More than 100 students from Pursat province’s Hun Sen Chheu Tom High School are boycotting classes and posting criticism of the school committee on social media after three of its teachers were suddenly removed and transferred several days ago.

On December 17, Physics teacher Mao Sao Phearith, Khmer Literature teacher Khun Sophaktra and Mathematics teacher Moeun Mey received separate nomination letters from the Pursat provincial Department of Education, Youth and Sport, which required them to report for duty at new institutions on Friday without stating the reasons for the transfer.

Sao Phearith told The Post on Monday: “Until now, the three of us do not know the real reason behind our transfer. But we still reported for duty at our new institutions to avoid being charged with administrative misconduct.”

He was transferred to the Secondary Education Bureau of the Provincial Department of Education, Youth and Sport. Sophaktra is now at the Pursat provincial Teacher Training Centre, while Mey went to Krakor district’s Education Bureau to be in charge of the youth section.

Mey told The Post that according to information gathered from students and their parents, the transfers were motivated by students who refused to attend extra classes as per the Ministry of Education’s mandate, which required students to take 12 extra class hours a week for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Khmer Literature and English.

Each student is also required to pay 36,000 riel (around $9) a month for the after-class sessions.

“According to claims by some students and parents, the school management committee and some teachers, whose students opposed the extra class sessions, conspired with some representatives of the parents’ community to complain against us to the Pursat Provincial Hall and accuse us of persuading students to miss their extra classes.

“If this is true, then it is very unjust for the three of us because we were not involved at all,” said Mey.

Some students and parents on Monday accused school director Ul Channy, his deputy director Chheng Chanroeun and some other academic staff on social media for inciting the sudden transfer of the teachers.

One of the students, Chaing Kimhean, wrote on Facebook: “He [Channy] said that if students continued to incite unrest at the school and influence others into missing their extra classes, he would call in 200 police officers to arrest us.”

Speaking to The Post on Monday, Chanrouen dismissed the allegations and criticisms of the students and their parents. He said the transfer of the three teachers was not ordered by the school director but was requested by a community representative who was dissatisfied with their teaching methods.

“For whatever reason, some students and parents complained to the provincial governor, demanding the removal and transfer of the three teachers. What I know is that the three of them have been transferred to higher positions,” said Chanroeun.

However, student guardian Soeun Channy told The Post that the three teachers secretly taught some political messages of the League for Democracy Party (LDP) to their students and asked them to post the party’s message.

“I don’t know what specific misconduct they had done to cause their transfer, but they were involved in a lot of problematic actions such as teaching LDP political messages to students. I don’t want my students to learn the political message of this party,” said Channy.