 40.9 32.1 36.1 42.6Secondary Education and higher (%) 23.4 50.6 28.5 19.5Others (%) 1.0 0.7 1.4 1.0Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0Population 25 years & above(persons)

4,470,573 433,514 469,160 3,567,898

MaleNo Schooling (%) 20.7 7.1 20.4 22.5Primary Education/Grades 1-6 (%) 43.4 26.9 37.5 46.3Secondary Education and higher (%) 34.1 65.1 40.3 29.4Others (%) 1.7 0.9 1.8 1.8Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0Population 25 years & above(persons)

2,024,274 200,813 211,945 1,611,517

FemaleNo Schooling (%) 46.1 24.6 45.3 48.7Primary Education/Grades 1-6 (%) 14.6 38.2 18.6 11.3Secondary Education and higher (%) 38.9 36.6 35.0 39.6Others (%) 0.5 0.6 1.1 0.4Total (%) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0Population 25 years & above(persons)

2,446,299 232,701 257,216 1,956,381

Source: Report on the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 1999, Ministry of Planning, 2000b,P.16.

Table 3: Percentage of Population Aged 7 and over Attending

School/Educational Institution by Sex, Age, and Residence

Percentage of Population Attending School/Educational Institution

Cambodia Urban RuralAge Group

Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female

Ages 7+ 26.0 30.3 22.1 30.4 34.4 26.8 25.1 29.5 21.2

7-14 64.3 66.3 62.3 75.3 76.8 73.7 62.4 64.5 60.3

15-19 40.6 51.4 30.0 54.6 64.8 45.0 37.6 48.7 26.8

20-24 8.3 11.6 5.3 16.1 22.4 10.1 6.7 9.2 4.4

25+ 1.4 1.7 1.1 2.3 2.9 1.7 1.2 1.5 1.0

Sources: Final Census Results, National Institute of Statistics, 1999 cited in General PopulationCensus of Cambodia 1998-Analysis of Census Results Report 7-Literacy and Education,Ministry of Planning, 2000a, P29.

Such low rates of adult literacy and educational attainment can be attributed to unique

features of Cambodian history. Cambodia has experienced tragic violent conflict for

more than the past twenty-five years. During the years of the Khmer Rouge from

1975-79 Cambodia experienced not only genocide but state-sponsored destruction of its

economic, social, and human capital. People with higher levels of education were

targeted for execution and school systems were abolished during this time. Armed

conflicts and the aftermath also disrupted the education of many Cambodians,

particularly in the rural areas, so that a large number of Cambodians are illiterate and

have not received sufficient formal schooling.

2.2 Income Sources

2.2.1 Main Income Sources

According to the occupational distribution of the Cambodian labor force (for primary

occupation) by the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey in 1999, it became evident that at

the national level, 74.0% of employed Cambodians were engaged in agriculture or

fishing, and the share of people in these occupations increased further in rural areas

where 82.0% of employed population worked in the fields (80.6% for males and 83.3%

for females).

Income sources and their importance in the CASD and World Food Programme (WFP)

villages were well documented in the report of the 1998 Joint UNICEF-WFP Baseline

Survey of CASD projects and WFP target areas which covered 124 villages in 13

provinces interviewing more than 1,200 households. The survey confirmed that rice

farming was the most important primary source of income (74%) followed by small

business (7%) and short time work (5%) in CASD villages as shown in Table 4. Craft

making, which will be examined in the case study in this paper, is also an important

primary source of income in CASD villages with same importance as animal raising,

fishing, and skilled labor. In summarizing, income sources of rural Cambodians are

diverse and complex having both secondary and tertiary sources, but rice farming is the

most important income source in the surveyed CASD villages.

Table 4: Income Sources by Importance

Primary source Secondary source Tertiary sourceCASD WFP CASD WFP CASD WFP

Farming 74% 71% 6% 12% 3% 4%Small business 7% 6% 20% 16% 13% 14%Short time work 5% 6% 13% 13% 9% 9%Salaried work 3% 3% 7% 3% 4% 3%Animal raising 2% 2% 12% 13% 31% 34%Fishing 2% 2% 8% 9% 9% 11%Crafts 2% 2% 5% 5% 3% 5%Skilled labor 2% 3% 4% 3% 2% 2%Log cutting 1% 3% 10% 14% 3% 6%Chamkar 1% 1% 6% 3% 10% 5%Sugar palm 1% 2% 4% 7% 2% 3%Charcoal 1% 0 1% 0 1% 0Hunting 0 0 1% 1% 1% 0Borrowing 0 1% 3% 0 11% 4%

Note: The order of importance of income sources by activities are ranked by primary incomesource prevalence.Source: Report on the Cambodian 1998 Joint UNICEF-WFP Baseline Survey of CASD Projectand WFP Target Areas, UNICEF, WFP & MoP, 1998, P.62.

2.2.2 Income Generating Activities and Gender

The results of the 1998 Joint UNICEF-WFP Baseline Survey show that the division of

labor between male and female regarding income generating activities in the CASD

villages as summarized in Table 5. The survey results revealed gender specific

activities; for example, hunting is done by men only. Activities such as fishing, log

cutting, skilled labor, salaried work, sugar palm tend to be assumed by men, whereas

women are likely to engage in small business, animal raising and craft making. The

results suggest that women tend to be involved in the activities which can be done

without travelling far from home as they have other responsibilities at home such as

doing housework and taking care of their children.

Table 5: Income Generating Activities and Division of Labor (CASD Villages)

Both sexes Men Women

Activity % onlyconducted

by both

% totalboth

activity

% onlyconducted

by men

% totalmale

activity

% onlyconducted

bywomen

% totalfemaleactivity

Hunting 0 0 100 2 0 0Fishing 6 1 90 15 5 2Log cutting 8 1 90 13 1 <1Skilled labor 5 <1 90 7 5 1Salaried work 10 1 86 12 4 1Sugar palm 16 1 81 5 3 <1Short time work 15 3 79 21 7 3Charcoal 31 1 62 2 8 <1Small business 17 5 29 11 54 39Chamkar 68 7 28 4 4 1Crafts 46 3 25 2 29 5Animal raising 46 11 6 2 49 33Borrowing 68 5 4 <1 28 6Farming 92 63 3 3 5 9

Source: Report on the Cambodian 1998 Joint UNICEF-WFP Baseline Survey of CASD Projectand WFP Target Areas, UNICEF, WFP & MoP, 1998, P.65.

3 A Case Study: Effects of UNICEF’s CASD Literacy Program onLearners’ Bamboo Ware-Making in Seimar Village, Takeo Province,Cambodia

3.1 Methodology of Field Research

3.1.1 Village Selection

Out of 103 villages covered by UNICEF’s CASD program in Takeo Province, 50

villages in seven communes in two districts (Tramkak and Daunkeo) were covered by

the questionnaire surveys and literacy tests carried out by GSID, Nagoya University

together with its academic partners at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) for

NT-REP from July 21 to August 10, 2001. The survey team was composed of

professors, graduate students of GSID and RUPP, and representatives from Takeo’s

POE. They were divided into five groups with each group (3-4 persons) visiting ten

villages in total. Apart from conducting the questionnaire surveys and literacy tests as

a group work, participants (graduate student) were given an individual assignment to

write a report on one particular activity of interest in the CASD villages visited that

women engage in after they complete the literacy program. Among the ten villages

surveyed, one village called, Seimar, attracted personal attention for a case study

because there were many women to be found making bamboo goods everywhere.

While walking around in the village, I learned that this was a self-organized income-

generating activity of the village women in which all learners of CASD program were

involved. Thus, I became interested to understand the effects of the UNICEF’s literacy

program on learners involved in bamboo ware-making.

3.1.2 Data Collection

Questionnaire surveys and literacy tests in 50 UNICEF’s CASD villages, as well as

group interviews with literacy learners and personal observations in the Seimar village

were primary sources for the information presented in this paper. Three different types

of questionnaire surveys were conducted with literacy learners, literacy teacher and

village head/Village Development Committee (VDC) in these 50 villages. In addition,

a 20-question literacy tests developed by UNESCO/UNDP was utilized in the present

survey. For my individual assignment, in the Seimar village group interviews were

carried out twice for about one hour each on different days during the survey period.

Due to time constraints, Seimar village was visited only twice. However, personal

experiences with field research in rural villages in southern Cambodia, including the

Takeo province amounting to six months in total from 2000 to 2002 as a development

consultant and a graduate student, provided precious knowledge in understanding

Cambodians as well as the villagers’ lives in the rural areas, supplemented this

limitation to some extent. Data from 49 villages (including Seimar village) that

included 662 respondents (582 females and 80 males) for the learners’ questionnaire

surveys and literacy tests and 49 respondents each for teachers’ and village head/VDCs’

questionnaire surveys were available for final analysis.

3.2 The Profile of the Research Site3

Seimar village of Tram Kak District is situated in the eastern part of Takeo Province.

The total population of the village was 668 with 316 males and 352 females when the

survey was conducted. The total number of households in the village was 128.

Although the number of illiterates was 35 persons (30 females) when the CASD literacy

program started in the village in 1998, it was reduced to 15 persons (14 females) within

three years.

The main source of income for the villagers was rice farming. Women were engaged

in rice farming and for earning additional income in making bamboo ware. There were

20 seasonal migrants to work in Phnom Penh, which is 75 km from the village.

Except for VDC, there were no other village organizations in the village.

3.3 General Characteristics of the Respondents

Literacy classes under UNICEF’s CASD program have been offered three terms so far

in Seimar village. Each term with ten registered learners, lasted seven months, six

months, and one month by the time our survey team visited the village. A

questionnaire survey and literacy tests for learners were carried out with ten learners of

the third term. All learners but one were female. The average age of learners was

3 A personal interview with village head and other villagers in Seimar village in July, 2001.

27.3 years old ranging from 19 to 44 years old. Four of the learners were married and

the rest were single. Except for two housewives, the rest were all farmers. All

literacy learners, except one male learner, were engaged in bamboo ware-making.

Regarding group interviews, I interviewed approximately ten previous learners from the

first two terms and the nine learners from the third term.

The literacy teacher in the Seimar village was a 52 year-old male deputy village chief.

According to the literacy teacher, he was assigned as a literacy teacher as he had more

education than the others. He had received a 30-days pre-service training which was

provided by the CASD program, but he did not have any additional teaching

experiences elsewhere.

3.4 Results of Literacy Tests and Questionnaire Survey for Learners in

Seimar Village

3.4.1 Results of Literacy Tests

As shown in Table 6, the mean score of literacy test in the Seimar village was not so

high, ranking 29th among 49 surveyed villages, though the mean scores in each four

skill areas (reading, writing, numeracy, and life skills) of the learners in Seimar village

all exceeded those of 49 villages. Furthermore, if the mean scores for each four skill

areas of the Seimar village are examined in detail, it became clear that they ranked quite

high among the 49 villages: ranking 8th in reading, 7th in writing, 12th in numeracy,

and 15th in life skills.

Table 6: Literacy Test Results of Learners in 49 CASD Villages in Takeo

Province (2001)

Literacy Test Scores in Four Skill AreasNo. Village Code Village Name Total

Reading skill Writing skill Numeracy Life skills1 2401 Angk Neareay 77.0 13.3 5.5 15.0 31.32 2304 Ang Korkir 74.7 11.7 4.3 10.7 21.93 2504 Prey Ta Lei 74.6 11.3 5.0 9.9 21.44 2305 Kngok Pong 71.9 10.0 5.8 11.7 15.75 2407 Trapaing Kur 71.5 13.9 5.4 12.5 25.26 2203 Samraong 68.1 7.9 6.1 11.5 14.57 2201 Trapaing Ta Saum 67.6 8.2 3.6 8.8 13.08 2206 Prey Rumdoul 65.7 11.1 5.1 9.4 18.79 1101 Trapaing Leak 65.1 10.5 5.5 13.5 24.510 2410 Thnung Roling 63.0 6.8 2.0 3.0 3.011 2302 Champul 62.8 7.4 3.8 11.5 18.412 2103 Toul Tbeng 62.5 8.5 6.6 4.3 25.213 2408 Boeng 61.0 10.4 4.3 12.3 21.614 2107 Moeung Char 60.8 8.9 5.8 12.9 28.715 2101 Sre Kruo 57.3 7.5 5.2 9.9 28.016 2301 Prey Chuo 57.2 13.4 7.9 14.0 27.117 1105 Thun Mun Tboung 57.1 10.6 4.5 11.2 24.418 1202 Prohut 54.0 11.1 4.3 10.4 15.019 2406 Ampil 53.3 8.0 3.6 7.9 19.120 2104 Ta Toem 50.8 8.6 6.6 14.0 31.521 2102 Totueng Thngai 50.6 10.7 4.0 10.6 24.222 2108 Typat 49.5 13.5 6.6 14.0 33.523 1206 Tom 48.6 5.0 5.4 7.1 11.024 1102 Svay Chrum 48.5 12.8 7.1 12.4 35.925 2405 Sla 48.5 7.1 3.3 9.6 16.126 1103 Chroy Brorkhor 47.6 9.5 3.8 12.2 21.827 2205 Prey Kdai 47.4 10.1 6.1 14.7 34.628 2404 Ang Ta Nu 46.1 10.3 6.8 13.5 26.629 2403 Seimar 45.0 13.5 7.6 13.9 27.830 1205 Sochan 44.6 8.8 3.4 8.4 19.831 1201 Thmey 44.3 15.2 7.8 18.5 33.132 1104 Svay Rusei 43.2 16.2 7.0 11.4 37.333 2411 Ang Korkir 41.7 8.0 3.4 7.8 12.234 1204 Prech 41.2 14.3 8.1 17.2 37.435 2502 Pour Dos 40.9 6.6 3.9 8.6 8.636 2105 Toul Rokar 40.8 11.3 4.4 8.6 20.837 2303 Trapaing Kok 40.4 9.3 4.2 10.6 22.038 1106 Chroy Samroang 40.0 9.5 3.9 12.9 22.239 2106 Ang Kralanh 38.5 12.6 5.1 13.2 22.540 2204 Trapaing Koh 36.2 13.9 7.9 14.8 34.841 2412 Prey Theat 34.4 11.3 5.6 15.7 28.442 1107 Khan Khav 33.6 5.6 3.7 7.4 15.043 2409 Trapaing Ping 31.8 11.1 7.7 14.5 29.844 2306 Trapaing Pring 31.4 9.1 3.5 10.2 18.945 2202 Trapaing Thnaut 28.5 7.4 4.9 11.1 10.946 2402 Kach Trak 27.6 4.9 2.0 4.3 3.847 2503 Prey Sbart 17.6 8.6 4.4 11.1 16.848 2501 Peak Bang Aung 15.1 3.9 2.4 2.1 9.149 1203 Ben Mao 14.8 15.2 8.2 20.3 30.9

Mean Score 48.8 10.1 5.2 11.2 22.3

Note: N=662Source: Literacy tests carried out by Nagoya University and Royal University of Phnom Penh inJuly-August, 2001.

3.4.2 Results of Questionnaire Survey: Effects of Literacy Education and

Useful Vocational Skills

(1) Skills/knowledge Learned from CASD Literacy Class

According to the questionnaire survey carried out with the ten most recent literacy

learners in Seimar village, the skills/knowledge most learned included topics as: how to

prevent diseases (9/10 persons), reading, writing and numeracy (8/10 persons), and

animal raising (8/10 persons) as shown in Figure 1.

Skills/knowledge learned from CASD Literacy Class

84

79

7 84

24

7

0

5

10

Readin

g,writ

ing an

d num

eracy

Impo

rtanc

e of w

orkin

g in t

he gr

oup

Nutriti

on

How to

prev

ent d

iseas

es

Hygien

ic liv

ing

Animal

raisin

g

Fishing

Fertili

zer u

sing

Parenti

ng

House

hold

manag

emen

t

Skills/knowledge

Number of persons

Source: A questionnaire survey carried out by Nagoya University and Royal University ofPhnom Penh in July-August, 2001.

Figure 1: Skills/knowledge Learned from CASD Literacy Class

(2) Changes Brought About for Learners by Participating in a CASD Literacy

Class

Positive effects of literacy classes were observed among learners who participated in

them. Village head mentioned in his interview that after acquiring literacy skills, more

women started to find jobs as garment factory workers, or to be engaged in bamboo

ware-making or other small business such as water jar making. Furthermore, the

literacy teacher pointed out changes in the learners’ attitude. They started to listen to

what other people say more carefully and their abilities to express their opinions

improved so that conflicts with other family members or neighbours lessened. In

addition, the village head felt that more active participation was expected from literacy

learners than before in communal meetings and activities.

(3) Useful Vocational Skills

The questionnaire survey revealed useful vocational skills that learners in Seimar village

wanted to acquire. Starting a business was mentioned by nine out of ten learners,

though detailed skills necessary for starting a business were not mentioned. Villagers

appeared to believe they could make more money by starting their own business

followed by: Raising animals (8/10 persons), handcrafting (7/10 persons), weaving

skills (7/10 persons), cooking (7/10 persons), and foreign language (7/10 persons).

The results suggest that to meet the demands of literacy learners, knowledge and skills

related to such income generating activities as animal raising, handcrafting and weaving

should be incorporated in the curriculum of literacy classes.

What kind of vocational skills do you want to learn?

5 5 6

1

8

1 1 2

79

7 75

1

7

0

5

10

Farming(paddy)

Farming(grain)

Farming vegetables/fruits

Fishing

Raising animals

Forestry

Others

Fixing machine

Handcrafting

Starting business

Weaving skills

Cooking

Sewing

Accountancy

Foreign language

Vocational skills

Num

ber of persons

Source: A questionnaire survey carried out by Nagoya University and Royal University ofPhnom Penh in July-August, 2001.

Figure 2: Vocational skills learners want to learn

3.5 Bamboo Ware-Making as an Income Generating Activity by Women

A main income generating activity of women in Seimar village is bamboo ware-making.

According to the group interviews with female literacy learners, almost all women in the

village (including the nine present and all former learners of CASD literacy classes),

who are old enough to make bamboo ware and have extra time are engaged in bamboo

ware-making. The details of bamboo ware-making of women in Seimar village are

summarized below.

3.5.1 Procurement of Raw Materials

Women in Seimar village purchase bamboo rods from a seller who comes to sell them in

the village. Each woman purchases 20 to 30 bamboo rods every month. The rods are

approximately four meters long with a diameter of three centimeters on average. Each

rod costs 300 to 800 Riels4 depending on the length and the thickness.

3.5.2 Bamboo Ware-Making

(1) Product Development

Every year, five to six new products such as vases, fruit baskets, ornaments are designed

in the Seimar village. They vary in size, shape, and purpose of usage. There are no

systematic product development methods in this village. For designing new products,

televisions often play an important role in giving the women hints for new ideas.

When women find good designs of crafts or anything useful in their daily lives on

television, they make new products imitating the ones they saw on television. Since

they are living far away from Phnom Penh, televisions are a vital source of information

to develop ideas for new product development.

4 1 US$=3,835 Riels (July, 2001)

In total, there were about 30 different designs of bamboo products being made in the

entire village during the visit of the survey team. Each woman makes about five

designed products. It normally takes about two hours to make one big vase (8cm x

20cm), and about 30 minutes for a small vase (5cm x 10cm). Normally, each person

produces about six to seven products per day, with approximately 20 bamboo goods

being produced out of one bamboo rod.

Prices of the products vary. They range from 500 to 1,000 Riels depending on the size

and the intricate nature of the work.

(2) Number of Bamboo Ware Producers

All women who are old enough to make bamboo goods, and who have extra time, are

engaged in bamboo ware-making in Seimar village. This represented at least one

woman from every household, for total of more than 100 women, who were involved in

bamboo ware-making in this village. The 15 previous learners of CASD literacy

classes and the 9 learners in the class at the time of this research were found to be

producers of bamboo ware.

(3) Average Hours of Working

According to the group interviews with female literacy learners, the average hours

worked depend on the season and are as follows:

• Rainy season: 5 hours/day• Dry season: 7 to 8 hours/day

Female producers try to find time to make bamboo products between 7:00 A.M. and 12

A.M. Although they appeared very busy doing housework, taking care of their

children, and making bamboo ware, it was very impressive to see women manage their

time efficiently to generate additional income.

(4) Skill Transfer

Bamboo ware-making skills were handed down from generation to generation (e.g. from

mothers to their daughters) and were transferred among village women, and those skills

were not brought into the village by aid projects of external agencies. There were no

villages that were producing bamboo products nearby.

When someone develops a new design, it will be introduced to other women. Thus, a

new design and skills are disseminated among the village women by themselves. In

this regard, CASD literacy classes are conducive to strengthening such social capital as

networks, personal relationships, and polite attitudes. As the village head and the

literacy teacher of Seimar village commented, friendships between learners had

developed and learners’ attitude towards others became more polite through CASD

literacy classes, which are the bases for expanding networks not only among learners

but also with other village women who are engaged in bamboo ware-making.

3.5.3 Selling the Finished Products

There is a simple distribution system of the finished products in Seimar village. When

a certain volume of bamboo ware is completed by each female producer, she will bring

them to one of ten sales persons in the village. The people handling sales are also all

women, but producers and sales persons are different persons. Some literacy learners

are sales persons.

These ten sales persons go to Phnom Penh three to four times a month by bus to sell

bamboo ware they received from female producers in Seimar village. They visit every

market and shop in Phnom Penh to sell those products, normally staying in Phnom Penh

for two to three days.

The transportation cost for going to Phnom Penh amounts to 10,000 Riel (about US$2.6)

per person for a round trip. In addition, sales persons need to pay accommodation fees

in Phnom Penh.

Although sales persons did not want to reveal the exact profit they received from sales

as it was a secret among themselves, some women implied that it would be about 10%

of the total sales amount.

Literacy learners commented that numeracy they acquired from a literacy class was

extremely useful when sales persons sold the finished products in markets and shops in

Phnom Penh and when profits were shared among producers and sales persons.

Besides, some sales persons mentioned that after they acquired numeracy, they felt more

confident in negotiating with customers on price of their products. Not only numeracy,

but other effects were brought about by literacy classes as well. One woman pointed

out that her decisiveness had been enhanced as she obtained more knowledge and

information about her society and everyday life by attending literacy classes, which

formed the bases for her judgement.

3.5.4 Income Generation

Average monthly income from bamboo ware-making was 30,000 to 40,000 Riels

(US$7.82-US$10.43) per producer, which is relatively a good additional income for

female producers. In comparison, a monthly salary of a public school teacher is

approximately US$20.00 in Cambodia.

4 Conclusions

4.1 Summary of Findings

The present survey revealed that literacy skills learners acquired through CASD literacy

program were bringing about positive effects to learners. Two issues can be

highlighted as having significant effects from the UNICEF’s CASD literacy program on

a learners’ income generating activity through a case study of bamboo ware-making in

the Seimar village.

First, as the Seimar village case demonstrated, literacy, and numeracy in particular, was

conducive to women’s bamboo ware-making. Numeracy is indispensable not only

when selling finished products in the markets and shops in Phnom Penh and buying raw

materials from bamboo rods sellers, but also in sharing profits gained from selling the

finished products among women involved with bamboo ware-making within the village.

In addition, decisiveness can be enhanced by attending literacy classes since learners

can obtain more knowledge and information about their society and daily lives, which

formed the bases for judgement.

Second, acquiring literacy leads to women’s empowerment. Women who acquired

literacy and were engaged in bamboo ware making and selling felt that their positions in

their families had been enhanced by getting additional income to their families.

Furthermore, while sales persons commented that they thought they were more capable

to negotiate the price of products with customers, the producers said they were happy to

learn about their capabilities to earn money in exchange with their labor they enjoy,

which helped them build their self-confidence. Almost all women interviewed replied

that they enjoyed making bamboo products in collaboration with other female friends.

Close collaboration among women must be one of the reasons for the success of their

income generating activity. It can be said that CASD literacy classes are conducive to

strengthening such social capital as networks, personal relationships, and polite

attitudes. The Seimar village case illustrated that through CASD literacy classes,

learners not only acquired literacy, but also improved their communication skills by

acquiring polite attitudes towards other people and developed friendships between

learners, which are the bases for expanding networks among literacy learners as well as

with other village women.

Bamboo ware-making in Seimar village has been a self-sustainable activity, which has

succeeded from generation to generation without intervention by external aid agencies.

The CASD literacy program assumes a role to provide illiterates with a chance to

acquire literacy and to be empowered building self-confidence and forming social

capital in order to fully participate in their income generating activity.

4.2 Recommendations

1) Results of the present survey identified vocational skills learners in Seimar village

wished to acquire. The most popular skills learners listed were: starting business,

animal raising, handcraft making, and weaving, while the top three skills/knowledge

learners actually learned from literacy classes were: how to prevent diseases, reading,

writing and numeracy, and animal raising. It is recommended that more vocation-

related knowledge and skills are incorporated in the course curriculum of literacy

classes to meet the specific needs of the learners. In addition, in-service training of

literacy teachers needs to be provided in order to further strengthen the capabilities of

those teaching literacy to meet demands of learners. Such in-service training will

provide good opportunities for literacy teachers to exchange information regarding

teaching methods and best practices in other villages.

2) In order to promote income generating activities, product development ability and

marketing need to be strengthened. More systematic mechanism for developing new

products is indispensable since producers develop new products if they come across

attractive product designs by chance on television at present. It is suggested that not

only sales person, but also several producers go to Phnom Penh regularly to check what

kind of products are in demand as references for developing new products. Since

women in Seimar village can allocate five to eight hours per day for bamboo ware-

making, if they find some products that they can make and that can be sold with higher

price, they can earn more additional income. Furthermore, distribution channels of

products need to be established. Sales persons of the Seimar village visit every market

and shop in Phnom Penh to sell their products now. Working more closely with the

shops which buy their products either on a regular basis or with contracts, and also

provisions of market information by those shops to producers, will stabilize their sales

amount and expand their income generating activity.

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