The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Prey Pdao Nippon
Foundation School
Mr. Heng Ros, the 50-year old director of
the Prey Pdao Nippon Foundation School.
Mr. Heng Ros is the 50-year old director of the Prey Pdao Nippon Foundation School. He has seven children and lives in the school village. He rides a motor bike to school every day.
“The local authorities made me a teacher in 1979 after the downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime. At the time, there were only 35 students in the school and two teachers, including me.”
“I was born and raised in the village of Tnout Chrom, which is next door to this village. I attended a primary school in my home village before moving on to a Junior high school in the district town. When the Khmer Rouge captured the district in 1972, I was only in the 9th grade and fled to Phnom Penh, where I served as a monk for four years.”
“When the Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh in 1975, my family and I were driven to our home village and were made to work as slaves.”
“As a teacher, I have taught children in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. I think that grades 3 and 4 are easier to teach because they have already had two years of education, making them more disciplined. Teaching grades 1 and 2 is complicated because the children are newcomers and don’t yet know how to behave.”
“My school is in a remote area far from the office of the District of Education, and the road is so bad that it‘s difficult for me to travel there and get any instructions or information. We always get information late. Furthermore, there are only six teachers in this school. This is not enough—there should be at least nine. Now each teacher has to teach two sessions a day (in the morning and in the afternoon) and therefore don’t have enough time for better lesson preparation.”
