Construction of Beng Primary School

CAMBODIA | In the 1960s, Cambodia had a relatively good education system and the literacy rate was high. But that system was essentially wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. After the Khmer Rouge years, schools had to be built up from scratch – a need that continues. Today only about half of the school age children attend school, and even then, schools are so crowded that often more than 80 kids are squeezed into a classroom the size of a living room. It is not unusual for schools to have a morning shift for one set of students and an afternoon shift for another group.

Thanks to a generous AKP donor, AKP has made the commitment to build two schools in the Siem Reap district: Beng Primary School and Tapang Primary School. We are thrilled to announce that construction has begun on the first school, Beng Primary school. The school is located in Beng village, Doun Peng commune (approx. 1.5 hours from Siem Reap).

The new school structure will benefit the school’s 238 students and 10 teachers in grades K through 6. AKP’s involvement in school construction will help elevate primary education in this rural village of Siem Reap District, improve overall quality of the learning experience by constructing a child-friendly, safe and sufficiently large school, as well as ensure access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and positive change in hygiene related behavior.

The community joins AKP in our enthusiasm that building efforts are underway. We look forward to sharing construction progress in the upcoming months!