Project description:

Despite its growing tourism sector, Cambodia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in Southeast Asia. Cambodia ranks 146th out of 191 countries on the Human Development Index (2021), which takes into account education, health and income. Development is uneven across the country and many rural communities remain impoverished, while corruption and self-interest hamper the country's growth.

Prey Chas Primary School is located in Prey Chas Village, Battambang Province, a floating village on the shore of Tonle Sap Lake. Founded in 1979, the village is now home to 1540 people from 322 households, most of whom make a living from fishing and work in the service sector. There is water, electricity and mobile phone connection, but the village does not have a local health center. The poor sewage system in the area contributes to a high risk of developing serious health problems, especially for young children.

Prey Chas Primary School currently has 353 students (205 boys, 148 girls) aged 6 to 12 and employs 9 teachers (4 men, 5 women). Constructed in 1999, the five-classroom wooden school building, housed on the site of a local pagoda, is in severe disrepair and rotting. The numerous cracks in the walls and floors seriously endanger the stability of the buildings.

To accommodate the increasing number of students, a temporary one-classroom building was constructed in 2020, but poor construction quality and the harsh Cambodian climate have quickly taken their toll. In addition, the students have to use the public toilets of the pagoda as the school does not have any toilets. It is clear that the existing school buildings pose a significant safety and health risk and can no longer provide a safe learning environment for teachers and students. Therefore, a new school building with five fully equipped classrooms and a staff room is urgently needed to create a motivating environment in which students and teachers can learn, teach, develop and thrive. The new school building will not only encourage children to be more involved in their education, but will also underscore the importance of education to the wider community. In addition, we will build eight new toilets to improve the sanitation conditions in the school, prevent hygiene-related diseases and thus reduce the school dropout rate.