The Learning Express
Thirty students, mixed Cambodian and Singaporean teams, living in a Kampong Cham village and building something the people there actually asked for.
Learning Express, or LeX, is a two-week social innovation programme started by Singapore Polytechnic and run here with the National University of Management. Students from both countries work in mixed teams, in a Cambodian commune, on problems the people who live there actually have.
The method is Design Thinking. Teams live with local families, learn what the real problem is rather than the assumed one, build something, take it back to the community, and rebuild it on what they are told. In 2025 that meant sugarcane, bananas and how smallholders sell. In 2026 it meant mango products, Khmer krama indigo and the local junior high school.
Twelve days, across two weeks every March. Thirty places, open to students across NUM and NUM International College.
- Twelve days in Kampong Cham
- 30 places, by written test and interview
- Design Thinking, taught before departure
- Singapore Polytechnic teams alongside ours
- Singapore Polytechnic partner since 2017
- 160+ LeX alumni by December 2024
- 400+ students across LeX, TF SCALE and YMAC
Three Villages, One Method
The method does not change. The commune does, and so does what the people living there ask for. Each edition is on the record below with its dates, its briefs and its cohort.
Takeo Province
The first edition on record here, and the only one that ran on the old September cycle. Students worked with local stakeholders in Takeo, taking prototypes back to the village for the community to pull apart.
- Community-set briefs
“Working alongside diverse teams and local stakeholders in Takeo, I realised that true progress only happens when we learn to compromise and truly listen to one another. By understanding the challenges faced by the community and incorporating their voices into the process, we were able to develop solutions that were not only practical but also meaningful.”
Tong Sok KhengNUM International College alumnus, LeX 2023
Mohakhnhoung Commune, Koh Sothen District, Kampong Cham
Facilitators and the Rector met the commune chief in December 2024 to agree the briefs before a single student arrived. Applications had opened the previous October.
- Sugarcane
- Bananas
- How smallholders sell
- 30 students
Angkor Ban Commune, Kang Meas District, Kampong Cham
The most competitive edition so far: ninety-four applicants sat the written assessment for thirty places.
- Mango products
- Khmer krama indigo
- The junior high school
- 30 from 94 applicants
“When our group’s solution proved not fully feasible, we observed and improvised to make it work for the locals. Flexibility is the key in every situation, a lesson I carry in my academic and professional journey to this day.”
Han LeanghuongLeX 2026 participant
Thirty Places
Selection runs from December to January, and the training starts before anyone leaves Phnom Penh.
Apply
Applications open to students across NUM and NUM International College. LeX 2026 opened in December 2025.
Sit the written assessment
Ninety-four applicants sat the LeX 2026 written test, on critical thinking, problem solving and practical reasoning.
Interview
Applicants who pass the screening are shortlisted and invited to interview.
Make the thirty
Only thirty candidates go forward. Finalists are announced in January.
Train in Design Thinking
Five sessions before departure: the empathy study plan, mock interviews, data analysis and need statements, then ideation.
What Every Edition Follows
Design Thinking runs in five stages. More than a third of the programme goes on empathy before anyone is allowed to propose a solution.
Sense & Sensibility
Preparing the mind and understanding the context. The cohort meets its Singapore Polytechnic counterparts and the programme opens at NUM.
Empathy
The longest stage, and the point of the whole thing. Students live with families in the commune, meet the people whose problem it is, and work out what the user actually needs rather than what an outsider assumes.
Mango products · Khmer krama indigo · the junior high school
Ideation & Prototype
Teams generate ideas and build prototypes, rough enough to show rather than describe the solution.
Co-Creation & Gallery Walk
The prototype goes back to the people it was built for. Teams gather feedback, refine, then present at the gallery walk at NUM to students, lecturers, the Rector and Vice Rectors.
Cultural Immersion
The last two days belong to the country rather than the project, before the Singaporean students fly home.
Before Any of It Starts
