The Cambodia Rural School Project
The Hayashida Sakunoshin
Memorial School
Mr. Sen Hiet, the school director (May, 2001)
Mr. Sen Hiet is the director of The Hayashida Sakunoshin Memorial School. He is 40 years old.
| On the history of the school: | “A poor, wooden building was built in 1979 by the villagers (for a school). This was a fighting area at that time. Sometimes the students would run away from the school building when they heard bombs exploding nearby. Sometimes lessons were stopped for several days (because of the fighting). I dug trenches near the school so students could get to a safety easily.” [Cambodia was in turmoil in 1979, the year invading Vietnamese overthrew the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia].
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| On the new school: | “Right now, I am very happy with the new school because I have never had a new building before. It makes it easier to get more students to come to learn. The students didn’t like the old building because it was very old and would let rain come in. Now, the students like to come to school because it is very nice and is made of concrete. With the new building, children will come to school to learn, even when it is raining.”
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| On why he is a teacher: | “My job is difficult because I work at the school and I also work in the rice fields. I have been working and teaching like this for 20 years. I was working in the fields during Pol Pot time like other people [Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge who ruled from 1975 -1979]. I became a teacher because the government of Cambodia selected me to be a teacher. Every day, I try very hard to teach the children because I want them to have knowledge and to help their country develop in the future.”
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| On his favorite subjects to teach: | “I know the students like to study Khmer and mathematics because they want to know about letters and numbers. I like to teach Khmer, mathematics, and social studies because I think these three subjects are very important for a primary school students’ education. I do not like to teach applied science because the students are still very young and it is difficult for them to understand.”
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| On the future of Cambodia: | “I see our new concrete school building as an example of Cambodia developing as a nation.” |
