Today marks the conclusion of an exhausting, exhilarating, and deeply inspiring four-day journey. As the doors close on this chapter today, May 21, 2026, the classrooms of Pailin and Kep are left echoing with a new kind of energy.
The long-awaited STEP UP On-Site Coaching & Mentoring initiative, which kicked off on May 18th, has officially come to a successful close. For four intense days, our teams connected with 92 passionate educators, 62 in the western landscapes of Pailin and 30 along the southern coast of Kep. But this wasn’t just another standard professional development seminar. It was a living, breathing proof-of-concept for the future of Cambodian science education.
Here is the story of what happens when national policy meets grassroots passion on the classroom floor.
The Big Picture: Where Policy Meets the Classroom Floor
To understand why this week was so monumental, you have to look at the grand design. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) has been championing two major reform pillars: School-Based Management (SBM) and the National Continuous Professional Development (CPD) System.Often, big-picture policies can feel distant from day-to-day school life. This workshop changed that. It was a deliberate, field-centered bridge showing exactly how School-Based Coaching & Mentoring can move off of a policy document and right onto a teacher’s whiteboard.
Why Pailin, Kep, and ‘Science Labs’?
We intentionally chose regions like Kep and Pailin because they face unique regional challenges. Vulnerable educational environments often mean that implementing advanced STEM tracks can be tough uphill climbs.
Our mission was clear: Walk into their actual classrooms, identify the real-world bottlenecks, and provide immediate, on-site solutions.
We operated on a core belief: true STEM literacy begins in the Science Lab. When teachers deeply grasp the national curriculum standards, they can stop treating science as a series of facts to memorize and start treating it as a reality to experience.
Here is a sneak peek at the wonderful transformations that took place over the last 4 days! 👇
🔬 [Lab Protocol] Science Labs for Understanding the Curriculum
Going beyond simple fun, teachers put their heads together to create alive, engaging science classes grounded in a deep comprehension of the curriculum.
- 📜 Mastering the Guidelines: Teachers built solid curriculum literacy by reviewing the National Institute of Education (NIE) guidelines and example videos.
- ✍️ Topic Selection & Material Prep: Teams chose specific experiment topics for their classrooms and meticulously checked and labeled all related materials.
- 📋 Lab Planning & Feedback: Under the close guidance of Core Trainers, teachers designed comprehensive and flawless experiment processes.
- 🎥 Flipped Learning Videos: Teachers filmed and edited their own experiment videos for flipped learning, leveraging 1:1 feedback to elevate the quality.
- 📊 Survey Tool Development: They successfully developed evaluation survey tools to measure and continuously improve future lab protocols.
📈 [STEM CPD] STEM Education Actually Working in Schools
School directors and STEM teachers gathered to master sustainable methods, ensuring that this training transforms into a school-wide expansion rather than a one-off event.
- 💬 Understanding Checks & Experience Sharing: The session evaluated STEM teachers’ understanding after the training and featured invaluable success stories shared by senior STEM teachers who have already passed three credits.
- 📐 Backward Design Framework: Teachers designed systematic lesson plans using the ‘Backward Design’ model and outlined ‘application concept videos’ to bring them to life.
- 💻 Interactive Video Editing with ICT Support: After filming their concept videos, teachers learned how to use ICT support to edit them into highly engaging, interactive clips for students.
- 🗺️ Real-Life Application & Future Planning: To sustain the momentum, they mapped out concrete next steps for curriculum design and further video production tied directly to real-world applications.
- 📝 CPD Tool Evaluation: The session wrapped up perfectly by conducting an evaluation survey on the STEM CPD tools.
Though it was a demanding all-day schedule for 4 straight days, seeing the twinkling eyes of these 92 educators gave us a clear vision of a bright future for Cambodian education.
A huge thank you to the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the PIU2 teams for developing and preparing these excellent tools and guidelines for school-based STEM expansion, and a massive shout-out to all the teachers who brought incredible passion to the field!