The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Sam Rong Nippon
Foundation School
Mr. Im Nhes is the director of the Sam Rong Nippon Foundation School. He is 57 years old
| On himself:
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I have seven children. None of them are in school any more, but I have a granddaughter at this school. My wife is a rice farmer. She also sells snacks at school. Our house is right opposite the entrance of the school. I became a teacher in 1981, and director the same year. I only taught full-time for two months.
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| On the new building:
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Before the new school building was constructed, we had two other buildings. Both of them were very old. The wood used for its construction was four generations old. Classes used to be cancelled whenever it rained or there were strong winds for fear that the whole building would collapse. Last year, they both collapsed when a storm came. All the bricks fell down. The community built another school from bricks in 1996, but it only has two classrooms.
I don’t really wish to talk like this, but the school grounds didn’t use to look as nice as now. After the new school was built, I felt proud. I take much better care of this school, and the villagers also help out; they’ve provided wood for the fence around the school grounds. It’s important that the school looks nice, and I have the students take care of the school every day. There are two large garbage bins for the grounds, and each classroom also has a bin. If you think the place looks good, it is not only because of my efforts, but also the efforts of the teachers and students.
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| On how he runs the school:
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Before the school officially opened last September, I prepared a plan of how to keep the school nice and clean. I held a meeting with the teachers, commune representatives, parents, and villagers in general, to inform them about the new school, and describe my plan for how to preserve it and keep it nicely.
The most important thing was to make an ‘internal’ rule for the school. I made one set of rules for the teachers and one set for the students. I hold meetings with the teachers every week to talk with them and resolve any problems they have. I am very strict with the teachers. I plan their work schedules for them every week. But now they respect me. I also made five points for how to spend the money:
At the meetings, I tell everybody what the money is being used for, so that everybody knows where it goes.
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