For over 1,000 years, pagodas (wats), or community temples, have served not only as the traditional religious centres in Cambodia, but also as the main social, cultural, and educational centres for Cambodian people. It is here that Buddhist monks and learned members of the community pass on essential knowledge from folklore and Buddhist ethics to basic literacy skills, as well as practical guidance in vernacular architecture and construction techniques. Even agriculture, medicine, music and the performing arts do not lie outside the breadth of this teaching.

During the Khmer Rouge regime, nearly two thirds of existing temples were destroyed. Not one monk survived the genocide of that period. The Community Temple Learning Centres were developed by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to help revive the temples and the cultural sites as learning centres, thus fuelling the rebirth of Cambodian culture and society. The centres support adult literacy classes, skills/vocational training, and cultural activities. The Angkor Scientific and Technical Documentation Center was also established through the CTLC program.

Since the inception of the program, community learning centres have been established in Siem Reap, Battambang, and Kandal provinces. The learning centres have already seen the success of its initial training programs for both teachers and students alike. Over 14,000 previously illiterate adults from rural areas have completed the literacy education course while nearly 1000 have received practical skills training on handicrafts. Teachers receive further training in formal, non-formal, and adult education.
Cambodia's thousand-year tradition of performing arts is also being rekindled from the crippled state where nine out of ten performers died under the Khmer Rouge. Through the CTLCs, many plays and shows have been rediscovered, reaching thousands of Cambodians as well as the press. This revival of the Cambodian arts and culture not only brings traditional Khmer cultural performances to the people, but also provides employment and extra income to many local artists.
The CTLC programme has been instrumental in bringing back the traditional craft of pottery making to the communities of the Phnom Chissor area. Thishas given the people of Phnom Chissor a viable alternate income source; through the program, the pottery products are being promoted both at the local level and for incoming tourism at the national level in order to create access to a market for their art. Before that, they turned to the laborious work of acquiring and selling stone quarries from the local mountain; a practice that is not only harmful to the environment, but also illegal.

A total of 15 international UNVs and 13 national UNVs have worked with the CTLC programs since its inception, guiding a people-centered approach that is culturally sensitive and based on social equity. With their support, the CTLCs are contributing to the wider moral, intellectual, and political regeneration of the country. From this developing leadership base, Cambodians are beginning to chart a peaceful, tolerant course for rebuilding and developing their country. The Government of Japan supported UNV’s contribution to this programme since 1994.