Learning while earning: Barriers and pedagogies toward Sustainable Development Goal 4, “quality education” for child street-sellers in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Abstract

BackgroundFor children living in a village near Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, selling low cost goods to tourists supplements family incomes and progresses familial social and educational aspirations. However, the Cambodian Government has legislated to remove children selling on the streets in order to project a modern, orderly society. Simultaneously, the tourist campaigns of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) discourage tourists from purchasing goods from children, based on the premise that work prevents school attendance. ObjectiveTo explore the lived experiences of street-selling children focusing particularly on formal and non-formal education within a human development framework and compare and contrast this to the positions of the Cambodian Government and local NGOs. Participants and settingThe research participants comprised 22 Cambodian street-sellers aged 8–15 years in central Siem Reap, Cambodia. MethodRights-based, participatory research was conducted over two periods totalling five months, between 2013 and 2015. ResultsThe child street-sellers were initially able to work and attend school with their selling financing their schooling costs. During the research, 14 participants (64%) were forced from their selling activities and unable to pay schooling costs, subsequently left school. However, the successful child street-sellers devised strategies to continue selling, remain in school, learn English through tourist interactions and fulfil their familial and cultural obligations. ConclusionContrary to Government policy and NGO campaigns, many child streets-sellers in Siem Reap work to finance their own schooling and progress their own human development and are adversely impacted and have their rights violated when removed from the street.