Project description:

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Despite its growing tourism sector, Cambodia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in Southeast Asia. It ranks 146th out of 191 countries on the Human Development Index (2021), which takes into account education, health, and income. Development is not evenly distributed across the country, and many rural communities remain poor as corruption and vested interests impede the country’s growth – Thnol Keng is one such community. Thnol Keng Village has a population of 9,981 people, most of whom depend on rice farming and seasonal labour. The village is located in Trapeang Prasat District, Oddar Meanchey Province in northern Cambodia. Dey Krahorm Secondary School was established in 2018 due to the nearest secondary school being 15 km away, a challenging distance to travel due to poor road conditions. Initially, the school used a building from a soldier base camp with two teachers and 45 grade seven students. As the student population grew, Child’s Dream provided a new school building in 2019 to accommodate the increase. Currently, the school has 229 students (116 girls, 113 boys) and 8 teachers (2 females, 6 males), serving students from five primary schools in that area. Despite increased enrollment, maintaining high completion rates remains difficult due to financial pressures, with teenagers often needing to work to support their families and pay off high- interest loans from microfinance institutions. The school currently consists of two school buildings with a total of five classrooms. The building built by Child’s Dream meets safety standards and is safe to use. The other wooden building, built by the community in 2023, is dilapidated and considered unsafe. However, the school continues to utilize it due to inadequate infrastructure. Without a proper learning environment and financial struggles within families, students may be inclined to leave school to support their families through labour or seasonal migration to Thailand. There is an urgent need for one new school building with four fully-equipped classrooms, providing a safe and inspiring space for both students and teachers to learn, teach, and thrive. Such a facility will not only encourage greater student engagement, but also underscore the importance of education within the community as a whole. In addition, we will build two new toilets to help improve the sanitation standards of the school and prevent hygiene-related illnesses while reducing dropout rates.