With somewhat pain in their hearts the VVOB teams in the province recently said goodbye to their offices and moved to the capital Phnom Penh. During most of the programme VVOB Cambodia had three offices; one in Siem Reap province for primary, one in Kandal province for lower secondary teacher training and a central office in Phnom Penh for the programme management. At the end of the programme, the VVOB team looks back on five years of being based at the Teacher Training Centres in the provinces.
Building trust and motivation
When Mono started working in Kandal in 2009 the SEAL programme was running for some months already. “The Teacher Training Centres (TTCs) are our operational partner, so in terms of communication and relationship building it has been very good to have a VVOB office at the campus. Especially the relationship with the teacher trainers is essential as they play an important role in our programme. During the pilot phase they developed training materials. Later they became core trainers and organised workshops for their peers from other TTCs. In the end they are the ones who need to independently transfer knowledge and skills to students. Their motivation is our best asset”.
Virak shares this opinion: “Over the years, the relationship with the teacher trainers improved a lot. The VVOB team is able to understand the needs of the partners better in this way. We meet the teacher trainers very regularly; formally in meetings but it helps to meet them informally as well, as they feel freer to provide honest feedback.” Chanly adds that this closer relationship also helps in making the partner accept the strict financial and administrative rules. According to Sokhany the teacher trainers were also very helpful and involved when students from Belgium did their internship in Cambodian teacher training centres. Moreover, the presence of the team in the college also applies ‘gentle pressure’ on the partners to perform. “Because we are close to them, the school environment improves; they want to show us that they are working on it”, says Virak.
There are also logistic advantages. It is less time consuming to organise meetings, working group sessions and workshops. Especially during the pilot stage where the frequency of these sessions is intense, being on the same school grounds as the core teacher trainers offers a great advantage and reduces travel time for the VVOB team considerably. The director of the TTC aligned the teaching schedule of teacher trainers so that they are available for the programme’s pilot activities. In addition, the workshop rooms and all facilities such as science labs and school gardens are right there. Also the office and meeting rooms are at VVOB’s disposal for free. Sufficient office space would surely be problematic if we had only one central unit at the Ministry of Education where many bigger donors are present.
Also Jan, Programme Manager, agrees that this proximity to the operational partner allows VVOB teams to get a better feeling of the local context: “Cambodian society is very hierarchical. This makes it difficult to capture the real needs and concerns of target groups. If we operate only from the central level to reach the provincial target groups we would not receive the same useful feedback. It takes time to build trust and open communication. This cannot be done through field visits. It requires intensive cooperation.”
The flip side of the coin
“Last year our peer evaluators were so kind to acknowledge the benefits of decentralised offices”, Wanda continues. “However, they also pointed to the increased ‘risk that the VVOB team could end up doing the work of the partners’. This is why the team needs to safeguard that their role evolves towards low-intervention over time. A partner needs to provide input in the process of capacity strengthening but cannot become dependent on VVOB. Also internal communication becomes more challenging with multiple offices. That’s why regular team meetings are necessary to avoid misunderstandings or inefficiencies.”
There are also some practical discomforts that come along with living and working in the province. Team members are unanimous: “The frequent power cuts are a downside. It is difficult to work without air-conditioning when it’s 38 degrees, or when internet and printers are down. Frequent power fluctuations cause printers and copy machines to break down more easily. We also remember the flood of 2010 clearly. During lunchtime the school grounds of the TTC suddenly flooded because of heavy rainfall. In no time our motorbikes and car were submerged in flood water and broke down as a consequence.” Such extreme working conditions are indeed less likely to occur in the capital city.
Good memories
“In the end it’s hard to say which of the setups is preferable”, Wanda concludes. “It all depends on the country-specific context, the programme’s targets and so on. But whatever the bottom line is, good memories prevail of the time when the teams were working at the TTC. The interaction with teacher trainers and students is something staff members are missing at the central office now.”
Sokhany adds: “It is very nice to see the student teachers every day, to see what they are working on, how they learn, but also to see their daily lives at the campus, cooking, chatting. I think we had a strong programme and I believe that even though we have left the campus, the teacher trainers will keep applying what they have learned and keep using the materials that were developed.” For sure we are excited to start building relationships with new partners in the future Multi-Year Programme 2014-2016.
Wanda Prins
Programme Coordinator
“Since February 2011 I have been working on the SEAL programme (Science, Environmental and Agricultural Life skills) at the Teacher Training Centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
As the programme is coming to an end, I left my office and house in Siem Reap and moved to Phnom Penh in October 2013. Also my colleagues from the VVOB Kandal team left their VVOB office at the Teacher Training Centre behind.
A good occasion to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of having decentralised VVOB offices at the operational partner institute, in addition to the central VVOB office in Phnom Penh. Hence this article with input from my colleagues Chanly, Jan, Mono, Sokhany, Stefaan and Virak.”
