Sokha* used to study in grade 2 at state school, but she had to drop out because her parents couldn’t afford to send her anymore.  Shes come from Prey Veng Province but my family (her parents and two siblings) moved to live in Phnom Penh in 2012. Her father is a fisherman and mother is a seamstress in a small factory.

Her mother heard about ISF and to her delight, after registering her name, Sokha was accepted. She joined ISF’s Catch-up Education Programme in grade 2 in 2015.  In 2017, she successfully entered state school in grade 5.

Sokha tells us that her education means the world to her. “I was so sad back then because I didn’t want to stop to studying” she says, remmeber when she had to drop out of state school. “I thought that I was a good student and that my teacher and my classmates really liked me.

When I started to study at ISF, I felt that everything is absolutely different from the state school – the teachers took such good care of all the students and I could study English and Art. My favorite subjects are Khmer, math and English. I never studied English before and it’s been difficult to learn. I have to work extra hard to study this language but I am so happy that I can make it. I’ve become the top student in my English class!

Thanks to all my teachers, especially my English teacher, who always try to get me to achieve great results in both the Khmer curriculum and in English. I hope that my dream of becoming a manager in future will be come true.”

Mr. Bunthy , Sokha’s English teacher here at ISF, says: “Sokha is the brightest student in the classroom. When she joined my class she didn’t know a single letter of the English alphabet. After two years of studying English with me, she can now listen, read, write and speak in English very well. Her improvement was noticeable at ISF’s Children’s Party earlier in the year when I selected her to do the presentation about her life in English. She did a fantastic presentation in front of hundreds of students, trustees, teachers, staffs, and visitors who participated in the party. She has developed great confidence in speaking English with others, especially with our visitors. Based on her efforts here, I am sure she will become a great English speaker and will go on to build a good career for herself.”

*Names of those under 18 have been changed.