By Loren Hyatt and Nhaca Le

As the 2009 – 2010 school year came to an end, the teachers and administrators at Wat Bo, Tchey, Knar, and Koh Ker Primary Schools pulled together statistics on their students for both PLF records and the Ministry of Education.

Student Body Totals by Primary School

*While there appears to be a decrease in the number at Wat Bo School it is because 133 of the children who were in primary school there are now in secondary school.  PLF is continuing to support them.

Please read on for more information on the ever-increasing enrollment at the schools in which PLF works.

Wat Bo Primary School

Wat Bo School is currently the largest school that PLF works in.  While many of the children attending this school live in the city and do not live in poverty, PLF supports almost 500 street children who wanted to attend school in Siem Reap but did not have the financial means to do so.

When PLF first began sponsoring these street children in 2006, there were 574 of them attending Wat Bo.  Today, there are 489 children sponsored at Wat Bo and 133 who have continued on to secondary school that PLF still supports.

PLF is glad to have been able to give these students the chance to get an education and proud that many of them have chosen to finish primary school and continue on to secondary school.

Tchey Primary School

PLF sponsors over half of the students at Tchey Primary School.  This school year, primary school enrollment of sponsored students grew from 517 in the 2008 – 2009 school year to 546.  PLF also continued to support 66 students who were once in primary school at Tchey but are now in secondary school.

In addition to an increase in enrollment, Tchey School recently saw an increase in solar power capacity as well.  Through the generous support of a PLF donor, Tchey School will now have access to even more electricity.

Knar Primary School

PLF sponsors all of the students at Knar Primary School.  This year enrollment reached 411 students.  Secondary school sponsorship for students who once attended the primary school rose to 84.

This year program expansion included the implementation of an English program and continued education for teachers.

Koh Ker Primary School

For the 2009 – 2010 school year, PLF sponsored 206 students at Koh Ker Primary School.  For the first time, PLF also sponsored two students from the village who went on to secondary school in the nearby town of Srayang where they lived with host families for the year.

As enrollment at the primary school increases, PLF is working to ensure that all students have the opportunity to continue on to secondary school in Srayang.  The two secondary school students will be joined by nine others who are expected to pass the sixth grade exam and graduate from the primary school.  These girls are the first to ever present for secondary school from Koh Ker and PLF is proud of all that they have done!  You can read more about their story here.