Development of an e‐learning course to disseminate guidelines for effective promotion of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives in Cambodia

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn estimated 8 million people in the Kingdom of Cambodia live without access to improved water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH; WHO/UNICEF, Joint monitoring program for water supply and sanitation, 2015). To increase access to WASH in rural areas, Cambodia's Ministry for Rural Development has sought to decentralize the administration of national WASH programs and implement program management at the subnational level. Working at the Center for Sustainable Water in Phnom Penh, the aim of the research was to assess whether an e‐learning platform might be utilized to facilitate the transfer of knowledge of WASH from governmental staff based in the capital to those working in the provinces. A desktop literature review revealed that the success of an e‐learning module is largely predicated on the extent to which the needs and limitations of the target audience are understood. In order to ascertain those needs and limitations in the Cambodian context, technical resource assessments and interviews were carried out at government offices in the provinces of Kampong Cham, Kratié, and Ratanakiri. Those provinces were selected on the basis that each broadly represented a distinct “zone” in terms of current capacity to carry out Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (RWSSH) initiatives, population size, relative poverty indices, and concentration of RWSSH partner organizations at the district level. An analysis of the qualitative data gathered from interviews in the field demonstrated that attitudes to an e‐learning program were overwhelmingly positive, on the proviso that any such program was tailored to the educational and professional background of its intended participants. Moreover, even offices in the most remote and resource‐limited province of Ratanakiri had the necessary infrastructure to support the use of e‐learning, provided that local hardware and software limitations were kept in mind. Results from the literature review, field interviews, and technical resource assessment informed the adaptation of an existing paper‐based National WASH guideline into an e‐learning format. Through a process of consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development, WaterAid Cambodia and the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, and collaboration with project staff at the Center for Sustainable Water, the contents of the ‘National Guidelines on WASH for Persons with Disabilities and Older People’ were synthesized into both an English‐language and Khmer‐language e‐learning course. Center for Sustainable Water has since obtained funding from WaterAid Cambodia to deliver the pilot e‐learning module in the provinces, a process which will undoubtedly pave the way for further improvements.