The Rural School Project
The Michael And Gail Yanney School
(August, 2001)
Mr. Saing Kim Seng is the director of the Michael and Gail Yanney School. He has been a teacher since 1979 and became a director in 1983. He is married with four sons who are all in high school now. His house is 3 km away from the school.
| On the new building: | “While the new building was being built, I was attending a teaching-skills class in the provincial capital. I would ride my motorbike from the town to the school at night because I was anxious about how much of the construction was completed. I wished that the construction would be completed quickly.”“Since the new concrete building was built, no children have quit the school, except for those whose families moved away. The students are happy with the new building. The previous building was built in 1981 out of wood. The roof leaked and it was not very strong so when it rained, the students and teachers would leave because they were afraid that it would collapse and kill them.”
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| On school subjects: | “I like teaching mathematics and Khmer. I like teaching mathematics because I hate cheating, and by teaching my students math, I can keep them from being cheated when shopping. Khmer is my second favorite subject because I want my students to learn how to read and write.”
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| On teaching techniques: | “I do not allow teachers to hit or shout at the children. Instead, I order them to encourage the children. I also make weak students sit next to stronger students so that they can get help when they do not understand.”
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| On his personal history: | “I was born and raised in this village. I received my high school diploma in 1973 and was continuing to study, but I was interrupted by the civil war one year later. During the brutal regime, my father and brother both died of starvation. I had intended to become a doctor or nurse, but I could not complete my studies. Our area had no educated people left after 1979, so I was asked to become a teacher by the village and commune chiefs.”[1979 was the year of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which removed the Khmer Rouge from control of most of the country.]
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| Message for the donors: | “I would like to thank Jeremy Brest and Mr. and Mrs. Iris Brest for building this new school.” |
