UNESCO and Smart Axiata have entered a partnership to continue the support for Basic Education Equivalency Programme (BEEP).

The agreement was inked between Mr. Sardar Umar Alam, Representative of UNESCO in Cambodia and Mr. Thomas Hundt, Chief Executive Officer of Smart Axiata, here in Phnom Penh recently.

H.E. Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, H.E. Pich Sophoan, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Permanent Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) and Mrs. Nadia Ottiger, Deputy Head of Cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) witnessed the event.

According to a UNESCO’s news release, BEEP is a collaborative initiative between the MoLVT, MoEYS and UNESCO to expand access to basic education through flexible, self-paced and blended learning. This intervention is part of the United Nations (UN) joint programme on Decent Employment for Youth (DEY Phase II) in Cambodia supported by SDC. DEY Phase-II aims to support young women and men in Cambodia to increasingly obtain decent and productive employment opportunities by ensuring they are better able to meet labour market demand and are prepared for quality employment.

Since BEEP’s launch in 2018, Smart Axiata has supported the Programme in providing accessibility to the BEEP platform through provision of devices and data to learners and centres. Under the new two-year partnership, Smart Axiata is committed to providing 350 Internet connected tablets and 350 SIM cards with unlimited data, internet packages to allow 500 students to access courses free of charge, and five laptops for programne coordination purposes to the ministries.

BEEP currently has 21 learning centres across 12 provinces, reaching a total of 650 learners, with plans to establish 35 learning centres across 15 provinces by 2023.