Three teachers at Toul Ampel High School in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district got their jobs back yesterday after a protest against the school director by more than a hundred students on Monday.

The teachers, Yong Chantoeun, So Phon and Pheap Samnak, had been transferred to another school by director Keo Teng without an explanation.

Protesters said the transfer was a reprisal after the teachers accused Teng of pocketing 17 million riel (about $4,200) from the school budget.

So Phon said that after the students’ protest, the Ministry of Education had agreed to negotiate and give them back their jobs.

“We had a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education, and they allowed us to teach at the same school,” he said.

“There is no need to change to another school after the protest because we did not want to see the protest continue – it doesn’t look good.”

Teng denied the allegations against him in an interview on Tuesday and said that the transfer of teachers had been an upper-level decision beyond his control.