This morning I spent 3 hours on the back of Marc on roads varying from good tarmac to bumpy dry mud. We were visiting pre-schools in 3 communes.

Let me explain about pre-schools in Cambodia. There are 4 types of provision all of which are funded in a different way.

1. Public - usually attached to a primary school and should have a qualified teacher - funded through the POE

2. Private - paid for by parents

3 Community pre-school - teacher paid for by the commune and is not qualified but could have had training from the POE. - funded through the community fund from the government

4. Home-based - a group of parents get together and one will have a couple of days training and they will then work together to run a pre-school (more child-care) - not really funded beyond training by POE

POEs have very recently become responsible for collecting data from all types of pre-school and for monitoring them.

We went to three community pre-schools. They were 3 of the 30 pre-schools built by World Bank three years ago. After completion the World Bank put in basic resources and then the buildings were handed over to the commune to use.

The first was locked when we arrived at 7.30 - time for pre-school is 7 until 9 every morning. The teacher was located and he unlocked the door - he then went off for the village chief. They had to admit there had never been any children in the school. While they were being cross examined I went for walk through the village and came across the children in the picture all of whom should be in school or pre-school!! It was interesting that while we were there, someone from health turned up and gave the teacher a list of all the children who should be in pre-school. His reaction was surprise that he was expected to walk around collecting children. He was told that no he doesn't have to everyday he just has to ensure they know the school is open!! I am afraid that I would question the quality of education he would offer - he had had the 35 day training.

I got the impression the woman from health was very pleased to see us!!The two men used every excuse under the sun for the fact that there was no school, including no glass in the windows. They were left with a to do list and were told there would be another visit.

The second one was shut because we had arrived after the children had gone home. It didn't look great but there was evidence children had been there.

The third one was in a building that looked the exact same as the first two - no glass either. It was a well run little pre-school with 19, 3 and 4 year olds. All 5 year olds in the village go to the public pre-school class in the primary school. There were very few facilities but those that were there were being well used. The teacher worked with the community and they had even used logs and tyres to create a play area. She had had the same training as the other teacher but was of a completely different nature.

It just shows what can be done - the POE will now put extra resources in the third one. The first has to show that the community is willing to support it (as stated they get money from the government to do so - it doesn't come from individuals pockets)