High School Scholarships
In Grades 10, 11, and 12 students receive free education for the first half of the day. After that, they must pay their teachers for extra classes in order to get a complete education and be able to pass exams. For students living in poverty, these costs are way beyond their family’s income, This is why only 16% of the rural population graduates high school. Without support, a high school education for disadvantaged students is an impossible dream.
Until there are fundamental changes in the Cambodian education system, we are committed to providing strategies to support these students in their efforts to complete school. Our high school scholarships plug the missing gaps by providing the extra classes needed – giving students better scores in the Grade 12 exam, and even qualifying them for a university degree.
With more and more PLF students meeting with success in their primary school education and pushing themselves to continue to secondary school in ever-increasing numbers, we are approaching a tipping point of having as many students in secondary school as in primary – and our scholarship awards are rising accordingly.
While it’s costly to support such a large high school student body, this is a good problem to have because it means their passion for education is growing!
It also means PLF must choose the students for the scholarships carefully, taking into consideration the student’s grades, attendance, their level of motivation, the family’s level of support, the ability of the other members of the family to make up lost income, the general stability of the family and many other components that make up a student’s ability to overcome obstacles to their graduation.
Additonal obstacles arise depending on the varied levels of public school effectiveness within each of the pathways where we work, therefore scholarships have been adjusted and honed over time to counter these challenges. In Cambodia, there are two options for G12 – a Social track, and a Science track – which lay the foundation for corresponding university majors. The science subjects are generally harder, requiring longer tuition support to pass, and yet Cambodia desperately needs more students entering the Sience track.
Therefore, Science candidates are where our primary focus now lies when considering scholaship awards. This aligns us with Cambodia’s own development goals in recognizing that the country’s future, and an individual’s best career options, lie in STEM fields.
And we know that this strategy is paying off. In 2024, the average pass rate for Science track scholarship students was 84%, compared to non-scholarship students at 37%.
