Poverty of villagers living along the eastern Cambodian-Vietnamese border forced them to pull their children out of school to help with family work or to work as servants or factory workers. (Photo from Fiscal Study).Cambodian children along the eastern borders cannot attend schools due to poverty
21 Feb 2006
Ouk Sav Bory
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media
Several of Cambodian children and youth living along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border in the commune of Korki Som, Svay Teab district, and Daung commune, Romeas Hek district, both in the province of Svay Rieng do not attend schools and have dropped out of schools in 2006.
Mr. Chheang Bith, the Korki Som commune councilor, is receiving intravenous medical treatment for a stomach inflammation in his own home. He said that in 2006, fifth and sixth grades students had to drop out of school because there are not enough classrooms, they have no transportation means to go to school, and they are too poor.
Mr. Chheang Bith said: "In 2006, there is no dropout for junior high school students. On the other hand, for elementary schools, because of the conditions of the parents, in general there are about 200 dropouts."
We met with Sar Kongkear, an 18-year old youngster from the village of Veay, Korki Som commune. He told us that he recently dropped out of school because of poverty and he has too many younger siblings who need to be fed. He dropped out of school to search for a factory job in Phnom Penh. Currently, he is sick and had to return home to get medical care.
Sar Kongkear said: "I attended school up to fifth grade. I had to drop out because my parents are poor and I went to look for a factory job."
On our way to Daung village, next to the Vietnamese border in Daung commune, Romeas Hek district, Svay Rieng province, the authority and the villagers told us that several youngsters and children had dropped out of school. The youngsters went to work as potato and sugar cane field laborers in Vietnam. The smaller children had to go pick Prachak leaves for producing oil for sale to Vietnam in order to buy rice to eat.
Mr. Chet Sakhon, the deputy-chief of Daung village told us that school is too far, and about 10% of the junior high school students had dropped out.
Mr. Chet Sakhon added: "Starting from sixth grade, students have to go to junior high school in Samrong, or go to Romeas Hek [the district]. Some families do not have the mean to buy a bicycle [for their children], when they buy low quality bicycles, they always break down and the children don't have money to fix them, so they dropped out of school by about 10%."
Mrs. Mao Sokha, a villager, told us that she is very poor, she doesn't have [(lost her)] land to plant rice because of the border disputes between Cambodia and Vietnam. That is why she does not have enough money to pay for the schooling of all her five children. One of her son is currently in tenth grade and she is planning on pulling him out of school.
Mrs. Mao Sokha said: "Right now, I want my son to drop out of school because I have no money. The reason I have no money is because my son is going to school all the way to Kampong Trach, his bicycle is broken, he has no money to spend, he doesn't even have money to pay for school. Now, I want him to drop out of school and find a job or work in Vietnam as other people."
Chet Thoeun, a tenth grade student from the Romeas Hek high school told us that he has to attend some tutoring lessons. But, because his family is poor, he cannot pay the tutoring lessons, and on top of that, his bicycle breaks down very often because school is too far from home, he is considering dropping out of school as his parents wish him to do.
Chet Thoeun said: "The reason I want to drop out of school because my mother is poor, she doesn't have much money. I attend tutoring lessons, I don't have money to pay to continue the lessons, I miss very much my studies which I work so hard for. I do not want to drop out because I really miss school…"
Tith Mala, a young ninth-grade girl from the Samrong high school told us that her family lacks land for planting rice, so they cannot afford for her to continue school. She really regrets dropping out of school.
Tith Mala said: "The reason I have to drop out of school is because my family is poor. We lack everything, we don't have enough land to plant rice, we don't have money to pay for my schooling, no money for [school] expenses because this year, the rice crop is not sufficient and my family can only plant rice in one field."
Mr. Tith Sinly, the principal of Wat Daung elementary school said that there are 422 children attending his school. They came from five villages: Daung, Prey Tuol, Teal, Trapeang Phlong, and Ta Suos. There are seven teachers altogether.
He told us that children attending fifth and sixth grades who are 13-year and older had dropped out of school by about 25 to 30 percent. They went to work as laborers to help their families. As for young children, only about 10 to 15% of them have dropped out. This year, the are children are starting to drop out of school right now.
Mr Tith Sinly said: "Now, the students are already starting to drop out of school because this is the hot season, and their parents are in even more dire situation, so they stop their children [from attending school] to help the family that is to take them to work as servants."
Principal Tith Sinly said that the World Food Program is providing a morning meal for children in Daung village which consists of 100 grams of rice, and 200 grams of bean for a day. But, the children are still hungry, and the principal is asking the WFP to increase the amount of food.
Mr. Ouk Soeun, the councilor of Daung commune said that about 400 to 500 families lack land for planting rice. Inside Cambodia, there is no work, so the villagers have to cross the border to go to Vietnam to work as potato and sugar cane field laborers. Each day, they earn about 4,000 riels (US$ 1). Some of the villagers are hired to work, some don't, that's why people along the border are poor.
Mr. Kong Bun Than, the deputy-governor of the province of Svay Rieng, said that the authority has a plan for returning the children back to school. However, this task requires a lot of discussions and will need a lot of time as well.
Mr. Mom Chim Huy, member of committee no. 7 of the National Assembly in charge of culture and tourism, said that the drop out of school in isolated areas is really related to poverty. His committee will work closely with the ministry of education to resolve this issue.
The authorities of the communes of Korki Som (Svay Teab district), and Daung (Romeas Hek district) and the villagers there told us that drought in the past two years made it impossible to plant rice for those who have lands, as for others, they don't have land because the border dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam is still continuing.
Even if there was a border resolution at the end of 2005, the villagers still don't have clearly defined land to plant their crop. This lack forced them to pull their children out of school. Some families had struggled for their children to attend up to junior high schools and high schools, but these children could not complete their schooling because of their unfulfilled needs and they caused them too much trouble each year.
Korki Som commune in the district of Svay Teab is a commune located next to Cambodia-Vietnam border. The commune numbers 1,262 families spread in 8 villages occupying an area of about 5,000 hectares, of which 4,000 can be cultivated. The commune has 1 junior high school with 5 newly built classrooms in addition to the 3 renovated classrooms. It has 2 elementary schools, but it does not have any health center.
Nowadays, sick villagers who need health service must travel to the health center located in Svay Ompear commune far from the Korki Som commune. The Daung commune has a health center and one elementary school.
Mr. Chheang Bith, the Korki Som commune councilor, is receiving intravenous medical treatment for a stomach inflammation in his own home. He said that in 2006, fifth and sixth grades students had to drop out of school because there are not enough classrooms, they have no transportation means to go to school, and they are too poor.
Mr. Chheang Bith said: "In 2006, there is no dropout for junior high school students. On the other hand, for elementary schools, because of the conditions of the parents, in general there are about 200 dropouts."
We met with Sar Kongkear, an 18-year old youngster from the village of Veay, Korki Som commune. He told us that he recently dropped out of school because of poverty and he has too many younger siblings who need to be fed. He dropped out of school to search for a factory job in Phnom Penh. Currently, he is sick and had to return home to get medical care.
Sar Kongkear said: "I attended school up to fifth grade. I had to drop out because my parents are poor and I went to look for a factory job."
On our way to Daung village, next to the Vietnamese border in Daung commune, Romeas Hek district, Svay Rieng province, the authority and the villagers told us that several youngsters and children had dropped out of school. The youngsters went to work as potato and sugar cane field laborers in Vietnam. The smaller children had to go pick Prachak leaves for producing oil for sale to Vietnam in order to buy rice to eat.
Mr. Chet Sakhon, the deputy-chief of Daung village told us that school is too far, and about 10% of the junior high school students had dropped out.
Mr. Chet Sakhon added: "Starting from sixth grade, students have to go to junior high school in Samrong, or go to Romeas Hek [the district]. Some families do not have the mean to buy a bicycle [for their children], when they buy low quality bicycles, they always break down and the children don't have money to fix them, so they dropped out of school by about 10%."
Mrs. Mao Sokha, a villager, told us that she is very poor, she doesn't have [(lost her)] land to plant rice because of the border disputes between Cambodia and Vietnam. That is why she does not have enough money to pay for the schooling of all her five children. One of her son is currently in tenth grade and she is planning on pulling him out of school.
Mrs. Mao Sokha said: "Right now, I want my son to drop out of school because I have no money. The reason I have no money is because my son is going to school all the way to Kampong Trach, his bicycle is broken, he has no money to spend, he doesn't even have money to pay for school. Now, I want him to drop out of school and find a job or work in Vietnam as other people."
Chet Thoeun, a tenth grade student from the Romeas Hek high school told us that he has to attend some tutoring lessons. But, because his family is poor, he cannot pay the tutoring lessons, and on top of that, his bicycle breaks down very often because school is too far from home, he is considering dropping out of school as his parents wish him to do.
Chet Thoeun said: "The reason I want to drop out of school because my mother is poor, she doesn't have much money. I attend tutoring lessons, I don't have money to pay to continue the lessons, I miss very much my studies which I work so hard for. I do not want to drop out because I really miss school…"
Tith Mala, a young ninth-grade girl from the Samrong high school told us that her family lacks land for planting rice, so they cannot afford for her to continue school. She really regrets dropping out of school.
Tith Mala said: "The reason I have to drop out of school is because my family is poor. We lack everything, we don't have enough land to plant rice, we don't have money to pay for my schooling, no money for [school] expenses because this year, the rice crop is not sufficient and my family can only plant rice in one field."
Mr. Tith Sinly, the principal of Wat Daung elementary school said that there are 422 children attending his school. They came from five villages: Daung, Prey Tuol, Teal, Trapeang Phlong, and Ta Suos. There are seven teachers altogether.
He told us that children attending fifth and sixth grades who are 13-year and older had dropped out of school by about 25 to 30 percent. They went to work as laborers to help their families. As for young children, only about 10 to 15% of them have dropped out. This year, the are children are starting to drop out of school right now.
Mr Tith Sinly said: "Now, the students are already starting to drop out of school because this is the hot season, and their parents are in even more dire situation, so they stop their children [from attending school] to help the family that is to take them to work as servants."
Principal Tith Sinly said that the World Food Program is providing a morning meal for children in Daung village which consists of 100 grams of rice, and 200 grams of bean for a day. But, the children are still hungry, and the principal is asking the WFP to increase the amount of food.
Mr. Ouk Soeun, the councilor of Daung commune said that about 400 to 500 families lack land for planting rice. Inside Cambodia, there is no work, so the villagers have to cross the border to go to Vietnam to work as potato and sugar cane field laborers. Each day, they earn about 4,000 riels (US$ 1). Some of the villagers are hired to work, some don't, that's why people along the border are poor.
Mr. Kong Bun Than, the deputy-governor of the province of Svay Rieng, said that the authority has a plan for returning the children back to school. However, this task requires a lot of discussions and will need a lot of time as well.
Mr. Mom Chim Huy, member of committee no. 7 of the National Assembly in charge of culture and tourism, said that the drop out of school in isolated areas is really related to poverty. His committee will work closely with the ministry of education to resolve this issue.
The authorities of the communes of Korki Som (Svay Teab district), and Daung (Romeas Hek district) and the villagers there told us that drought in the past two years made it impossible to plant rice for those who have lands, as for others, they don't have land because the border dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam is still continuing.
Even if there was a border resolution at the end of 2005, the villagers still don't have clearly defined land to plant their crop. This lack forced them to pull their children out of school. Some families had struggled for their children to attend up to junior high schools and high schools, but these children could not complete their schooling because of their unfulfilled needs and they caused them too much trouble each year.
Korki Som commune in the district of Svay Teab is a commune located next to Cambodia-Vietnam border. The commune numbers 1,262 families spread in 8 villages occupying an area of about 5,000 hectares, of which 4,000 can be cultivated. The commune has 1 junior high school with 5 newly built classrooms in addition to the 3 renovated classrooms. It has 2 elementary schools, but it does not have any health center.
Nowadays, sick villagers who need health service must travel to the health center located in Svay Ompear commune far from the Korki Som commune. The Daung commune has a health center and one elementary school.
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