Phnom Penh/March 14, 2024 – With support from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport (MoEYS) and the KSFC Foundation from South Korea, Save the Children International in Cambodia has completed renovation work at Kampong Preah Primary School to increase access to education, as part of the Safe Back to School – Pathways in Educational Equity and Resilience (PEER) project. This infrastructure assistance benefits 49 girls and 40 boys by improving the learning environment and learning and teaching quality.

To celebrate the completion of the renovation, a donation ceremony was held on 12^th March at Kampong Preah Primary School located in Baribo District, Kampong Chhnang Province, attended by Mr. Ly Phallin, Deputy District Governor and Mr. Myung-jin Huh, Director of the KSFC Foundation, and other guests from the Foundation, Save the Children Korea, Provincial Office of Education, commune, and the school.

Beyond the renovation, the PEER project also offered a range of additional assistance to the school. This included building the capacity of the school principal and teachers on the early grade reading package and early grade math package for grades 1 to 3, providing a printer and A4 paper for printing teaching and learning materials, installing WASH facilities, offering training on gender equality and inclusion, providing personal protective equipment, building the capacity of the school management committee, and providing story books, shelves, and cabinets for teachers to store teaching and learning materials.

In an opening remark, Mr. Ly Phallin, Deputy Governor of Baribo District, mentioned that the renovation work was in line with the Pentagon Strategy Phase I – “Side 1. Enhancement of Quality of Education, Sports, Science, and Technology.”

“I would like to request all parents and caregivers to send their children to school. Do not leave them at home or allow them to spend much time on phones so they can grow up as good leaders,” he said, emphasizing the importance of education.

Mr. Huh, Director of the KSFC Foundation, said that the Foundation has supported the renovation to contribute to improving the educational environment for the children in Cambodia.

“You are the future leaders of Cambodia and Asia. If you dream big and study hard, your dream will come true for sure. Our KSFC Foundation looks forward to your healthy growth and academic achievement,” he said.

The renovated building consists of a classroom for grade 3 students, a library, an infirmary room, and boys’ and girls’ restrooms. Before the renovation, Kampong Preah Primary School served grade 1 and 2 students only due to a shortage of learning spaces. The renovation has transformed a damaged wooden building that was out of use for a long time into a safe and child-friendly learning space. Thanks to the additional learning space made by the renovation, the school has been able to serve grade 3 students since this new academic year.

Polin, A grade 3 student from Kampong Preah Primary School, echoes his past experiences while studying in the old building and expresses his excitement for the new building.

"When I was studying in the old building, the classrooms were cramped and sometimes I fell off the chair while learning because of the big waves coming from the speedboat and the walls were a bit brittle,” he said. “There are nice classrooms, newly painted fans, a lot of learning materials, and on the walls, there are more attractive classroom decoration lessons. There is also a bathroom, a handwash tube, and another library with many story books from Save the Children. In addition, there is also a health room (infirmary room) when we are sick and can go to rest there.”

In addition to the renovation support to Kampong Preah Primary School, Save the Children is supporting the construction of Kror Chab Primary School, with financial support from the KSFC Foundation and Save the Children Korea, to provide a safe, child-friendly, and inclusive learning environment to the children living in the flooding-prone, marginalized area in Baribo District in Kampong Chhnang. The construction will be completed by the end of April 2024.  

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Note to Editors:

Since July 2021, Save the Children in Cambodia has implemented the Safe Back to School – Pathways in Educational Equity and Resilience (PEER) Project to ensure continued access to quality education for children in 32 schools in Kampong Chhnang Province during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure that children have access to quality education without disruption, the project has provided learning and teaching materials to the target schools and trained teachers to strengthen their teaching capacities. An endline study conducted in November 2023 found that over 96% of grade 3 children passed the literacy test, increased from 69.8% in the baseline study in 2021. The math pass rate has increased from 38.9% to 93.8%. 

KSFC Foundation, established in November 2013 with contributions from the Korea Securities Finance Corporation, is a non-profit public corporation. Engaged in various social contribution activities including welfare and scholarship programs, the foundation has consistently supported improving educational environment projects in six regions across four countries: Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

For media inquiries, please contact:

• Mr. Taing Vida, Communications and Campaign Manager, Save the Children in Cambodia
• Email: vida.taing@savethechildren.org  Phone: 016 541616