BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

SIX Youth Development Centre (YDC) trainees and eight SCOT (Society for Community Outreach and Training) trainers are set to leave for Cambodia to teach underprivileged children English later this month.

120 trainees from YDC took part in the 11-week SCOT Education (SCOTEDU) project where they were taught basic English language every Friday from April until July.

The second phase of the project commences in Cambodia, and trainees will be split into two groups accompanied by SCOT volunteers.

The first group will be lead by local director of SCOTEDU, Siti Noraspadiyah Hj Mohd Sah, and will leave on August 21 and return September 2.

Meanwhile the second group is lead by Muhammad Mahyuddin Hj Othman, project manager of SCOTEDU from September 14 until 26. Both groups will be in Cambodia for 13 days.

In an interview, Siti Noraspadiyah noted the challenges and future plans for the project.

“I am very confident that the trainees are capable of employing the skills they have acquired in SCOT’s classroom over the period of three months in Cambodia,” she said.

She explained trainees under the programme learned valuable English language skills such as impromptu speech from any given topic, initiating conversations as well as training for formal conversations.

Siti Noraspadiyah added that it was challenging to motivate trainees to speak in English. However she said it was only gradually that they began to participate in activities.

SCOTEDU followed a scheme of plan and lessons were planned in advance, but she said it was adaptable to the interests of the trainees.

“Their feedback was the crucial part of the programme. At the end of each lesson, feedback was sought,” she said. Noting that sports was designed into lessons after feedback.

“It was empowering that in some ways they took charge of what they thought they should be trained in,” she said.

In terms of the development of the programme in the future, she noted they would be looking to double the number of trainers. She said they are looking for “passionate young volunteers.”

The programme is run in collaboration with Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports through the YDC, Cambodia’s Organisation for Building Community Resources and is sponsored by HSBC Brunei.

In July last year only six SCOT trainers and YDC trainees travelled to Cambodia. The number of YDC trainees have increased through the support of HSBC Brunei.

SCOT education is one of several programmes run by the recently registered non-government organisation SCOT. Other projects include Green Xchange H2O project (GX H2O), Green Xchange project and SCOT Agriculture Project.

The Brunei Times