Building Better Schools One Community at a Time

Puthealin Sok

Primary education is crucial for children’s development, helping form critical foundational skills that prepare them for a better future. However, there’s a lack of adequate schools for children across our country, especially in our rural areas. Unfit schools can stunt children’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical growth for life and contribute to a cycle of inequality.

To help build healthier school environments and help improve education in Cambodia, our KMH Foundation established an initiative to build one new school per year in communities where they’re needed most. Continuing to create and build a better future for the next generation one school at a time, we recently helped revive the Tek Thleak Primary School in rural Battambang, the only accessible education center for the 35 students who rely on it in the remote area. However, due to the deteriorating condition of the school, the students often needed to give up on their studies during rainy days – a common challenge during Cambodia’s wet season.

Using our expertise and resources in the Building & Materials sector, we adapted our Mekong Homes design to provide three well-ventilated, sunlit and durable schoolhouses to help protect the students in the heat and rain. We also built a sanitation facility and helped refresh the school grounds with newly planted trees to promote a healthy educational environment. In addition to the new facilities, our co-founder, Lok Chumteav Khun Heang, and our colleagues provided school supplies, including books, school uniforms, food and financial aid to the students and their families.

Now reinvigorated, the Tek Thleak Primary School can serve as an enjoyable learning space for up to 60 students – giving the community’s primary school-aged children a chance that they may not have otherwise to study the foundational skills they need to thrive.

Since 2018, the KMH Foundation's school rebuild program has built five schools in rural communities that hold a commitment to education. Together, our schoolhouses have provided over 400 students with proper spaces to learn and will continue to be havens for education for years to come. Through the KMH Foundation, we will continue to help drive positive change in Cambodia’s education sector and help more children access quality education that can help them grow and empower people today and in the future.

The KMH Foundation was established in 2012 in honor of our co-founder, Oknha Kang Meng Huy, to promote positive social change through education, healthcare, sports and housing. To learn more about our CSR activities in Cambodia, click here.