A School Director’s Dream

For the past 17 years, school director Kimchoeun Hak has dedicated his professional life to being the best leader for the many teachers and students at Ta Ey's secondary and high school.
Back in 2006, the local government increased the number of secondary schools in every commune in Cambodia.  With that, teachers with the ability to become school directors were necessary in order to lead the schools.  This was the moment that everything changed for director Kimchoeun, as he was chosen to take over the chair at Ta Ey School. 
With this opportunity in hand, director Kimchoeun wanted—and still wants—to help children in rural villages and develop the school together with the local community.

And this journey is far from an end, since he still has a dream for Ta Ey School and shared, “I would like to see the school become one of the best places that can provide a good quality of education, especially when we talk about technology knowledge. 
For that, he says that the school still needs help from outside to support special programmes for the students as the school funding is limited.   But that's not a reason to give up. On the contrary, it's a reason for greater resilience, as it seeks to empower and encourage the school's teachers to learn and use new teaching techniques or methods that can help students achieve a better quality of education, even with few resources. 

In recent years, the number of students is increasing rapidly, and the school doesn’t have enough classrooms to support them.  Although it is a ‘good problem to have’, director Kimchoeun has to work with the teachers to appeal to potential donors and sponsors.  This is one of the ways to uplift his school ‘s ability to help the many children.

Director Kimchoeun has a dream and shared, “I would like to see our school becoming one of the places that can provide good quality education both in knowledge and morality, especially using technology to share greater knowledge with the students.”

​This dream may be challenging to pursue as the school funding is limited.  However, director Kimchoeun will never give up and has started urging his teachers to learn and use new techniques and methods to teach the students. 

His encouraging words to the teachers are, "The word ‘teacher’ means model or sample, so you have to do everything to be a good example for the students. Work hard to help them. You can provide a better outcome for Cambodia.“

Director Kimchoeun believes that the responsibility of quality education is shared amongst teachers, families and of course the students.  He further shared a sounding advice for the students, “Children, our lives in rural villages may be difficult but your hardwork in studying is important, as education is your gateway to a better future.  Your love for education is also your love for your family, your community and Cambodia!”
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With those inspiring words from director Kimchoeun, let’s join forces and give those rural schools a better chance to fight for a brighter future.  Take a step, give a helping hand, you can support Ta Ey’s school directly via https://bit.ly/Donate_PS2024.


Story written by: Volunteer Mariana Pana