–––––––––-––––––––––––––––––

–

–––––––

––

–––

–

–-–––

Skills fair at Kralanh High School

Project report and evaluation

June 2013

2

Skills Fair at Kralanh High School

June 7, 2013

Project report and evaluation

Contents

Page

Background 3

Purpose 3

Goals 3

Preparation – activity plan

4

Preparation in detail 4

Budget 6

Schedule 6

Participants 6

Evaluation 7

Strengths and weaknesses 9

Conclusion 10

Recommendations and lessons learned 10

Acknowledgments 11

3

Background

Since 2011, PEPY has conducted “Dream Classes” in Kralanh high school to support year 12

students in applying for academic opportunities beyond high school. Through these Dream Classes,

the PEPY team realized that young people at Kralanh high school have a very limited understanding

of both academic and employment opportunities that exist, and what skills and experience they might

need to capitalize on such opportunities.

To respond to this need, in 2013 the PEPY team decided to pilot a “Skills Fair” at Kralanh High

School. This is in line with the key goal of PEPY as an organization, which is to increase the

percentage of Kralanh graduates accessing skilled employment.1

Purpose

The purpose of the Skills Fair was to help students at Kralanh high school learn about potential

futures and career options.

The Skills Fair was open to students, teachers and any members of the public interested in

understanding the employment market and academic opportunities in Siem Reap. Representatives

from different industry sectors were invited to host a stand at the fair, and certain specialists were also

invited to give presentations to the students. The event was divided into two parts, morning and

afternoon. In the morning, participants were invited to visit the stands and given the opportunity to

interact directly with representatives from each organization. The afternoon began with presentations

relating to best practice for CVs, cover letters and interview technique. Participants were also given

another opportunity to visit the stands at the end of the day.

It was expected that around 500 people would attend the event.

Goals of the event

The goal of the event was to provide students with:

o awareness of skills needed for different jobs o understanding of how apply for jobs and scholarships o improved interview skills

1 Skilled employment is employment that requires specialist, technical or management expertise obtained through recognized relevant qualifications and/or relevant work experiences

4

o a better understanding of how to create a CV An evaluation of the event was also planned for the following reasons:

o To understand to what extent the event supporting young people in achieving their dreams (PEPY vision)

o To identify the strengths and weakness of the project o To examine the participation from the school o To examine on the participation of the students o To identify lesson learned from the event and make recommendations for future improvement

Preparation

Activity When

Meet with NGO partners with experience in this area to learn more about their successes/challenges/lessons learned

3 months prior

Brainstorm structure and activities for the event based on past research and observations of project team

3 months prior

Finalize budget and activity plan 2 months prior

Secure approval from PoE 2 months prior

Present plan to Principal and secure approcal 2 months prior

Preparing presentation about the event to send to companies and organization invited to participate

2 months prior

Contact companies, organizations, and speakers and invite to participate

2 months prior

Advertise to student 1 month prior

Prepare schedule for the day 1 month prior

Purchase/rent necessary materials 2 weeks prior

Confirm all organizations, companies and speakers 2 weeks prior

Prepare feedback mechanisms for students and organizations invited 2 weeks prior

Preparation and resources in detail

1) Timing. Deciding on the day for the event was challenging. The PoE preferred a weekend day so

as not to disrupt the students’ studies. However, no organizations were willing to attend on a weekend

day. After some discussion, the PoE agreed to host the event on a Friday, allowing the students out of

their lessons to attend the event. This issue should be raised in detail with both the PoE and the

school well before the event takes place.

2) Letters. While much communication was done informally, and in person, it is necessary to

produce the following letters to ensure there is formal documentation for all parties regarding the

event:

o Letter to Provincial Office of Education (Department of Youth and Sport) to get permission to hold the event and to allow students to miss school for the day to attend the event.

o Letter to high school to get permission to host vent of school campus o Letters to Cambodian companies and organization to formally ask for their support and

participation

5

3) Advertising. During the preparation for this event the PEPY team passed out flyers to students

and gave presentations to students at schools and clubs to announce and promote the event. Team

members visited surrounding villages and formally invited village chiefs and parents to attend the

event.

4) Speakers/electrical sound system. The day before the event the necessary electrical

equipment was tested and prepared. This included a projector, microphones and speakers.

5) Company Support. Speaking individually to different companies and organizations took some

time, and was done at least 2 months in advance of the event. The number of participating companies

changed during the preparation and the team found it important to talk to a larger number of

businesses than were actually needed for the day. It was also important to stress to these

organizations that this was not a promotion event, or an opportunity to sell their products and services

– rather it was an event for the benefit of students’ learning and understanding. In addition, it was

important to stress that this was not a “Jobs Fair”. The event was not a forum to advertise jobs and

recruit students. Many students attending were in grades 10 and 11, and the aim was not to

encourage them to drop out of school and seek employment! Rather, the purpose of organizations

attending was to share with students the type of roles that were available in different organizations,

what they entailed, and what qualifications, skills and experience were required.

Organization requirements:

o 1 or 2 representatives to attend the event, be present at their stand and speak to students about their organization and the type of job roles available.

o A list of different types of jobs at the organizations, including sample job descriptions for some of these jobs.

o Exhibit information related to their organizations

Organizations were provided with a table and chairs for their stand and lunch and snacks were

provided for representatives.

Representatives attending the event were asked to share their personal experiences with students, to

help them have a more comprehensive understanding of how to navigate the job market. They were

also asked to encourage and support the students wherever possible.

6) Student preparation. Before the event, the PEPY team worked with the students to prepare

questions about job skills, CVs, and about obtaining scholarships.

6

Event Budget

Description Total cost

Renting shelter 200.00

Renting speakers 38.00

Gasoline 16.68

Transportation 15.00

Printing 17.63

Communication (i.e. phone calls) 10.00

Snacks and lunch 100.00

Event supplies (paper, pens, boards etc) 18.30

Speaker gifts 25.00

Total 440.31

*NB budget does not include human resource costs associated with this event.

Event Schedule

Sample of pre-event schedule:

07:00 – 07:30 Registration

07:30 – 08:20 Speeches from Kimline Nuch (PEPY Executive Director), Chief of Kralanh District and Principal of Vocational Training Center in Siem Reap. These speeches will open the event

08:20 – 11:00 Time for students to visit the stands. 11:00 – 12:45 Lunch break

13:00 – 13:15 Re-welcome participants

13:15 – 14:00 Presentation from YES Center about employment services and information on writing CV and cover letters

14:00 – 14:50 Presentation from NEA on interview technique.

14:50 – 15:05 Snack time and opportunity for students to visit stands

15:05 – 16:05 Opportunity for one-on-one discussions with speakers and students

16:05 – 16:20 Close of event

Event participants

o Victoria Hotel: Five-star hotel in Siem Reap. o Amansara Hotel: 24-suite Angkor Wat luxury resort. o Kredit Microfinance: Provides financial services and primary health to Cambodia’s poor

women in urban and rural areas. o Cellcard: Cambodia’s leading telecommunications network. o Amret Microfinance Institution: Provides a range of financial services for low-income people

and small and medium enterprises. o PEPY Tours: Provides educational and responsible travel experiences around Cambodia. o Selantra Restaurant: Provides high quality dining in Siem Reap o Build Bright University: Located in Siem Reap. o University of Southeast Asia: Located in Siem Reap. o National Employment Agency: Job centre in Siem Reap that provides job seekers,

employees, employers and skill training providers opportunities to exchange information with each other.

7

o YES Centre: Provides a range of employment support services to assist job-seeking youth in Siem Reap enhance their employability and fulfill their potential.

o Paul Dubrule NGO: Prepares students for careers in the hospitality and tourism industries by offering them a realistic working hotel and restaurant environment enhance their skills.

o CEFP Cambodia: provides people with training in the trades including metal work, tiling and air conditioning.

# students # company representatives

# NGO visitors Total

Male 263 42 8 313

Female 350 31 12 393

Total 613 73 20 706

Evaluation

The goal of evaluating the Skills Fair was to reflect on the event and to allow the PEPY team to adapt

and improve the activities in order to fulfill its event objectives. Qualitative and quantitative information

was collected both before and after the event. Questionnaires and individual interviews were used in

the evaluation. 30 students participated in the evaluation, 11 of whom were from grade 12.

General findings

a) Students were more aware of information about the specific organizations that attended the event.

b) Students learned about different jobs they were interested in. Before the event, most students did

not know what jobs were available in Siem Reap. After attending the event, they commented that they

understood about different jobs (for example; accountant, receptionist, waiter, bank clerk, chef, tour

guide, NGO project officer, hospitality staff, IT specialist)

Key findings

a) Number of students who join the skill fair event

8

The total number of students in Kralanh High School is 1100 (from grade 7 – 12). It was anticipated

that 500 students would join the event. The actual attendance was 613 students. This was considered

to be a good result by the program implementation team.

b) Participation of organizations. Representatives from the organizations commented that they

were very happy to this chance to share their experiences and represent their organization. They

were pleased at the level of participation of the students and felt it was important event to benefit their

lives in the future. They commented that they would be happy to join more events like this in the

future.

c) Student’s knowledge about the companies

According to the baseline survey that was conducted with students before the project 48 % of

students didn’t know anything about the companies and organizations providing employment and

scholarships. After the event, only 20% of students expressed a lack of understanding.

This shows a 28% increase in the number of students who understand about companies and

organizations providing jobs and scholarships

d) Participation of teachers and school management

Only one teacher from Kralanh High School attended the event.

e) Knowledge of students about CV and Cover letter writing

Before the skill fair hosted 60 % of students mentioned that they did not know how written any CV or

cover letter. The aim of the event was for at least 70% of students to have an understanding of this

topic (and increase of 30%).

9

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Baseline Indicator Endline

40%

70% 82%

Understand about CV & cover letter

After the event 82% of students mentioned that they understand on the process of writing CV and

Cover letter. Miss. Raksa, grade 12B students said that “After I joined skills fair event felt that I learnt

a lot about how to write CV and Cover letter, especially how to apply for the job and scholarship that

before I never heard about it”.

f) Knowledge of students about behaviors of giving interview

At the first, most of students who study in Kralanh high school statement that they do not know

anything of giving interview, and mean that they are nothing about that.

But later, after the attended event in June 7th they felt they have learnt very much such as 73%

students that we met responded “we must be patient, coming on time, brave, well-dress, and try

respond as we can”.

Strengths and weaknesses of the event

Strengths

o The event was well organized.

10

o The running of the event happened smoothly o 16 organizations participated o 613 students participated o Students like the event and request to have it every year o A good opportunity for students to practice their social skills by asking questions and talking

to representatives from the various organizations

Weaknesses

o The principal, and teachers did not join the event during that day o There were some topics which didn’t respond to the career interests of the students (for

example, some of them mentioned that they want to be a teacher, doctor, and some wanted to work for ACLEDA Bank).

o Student’s mentioned that the event was quite short o The space for the event was quite small

Conclusion

The Skills Fair held by PEPY at Kralanh High School was a successful pilot event. The event ran

smoothly, the number of student participants exceeded expectations, and the organizations invited

attended the event promptly and enthusiastically. We found through our evaluation that we achieved

results that were beyond our expectations in terms of the knowledge and understanding of the

students after the event. The main challenge was the one that we expected: having teachers from

Kralanh High School attend the event and engage with the project. However, we believe that if we

conduct this event again, we can learn from this experience to make sure the teachers feel more

included and involved in the preparation process to ensure their involvement on the day of the event

itself.

Recommendations and lesson learned

From the PEPY Team’s experience running this event there are some lessons learned and

recommendations for running a similar event in the future:

o The project team should work more closely with the school management committee to discuss and develop ideas far in advance of implementing the activities.

o The event should be organized in a larger space to allow enough room for more stands and attendees.

o Invite more NGOs to attend the event, particularly those providing scholarships. Not having enough money is a huge barrier for students to continue their education. Even students who do work while they study often have a low salary. Awareness of scholarships available to them would increase the likelihood of students applying to university.

o Organize the event over 1 ½ - 2 days to give more time for specific points on how to write CVs and cover letters.

o Collaborate more closely with teachers and parents leading up to the event so they can talk about the fair in more detail. Some of the teachers didn’t have enough information to articulate the purpose of the event to students.

11

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all those organizations that participated in the event and helped make it a

success. We are also grateful to the Provincial Office of Education in Siem Reap for their support, and

to the Principal of Kralanh High School for his involvement. The PEPY team are also thankful for the

motivated young students who attended the event made the most out of the experience.

12