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Today the 5 female cows that have lived at the Provincial Teacher Training Center (PTTC) in Siem Reap since November 2010 were very happy to welcome a new male member to their family. Over the last years the female cows have been a great asset to the agricultural and environmental life skills activities at the PTTC.

"It is just another hot day in Cambodia. We are taken for a visit to Kork Rormeat lower secondary school in Kandal Province, Cambodia. This is one of the schools where we will observe some lessons of teachers who have benefited from the SEAL programme.

From 21 to 23 November the 16th UNESCO-APEID International Conference “The Heart of Education: Learning to Live Together” was organised in Bangkok, Thailand.

A delegation of 7 members of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and 2 staff members of VVOB Cambodia joined this conference. The MoEYS delegates are officials of the Quality Assurance Department, Primary Education Department, General Secondary Education Department and the Curriculum Development Department.

My name is Nol Samnang. I am 24 years old. I am a new teacher graduated from Regional Teacher Training Center (RTTC) in Kandal province last school year. After my graduation, The ministry of Education assigned me to 24 Kannha Upper Secondary School, located in Kampong Speu province which is bit far away from my home town, but still I am happy with my career as a science teacher. The school runs classes from grade 7 to grade 12, and this school year I am appointed to teach chemistry for all classes in grade 10.

When VVOB suggested the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to organize a national extension workshop, DAE was immediately enthusiastic and willing to take the lead. Indeed, in the Action plan 2011 of the MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) one of the policy measures is ‘to review the framework for agricultural extension services’ and a national extension workshop would be able to initiate this measure.

Early 2012, ten photographers set out on a journey. Their mission was extremely challenging; to grasp the impact of VVOB's education programmes on the everyday lives of children and youngsters. The result is an impressive and colourful range of interpretations, perspectives and ideas.

Education can change lives. Continuously, education changes as well. 'Education Changes Lives' powerfully brings this into focus.

From February until May 2012, Griet Vandeburie, student biology – physics education at Arteveldehogeschool (AHS) Ghent, spent 3 months at the Regional Teacher Training Centre in Kandal. For her internship she worked together with two teams of Cambodian students during their ‘practicum’ or internship at local schools. They worked together on lesson development and observed each other’s lessons. Secondly, she prepared seven lessons on physics and biology for her fellow students, using low-cost experiments and student-centred approaches.

Within the basic education programme in Cambodia VVOB works closely together with the Japanese Organisation for International Cooperation (JICA). Last week we organized a workshop together on inquiry-based learning for more than 100 people in presence of the Secretary of State for Teacher Education.

Few science teachers would deny that experiments are an important component of science lessons. In order to help teacher trainers and teachers deal with the lack of materials and knowledge to integrate experiments in Cambodian classrooms the SEAL programme has compiled in total 200 experiments for physics, chemistry, biology and earth science that are in line with the curriculum and can be done with locally available materials.