Educational toys offer new ways of learning – The Phnom Penh Post
Educational games are unfamiliar in most Cambodian schools. Panha Sabay is an educational supply store that is looking to change that. Founded by Ineke Leferink in 2017, it develops and produces educational toys for children who may attend school for only a few hours a day.
Panha Sabay offers students an opportunity to practice elementary school subjects in a fun and playful manner inside and out…….
Instructional video recreations are unfamiliar in most Cambodian schools. Panha Sabay is A tutorial current retailer That is Making an try To vary that. Based by Ineke Leferink in 2017, it develops and produces educational toys For youngsters who might attend school for Simply a few hours a day.
Panha Sabay supplys scholars An alternative to apply elementary school subjects in a nice and playful method inside And out of doorways their lecture rooms. As a Outcome of the toys are self-correcting, youngsters can work independently, On Their very personal tempo, and construct confidence Inside their capability To use whOn they’ve found.
The Dutch Founding father of The agency tprevious The Submit how she relocated to Cambodia And commenced the enterprise.
“I acquired here right here as a vacationer for The primary time in 2005, and felt a particular connection to the nation immediately. I acquired here again as a vacationer in 2008 After which volunteered teverying teachers for a month in 2009. By That time I truly was in love with the nation and its people,” said Leferink.
“In 2010 I made A selection To reflip and volunteer for An prolonged time. I discowled a place as A tutorial coordinator for a Dutch NGO Inside the nationside Shut to Siem Reap. I stayed till The prime of 2012, After which it was time To start out incomes some money as quickly as extra,” she added.
Working for the NGO gave her The thought for Panha Sabay. The NGO had A school with 60 pupils however Daily A pair of hundred youngsters would move by on their Method to public school. She needed to do one factor for, Inside concept, every baby in Cambodia and The biggest method To Do this was to develop educational suppliess Which might assist The scholars to apply whOn they study In school.
“I acquired here again to work on that dream in September 2017,” she said.
“My objective is To assist enhance The regular of The tutorial system by creating then introducing educational video recreations and toys at house And that in school. By making them nice and fascinating, youngsters Shall be encouraged to play them and study On The identical time,” she added.
Play based mostly researching is A mannequin new cas quickly aspt For A lot of Cambodian teachers, so she says she additionally currents teaching for teachers To assist them enhance The biggest method they destayr their subjects in class. By making it nice they encourage The scholars – and that in flip is motivating for teachers.
She said when she refliped in 2017 Collectively with her plan, she noticed A lot of trash Throughout the nationside, and decided she Ought to not convey extra into this world. A second objective was added. She Wouldn’t solely develop educational toys and video recreations, she would make them from recycled suppliess.
“Sustaincapability Is important to us, subsequently every time potential pure or recycled suppliess are used to create our toys. Past the eco-nice advantages, using these suppliess additionally permits the toys to be pretty priced, making them Out tright here to extra Cambodian househpreviouss,” said the 54-yr-previous.
Presently, she makes use of left-over supplies, cuttings of synthetic leather-based, PPR pipe off-cuts, water bottles, bottle caps and irrigation tubes.
She supplys Fairly a Little bit of merchandise, together with Fairly A pair of baby toys, like books and blocks, That are about creating the senses. Toddler toys are additionally properly-appreciated, like a pillow with many Kinds of fastener, which develops motor expertises. These merchandise are all Produced from left over supplies and socks.
She additionally makes Fairly A pair of puzzles and video recreations Collectively with her now-well-knpersonal blocks. She has found A method To level out used water bottles into blocks, That are The backside for All Sorts of language and math video recreations.
Tright here are additionally whisper telephones Which Permit you to hear your self very clearly. That Is useful Everytime you should focus in a busy environment and To reinformationrce on comprehension and pronunciation wright hereas researching.
Lastly, their largest enterprise is Leng. Leng Is A method to apply what you study In school in a nice method. Tright here are books involved however You’d like to “play” the books with a recreation board and recreation gadgets. They’ve printed 11 books So far. They cowl The complete math curriculum of grade 1 and The primary consonants and vowels of Khmer. Three of the books include logic factors.
The logic books are very fascinating because to play them You should Think about A technique, which is An important expertise to develop as a scholar, she says.
She has video recreations and toys for day care facilities, pre-school And first school. Additionally they promote their merchandise to househpreviouss who need the merchandise For his or her youngsters to play with after school. She not solely promotes the merchandise, however supplys teaching To Make constructive the merchandise are used effectively.
“I don’t need schools To buy my video recreations After which retailer them in A cupboard. I’ve so many ideas For mannequin spanking new video recreations and toys, And that I am going to develop extra for previouser ages too – A minimal of That is our dream,” she said.
Ponheary Ly Basis – an education NGO that assists round 2,800 scholars in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear provinces – are Definitely one of Many buyrs Who’ve labored with Panha Sabay. They shared their experiences with The Submit.
The inspiration’s area director, Seak Theada, says Panha Sabay suppliess have been rolled out On their Lincomes Center in Siem Reap’s Banteay Srei district, led by their head librarian, Say Chenda.
Chenda says that earlier than Covid-19 hit, they have been launched to Leferink of Panha Sabay by a mutual NGO connection. When their deliberate librarian teaching Desired to be delayed As a Outcome of of pandemic, A few their staff members started using Panha Sabay’s suppliess with Their very personal youngsters. The advantages have been clear.
“It’s fantastic to have such nice, partaking researching assets – particularly ones Which are Produced from recycled suppliess. College students and teachers On their Lincomes Center have utterly fallen in love with the Leng books. All by way of library time, scholars are choosing to play Leng in groups. It’s actually enhancing their math and Khmer, They typically’re having nice On The identical time,” said Theada.
Chenda added: “Our scholars Who’re researching at under their grade diploma have been trying exhausting with the Leng books and have enhanced A lot with their information of consonants and vowels. Resources that mix nice, researching, And important considering are exhausting To reflip by – Panha Sabay is creating fantastic factors Which are despperiodtely needed.”
Attain Siem Reap, an Australian registered charity and regionally registered Cambodian NGO Who’ve additionally labored with Panha Sabay, posted on social media about how the toys have assisted their teachers.
Definitely one of the merchandise is puppets. They said the puppets assist develop confidence in scholars Who’re shy or afraid to Take part in class, evolve language and feelings, and enhance listening expertises in Youthful youngsters. Additionally they increase creativity.
“What’s extra, puppets are An excellent assist to teachers, serving to them Converse about delicate primeics like bullying, loss, or violence in a much less difficult method. Our group participated in A process-play To unravel potential factors Contained in the classroom, and it led to constructive feedagain,” it added.
Panha Sabay Does not just assist scholars. It has additionally currentd alternatives for Children to earn a dwelling and develop new expertises.
Presently she has 4 staff members. Tright here are additionally A pair of househpreviouss who do some house-based mostly work for her. The staff in her work store are young Individuals Who’ve graduated from Highschool. She says she likes To current them a probcapability to develop themselves.
“I Permit them to do A lot Of numerous factors, To allow them To make the most of these experiences to get to know themselves a bit greater. We divide our yr into time durations and for Each time period We now have private and enterprise goals. On a weekly foundation we discuss these goals and study wright here We have To Think about.
“They earn a small wage And that i pay For his or her research, as quickly as they have chosen their area of curiosity. In reflip They’re serving to me develop this small enterprise,” says Leferink.
Definitely one of the staff is Chork Neen. She has been working with Leferink As a Outcome of The prime of 2018 and shared how working at Panha Sabay has assisted her develop.
“I’ve found Tons from her And she or he’s been my largest assist. I’ve found new expertises In lots of areas, like teverying, promoteing, creating and even stitching, one factor which I Did not know The tactic to do earlier than. I do have My very personal dream of starting a small enterprise – in all probcapability pig farming – however I’ll proceed To assist her,” Neen said.
Leferink said The Most very important problem is and was Covid. At The prime of 2019 and starting of 2020 they have been In a place to focus extra on advertising and promoteing. But then vacationers stayed amethod And a lot extra important for the enterprise, schools closed For A very Very prolonged time.
Even Once they have been finally allowed to supply classes, they have been utterly occupied in organising everyfactor, so little considperiodtion was paid to educational suppliess. Plastic recycling May even be not that straightforward. It took and takes A lot of Time And power To primarytain it going.
Leferink says the enterprise Continues to be very small and subsequently weak, financially. She hopes They’re In a place to make a revenue quickly, to make the enterprise sustainable.
She defined why she does what she does.
“Being a teveryer, I do know the significance of education. And All of it starts at an early age; truly you should develop from delivery. Working with young youngsters additionally means, Taking Wonderful care of The subsequent period. For them and their youngsters to have A great world to stay in, we Want to be a lot extra cautious with our planet. We solely have one, so I Attempt and Scale again, re-use and recycle wright herever I can And that i Attempt and elucidate to others how important this is.”
