CLIP3 closing meeting, AI search, play school

CLIP3 closing meeting 💐

On October 16th, we held the CLIP3 closing meeting. Although the project will continue until the end of 2025, all direct activities with teachers have now concluded, making this the right moment to bring everyone together.

CLIP3 allowed us to work more closely with teachers than in any previous CLIP project, which made this milestone especially meaningful for every member of the TUKTUK team. Over the past two years, not only the participating teachers but also the Education Bureau staff engaged wholeheartedly, collaborating with us to bring the project to life.

The teachers poured their passion into transforming TUKTUK’s ideas into their own practice. They immediately integrated workshop learnings into their lessons, created teaching materials suited to their individual styles, and continued to refine their approaches. Because of their efforts, we witnessed remarkable growth—from classroom environments and teaching methods to the confidence and skills of the teachers themselves.

In addition, Education Bureau staff actively shared workshop content and promoted our free teaching materials website with teachers beyond the project’s target schools. Thanks to their initiative, many educators across the region are now familiar with and actively using TUKTUK’s resources.

Through the dedication of everyone involved, our project goal—“empowering participating teachers to become leaders in early childhood education within their regions”—has truly been achieved. We extend our deepest gratitude to all who supported CLIP3.

We look forward to seeing the teachers, as proud “CLIP3 graduates,” continue to shine—not only in Pursat Province, but as leaders elevating early childhood education throughout Cambodia. ✨

Smarter search for Cambodian's teachers 🖱️

Finding the right teaching resource just became much easier. TUKTUK’s Digital Library now features AI-powered search — helping teachers and parents find what they need even when words are misspelled or spelled differently across provinces.

Until now, users had to type exact matches for the system to return results, which made searching difficult for those with varying dialects or limited spelling skills. The new search engine understands meaning, not just individual letters, so it can surface useful materials even from imperfect queries.

Because Khmer is still underrepresented online, the system can sometimes struggle to determine which words are most relevant. To address this, we’re developing a dual-language search system that quietly translates between Khmer and English in the background. By letting both languages support each other, we can deliver search results that are far more accurate and reliable.

Our goal is simple: to make finding free, play-based learning tools effortless for every Cambodian teacher and parent — no matter how they spell their search terms.

Khmer of the month

Khmer Word: Thngai Kraoy Chuob Knea

Although we’ve said goodbye to the CLIP3 teachers, our connection is far from over. We look forward to staying in touch and finding new ways to continue working together. So instead of a final farewell, we say, “Thngai Kraoy Chuob Knea” (See you again)! 😊

Khmer Food: Nom Hing (Fried bread) 👇

Behind the scenes of storybook creation 🔍

Recently, TUKTUK has been busy creating picture books one after another! Following last month’s releases — The Ugly Duckling and Pchum Ben Festival — we now have four more titles in production.

Most of the picture books we produce are fully original. Because of this, our entire team carefully reviews every illustration and every line of Khmer text to ensure each book is easy for children to understand and enjoyable to read.

We begin by outlining the overall story. From there, TUKTUK’s illustrator brings the tale to life through artwork. As each illustration is completed, the whole staff reviews it to confirm that the visuals match the story and remain consistent across all pages.

Then comes the Khmer text review — a meticulous step. We check not only the meaning, but also spelling, vocabulary choice, and clarity. Every staff member double-checks the text to ensure accuracy. It’s painstaking work, but also the most important part, so we take our time.

In October, we completed text reviews for three books. Starting this month, we’ll begin adapting them into kamishibai and animations. We can’t wait to share these new picture books with you in next month’s issue!

Introducing 'Sala Rean Sabey' — Cambodian play school ✨

After years of building Cambodia’s largest free library of Khmer learning resources, we’re taking our next big step — bringing those ideas to life on screen. Sala Rean Sabey is a locally produced educational TV series that showcases play-based learning in real classrooms, helping teachers, parents, and children see how creativity and curiosity can grow through play.

Over the next two years, our team will produce 52 episodes, each tied to TUKTUK’s existing materials and aligned with Cambodia’s early childhood curriculum. It’s an ambitious effort — filmed in Khmer, created by Cambodians, and made for Cambodian children.

If you believe in TUKTUK’s mission, now is a meaningful moment to help us reach every child. Please consider supporting the production of an episode or sharing our campaign page with your community so more people can join in.

Help fund an episode!

Voluntuker spotlight | Our young helper

This month, we’d like you to meet our young helper, the eldest son of TUKTUK staff member Leakhena — and our superstar helper during the long break! He jumped in to laminate around 60 copies of the kamishibai we distributed at the project wrap-up meeting. 😊

What do you like doing?:

Drawing (especially anime!), playing badminton with friends

What are you working hard on at school right now?:

Studying math

What's your dream for the future?: To become an engineer who creates game apps!

He just started his first year of high school this month. He often drops by the office to do homework and has become like family to the TUKTUK team. He has a natural talent for drawing and hands-on work, so he handled the laminating with impressive care and speed — a huge help to everyone. We hope this little “workplace experience” gave him a glimpse into the world beyond school. 😊

We are currently looking for volunteers with the following skill sets to help TukTuk bring educational resources to Cambodia;

• Google Ads
• Fundraising
• Website Development
• Videographer

If you want to get involved or know someone with skills that could help us spread positive education in Cambodia, hit that link below and say hi (we're friendly, we promise). 😉

Get Involved ⇢

Tuktography highlights 📸