The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Develo School No. One
He is 26 years old. He is ethnically Lao, one of Cambodia’s several ethnic minorities. He is married and has a daughter.
His house is about 1 km away from the Develo School No. One. He walks to school everyday.
| On his history:
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“I was born and raised in this village. In 1994, I graduated from the teacher school in the provincial town of Banlung. After teacher school I was sent to work at a primary school in the district town of Andoung Meas. After six years of teaching children, I was promoted to school director. Two years later, I asked the Ministry of Education to transfer to this school, in my home village.”
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| On teaching:
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“When I was a student I was good in Khmer language. Now, I prefer teaching Khmer language to the other subjects in the school, because I want these children to learn as much as me. Khmer language is spoken over the whole country and it is also the official language so that any citizen, including our Lao children, has to learn and speak it. Among the 150 students in my school, 120 can speak Khmer Language, but they can not pronounce it clearly and fluently.”
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| On teaching difficulties:
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“While teaching I have encountered two difficulties: First, it is hard to teach Khmer language to the first grade students because they are not familiar with the language. I have to explain to them in Lao and sometimes I have to show them a picture for them to understand what a particular word means. Second, many students are absent in the rainy season because they have to help their parents farm. Their rice fields are far away from the village and the farmers have to stay by the field when they farm, so their children have to do so as well.”
“I am very happy to have the new school that the donor built for us because it is strong and it keeps the teaching materials from getting wet. The old school didn’t have proper walls and when we posted pictures, they would get wet and be destroyed.” |
