ISF’s Employment Support opens doors for students
ISF’s Employment Support opens doors for Bunthai and Pong
Kun Bunthai and Lun Pong are two young men that demonstrate what a difference an education can make – even a short education.
Both Bunthai and Pong joined ISF as Catch-up Education students catching up on missed education and later integrated into state school at the right grade for their age. Unfortunately, due to poverty, both boys had to dropout of high school in grade 7 to work fulltime and provide for their families.
While we try our best to support our students to stay in school, we know that sometimes completing a high school education as far as grade 12 is not possible. If our students have no choice but to dropout we still try to support them as best we can through our Employment Support which covers careers counselling, vocational training and regular follow-ups with social workers and our employment team.
Under our Employment Support, Bunthai was able to train as a hairdresser in Kampong Cham province. Bunthai started his own business in Kampong Cham but recently relocated back to Phnom Penh where he was welcomed by his old classmate Pong who also trained as a hairdresser with support from ISF. Both young men are now working in a hair salon in Phnom Penh and their skill set is earning them $300-400 per month which is almost double the average minimum wage income ($180 per month) for Cambodians.
While their curriculum-based education ended in grade 7, both boys exemplify what an impact vocational training can have and they now both have their sights set on opening their own shops in the city. To show their appreciation for ISF’s Employment Support and to give back to their community, Bunthai and Pong recently visited ISF, offering free haircuts to over 30 students.
