Three schools in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district failed to open for the first day of the school year due to residual flooding from the Prek Thnout River, Ministry of Education spokesman Ros Salin said yesterday.

All schools nationwide were meant to begin classes on November 1.

Salin said that prior to that date, a total of 10 schools in the area were flooded. However, a week before classes were slated to begin, the flooding receded, leaving just three schools – two primary schools and one high school – inundated with water.

The affected schools are Wat Hear Primary School in Prey Sar commune, Spean Thma Primary School in Spean Thma commune and Prek Kompoes Secondary School in Prek Kompoes commune.

“Our officials are working with local authorities to find a way to drain the water from the schools so that students can start their studies next week,” Salin said.

According to Ven Sokun, director of the Dangkor district education office, officials need to build fortified ditches around the schools and set up pumping machines to drain the water. As of yesterday, no such initiative has been taken.

The Prek Thnout flooding last month damaged local dams, destroyed thousands of hectares of rice fields and displaced over 200 families.