Solar energy trainings empower youth in Siem Reap
Through education on solar power, climate impacts, and the environment, the Youth Solar (YOSO) initiative aims to give young people access to a growing marketplace of green jobs
17 November 2023, Siem Reap – Until recently, many Secondary School students in Siem Reap might have heard of global warming, greenhouse gases, or renewable energy, but would not have given them much more than a passing thought. Now these terms are becoming more than just abstract concepts – they’re a tangible reality of the world unfolding around them, shaping students’ understanding of their own climate-changed futures.
It’s early morning, before 8am, and around 40 eager students have gathered on the second floor of Trorpaing Prey Secondary School in Siem Reap. It’s not a normal school day – it's now the third week since the Youth Solar (YOSO) initiative scaled up in the province, reaching 34 schools and around 580 students with education on solar energy, climate impacts, and the environment.
After attending the training, 13-year-old Ses Chanra from Chansor Lower Secondary School not only understands what climate change is, she now knows the role she can play in building her community’s resilience against future climate-related shocks like flooding and drought. She also knows how she can make her own contributions to mitigate climate impacts.
“Climate change mitigation is the effort to actually reduce the emission of greenhouse gases,” she says, giving examples such as carpooling, reducing the use of plastic products, and raising awareness about rubbish management. “Whereas climate change adaptation refers to adapting ourselves to the ongoing and future climate impacts. As an example, in rural Cambodia you can easily find rainwater storage jars that can be used during droughts. Planting trees can also help towards both climate mitigation and adaptation, as trees absorb carbon dioxide and prevent flooding.”
Developed by UNICEF East Asia and Pacific and piloted in Cambodia in early 2023, YOSO is an education and training initiative with a mighty vision – to accelerate the transition to clean energies by raising awareness of climate change and solar power among youth in Southeast Asia, one of the world’s hardest-hit regions by climate shocks.
YOSO puts young people at the heart of climate action, empowering them with knowledge and technical skills in solar energy and unlocking access to the growing global marketplace of green jobs. In Cambodia, where the capacity for generating solar power is expected to grow sharply in line with the country’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, more and more opportunities for qualified solar engineers will likely emerge in the coming decades.
By targeting young girls in particular, the model also aims to break down barriers that have traditionally prevented girls from pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related subjects in Cambodia and around the region.
The first YOSO pilot took place at the Rolous Lower Secondary School in March 2023, and with the support of the Provincial Department of Education (PoE), the teachers and students reached out to other schools to share what they had learned.
Prom Salorn, Deputy Director of Rolous Lower Secondary School, was assigned as one of the core trainers, together with other selected students from her school, to support the scale-up of YOSO. She actively led the class on climate change and environmental sustainability, encouraging students to participate in group work and brainstorm about climate mitigation and adaptation.
“We invited more female students for this climate and environment session, just like we did last time at our school,” she says. “It’s because women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change and natural disasters compared to men and boys.”
Fifteen-year-old Phuong Rachana from Rolous Secondary School says this second session was a good opportunity for her to share what she had learned during the first YOSO pilot back in March.
“The first YOSO training at our school motivated me to learn more about solar and other renewable energies,” says the enthusiastic student. “I did some research on the internet, and I found that there was so much to learn.”
“I found that it’s important to have good maintenance of solar panels and batteries, otherwise we would have trouble generating electricity. And even if we cannot expect to have electricity from solar panels during nighttime or rainy days, solar energy does not produce greenhouse gases. So it has huge advantages over fossil fuels.”
The next step of the project will get students exploring the installation and maintenance of solar panels, giving students like Rachana more concrete technical skills they can take with them into their futures.
The course has also been a wakeup call for teachers and school authorities to take more urgent action. Joined by 11 students and two other teachers, Director of Chansor Lower Secondary School, Rim Samreach, plans to spread what they’ve learned in the YOSO training to the rest of his school, giving more students the chance to learn about solar power.
He says the YOSO initiative also connects with the skills and knowledge his students have gained as part of the UNICEF-supported local life skills education (LLSE) subject, which gets students out into their communities to find practical solutions to address real-world problems. With LLSE also exploring issues related to climate resilience and conservation, YOSO has allowed students to build upon their existing knowledge and transform it into something that they can put towards their future careers.
“I am really proud of my students,” he says. “They have been contributing to the environmental sustainability of their communities for a while already with their active campaigns on plastic reduction and tree planting. They are at the centre of climate action.”
Prom Salorn agrees that young people in Cambodia hold great potential as changemakers in the environmental sector.
“We should really make good use of local life skills education, which UNICEF is supporting nationwide, and YOSO,” she says. “Young people can initiate creative ideas, become role models for climate action, and bring visible change to their communities.”
“This special class has allowed the students to get an in-depth understanding of renewable energies, their importance for the environment, and how replacing fossil fuels with renewables can create social impact,” says Nhek Sakun, Head of Secondary Office at the Provincial Office of Education (PoE) in Siem Reap. “Moreover, by collaborating with their classmates during YOSO sessions, students can strengthen their presentation and teamwork skills.”
He says the enthusiastic response to the pilot and the scale-up from students, teachers and school directors is a good sign that technical demonstrations of installation and maintenance will be well-received too, kick-starting a new generation of young people equipped with essential green skills.
“The scaling up of YOSO to more than 30 schools in Siem Reap motivates us to explore further,” he adds. “If students learn how to install and maintain solar panels, it could help them generate income.”
