In Phnom Penh’s Kaing Meng borey, in Dangkor district, a school for underprivileged children has embarked on a mission to do more than just teach some of the Kingdom’s most vulnerable; it is training a new generation of teachers.

San Daravit, founder of “Sala Rean Kmeng Kreikror” (Khmer for the school for impoverished children), spoke to The Post about the “Young Teacher” programme that he has established.

Young Teachers, or yukvachun krou in Khmer, was created with the goal of gathering young people with a passion for the field of education. We are teaching students to become professional educators,” he said.

Daravit explained that the project came into being after he became involved in the education sector and realised there was an acute shortage of teachers.

A teacher introduces computer science to eager students. Supplied

“In May 2023, I worked on establishing on the school. Children from many provinces came here to study when their parents moved to Phnom Penh to find work. At that time, we had several young people volunteering to help us. We tried to have them teach the children because we lacked teachers,” he added.

An environmentalist who has worked extensively to clean up the environment in the Boeung Trabek canal, as well as the riverbank areas of many other towns and provinces, Daravit’s project was once known as “Garbage Youth”. In 2024, in keeping with his new direction, the name was changed to Young Teachers.

The 34-year-old noted that there are no prerequisites for young people who wish to become teachers to join the programme.

“There are no particular qualifications required for the selection process. We genuinely rely on their will. If they wish to become teachers, they meet with us and we discuss what transferable knowledge and skills they possess, and then we go from there,” he explained.

San Daravit, founder of the Young Teachers programme and principal of Sala Rean Kmeng Kreikror. Supplied

To date, the programme has trained a total of 11 young teachers, including seven who now work at the Sala Rean Kmeng Kreikror in Phnom Penh and four who teach at the Phnom Oral Community School in Kampong Speu province.

Daravit noted that those accepted into the programme are trained to have patience and how to grade their language to communicate with young students, as well as how to plan lessons and utilise their teaching time efficiently.

Once they are teaching, follow up meetings and discussions are held regularly, to ensure that the teachers are delivering high-quality lessons.

“In addition, teachers also incorporate their own abilities, whether origami, drawing or even studying through YouTube, because children need to be equipped with a wide range of interests and skills,” said Daravit.

“Its also important that they receive a solid base of ethics, good manners and personal hygiene.We shape the teachers so that they are willing to share their experiences with the children,” he added.

“Young Teachers” receive recognition for their dedication to educating underprivileged children. Supplied

He explained that he had no prior experience in training teachers, so in the initial stages of the programme, he studied foreign education systems in detail – especially those of Japan and Australia – and extracted several points to incorporate into his school’s curriculum.

“When we first introduced the programme, some of the teachers faced difficulties because most of the children we taught lived in slums, so their morals and behaviour were different, as they were not used to attending school regularly,” he said.

In addition, there were their academic levels were extremely varied.

“We had to adapt ourselves. Some of them were 12 years old and had never even stepped into a classroom,” added Daravit.

In addition to training teachers, he has introduced a programme which educates school administrators, so graduates will soon be leading their own faculties as principals.

If the Young Teachers programme continues to be a success, there are plans to expand into some of the Kingdom’s most remote areas.

“We expect that programme will grow larger. We want to train more teachers and build more schools because there are many remote areas where children are missing out on a quality education,” said Daravit.

“We want them to learn as much as they can, because in the future they will become the human resource pillars which will support the growth of the Kingdom,” he added.