The Steve Sinnott Foundation Response to COVID-19 Crises in Phnom Penh

Nicola Palairet is the Partnership Development Director for Flame and has been working in Phnom Penh for more than five years now.

Life for the marginalised families living in Phnom Penh’s slum communities is tenuous at the best of times. Flame staff identify families whose children are unable to attend school because of financial pressure. We give these children the opportunity to go to school. For many it’s not just a chance for education, it’s a radical change in their life’s trajectory. Without it, these children would be unable to break out of the cycle of poverty. SSF and Flame are partnering to make a difference in their lives.

While official cases of COVID have been remarkably low in Cambodia, closing borders and the overall shrinking of the economy has led to massive losses in the tourism and hospitality sectors. COVID-19 has increased stress and financial hardship significantly. For some, there has been the threat of homelessness; for others, a decrease in daily wages has impacted the ability to put food on the table. Incomes for those ‘at risk’ is so low that hunger was already a serious issue pre-COVID. So, even when a family recognises the importance of education, food is the first priority – and school takes second place.

Many children have a deep desire to learn in school but are prohibited by the financial strain on their families. We have sought to address this. Children who in the past have had to work to support their families or provide care for younger siblings are now regulars in school and attend the Flame After School Centres daily where they laugh and learn, as well as get a nutritious snack and have their own toothbrush! There are computer classes for the older kids and daily literacy and numeracy lessons for each child. The centres are clean and bright, and the teachers who have also come from hard backgrounds, appreciate the challenges of education for these young kids. They know exactly what it’s like to face huge obstacles and overcome them. This is what we call ‘The Full Circle’.

As a young child, one of the children in our program, Sokea, walked the streets with a huge plastic sack of recycled bottles on his back. His recycling work to support his family left him no time for school. At home, his dad was on a small daily wage as a motorbike taxi-driver and his mother was bedridden. When we first met him at 9 years old, he told us that he would love to attend school. He had previously been in school but had to drop out to support his family. 

We visited his parents and asked permission for Sokea to attend public school and our After School Centre. We said we would supplement the family for the loss of Sokea’s income and they agreed. When finances were tight, however, his family continued to send him out to collect plastic, but this is often part of the transition from working to education. The family and Sokea understood the importance of regular school attendance but making school a daily priority was hard. 

Sokea has now enrolled at the University of Management to study law. He works part time for Flame and is a kind and conscientious guy who actively comes alongside other kids and encourages them to stay in school. 

You can read more about Sokea on the Flame website: www.flamecambodia.org/blog/sokea-from-collecting-plasticbottles- to-university21/1/2021.

The Steve Sinnott Foundation has partnered with Flame to support children of the urban poor in Phnom Penh who struggle to access education. SSF has provided school supplies for 250 children.

From Engage edition 22.
Nicola Palairet • July 12, 2021
By Ann Beatty July 8, 2025
This week our CEO Ann and Jude (SSF Ambassador) visited schools in Coventry and heard about the wonderful work that students are doing to foster peace and community connection, as part of Coventry Arts Week. We visited Lyng Hall school in the morning and met with Ms Hagan and four of the schools UNESCO ASPnet ambassadors. They told us all about their recent project. The students took their art and poetry to the 80th Anniversary symposium in Ypres and Dunkirk. They shared with us some of the poetry they had written together with the students on the field trip and some of their own poems too. They also shared their future plans for working with their local primary school on peace and community. We also had the privilege of joining Ms Hagans class where they were looking at Caliban’s tale. Here is one of the students work
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For my birthday this year I had the honour to walk 60 miles (yes it was a big 0 birthday) over 3 days to support the essential work of the Steve Sinnott Foundation of which I am CEO. Education in its many forms is essential for all of us to thrive and make the most of life's opportunities. The Foundation works to ensure that as many children and adults as possible across the globe can access the human right of education. The plan was to walk with friends and supporters who I hoped would keep me smiling along the way and it felt like a good way to make use of the Foundation’s “Get Moving” campaign. Here's how my Get Moving Fundraiser went on the first day. The 13th June I started my walk in London by walking from Barnet to west Hampstead and visiting my sister at her shop at Tree of Life where I got served a nice iced coffee to keep me going.
By Matthew Round June 4, 2025
Defining Success in Education: Bridging Gaps for a Better Future Education is often seen as the gateway to personal and societal advancement through personal betterment. But defining success in education requires a deeper understanding than just academic achievement, it isn’t just about qualifications or certificates. Rather educational success is about ensuring access to learning that is inclusive, equitable and quality-driven. It’s about equipping students with critical thinking skills and the space to be creative. A quality education fosters holistic approaches, promoting emotional, social and intellectual growth. On a societal level, educational success is about ensuring we value and appreciate a society wide distribution of knowledge and skills; that diversity of thought can be just as important as orthodoxy. Ensuring Access to Education that Meets Individual Needs Traditional western forms of education based within on e-size-fits all models are inadequate in a world where learners have diverse backgrounds, abilities and needs. A shift is needed away from the top-down deficit model approaches which assume teaching and learning is transactional or akin to filling empty vessels, or as Paulo Freire described it, the Banking Model of teaching. Success in education will come from programmes that respect differences between individuals and across communities, using, for example, adaptive learning approaches. Additionally, integrating support for learners with neurodivergent needs or disabilities, as well as promoting (and indeed funding) digital literacy, can ensure that education is individual but also focused on the emancipatory effects of education. Gender and Racial Equity: The Pillars of Inclusive Education Gender and racial equity are crucial components of a successful education system and a founding component of Sustainable Development Goal 4. Although there has been significant progress here, disparities globally still persist. Barriers such as gender-based violence, early marriage and inadequate school infrastructure pose challenges for the international community. Similarly, racial inequality in education can manifest in various ways, from lower access to quality schooling to biased curricula that don't reflect diverse cultures or histories. To address these disparities, education systems should continue to develop policies that promote gender-sensitive curricula and address the specific needs of marginalised groups. Investing in female education, particularly in underserved areas such as sexual health, has been shown to create a ripple effect that benefits entire communities. Similarly, anti-racist educational frameworks can help to make sure that all students, regardless of their race or gender, receive the same opportunities to thrive. Creating a Better Future: What Needs to Be Done? Most importantly, we need to keep talking about SDG 4 — providing inclusive and equitable education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. The more SDG4 is part of the global conversation the more likely it will become part of the taken for granted expectations of all countries and communities. The more academics like me discuss it in our lectures and have it in assignments, likely the more we are to normalise high quality, free primary and secondary education with our future global leaders. But more than this SDG4 should be at the heart of grass roots conversations, in every classroom, playground, and café. The more we talk about it the more a part of our global culture equitable access to education will become. Ultimately, success in education will not be defined by what certificates students attain, but by how well we equip individuals and communities to navigate and shape the world. Education should empower individuals, communities and nations to achieve their full potential, breaking down barriers that have traditionally limited access and opportunity. By striving for inclusivity, equity and quality, we can build a future where education truly is for everyone. BIOGRAPHY Dr Matthew Round is an academic and educator, who has worked with children from 3 years old to PhD students. Having been a science teacher, pastoral leader, and senior leader in schools in the UK, he now works in Higher Education and his current research focused on the emancipatory philosophies of Pierre Bourdieu and sex and sexuality education.