About the Organization

The front gate entrance of the KCEO schoolhouse in Ang.
The front gate entrance of the KCEO schoolhouse in Ang.

The Khmer Children’s Education Organization is centered in a modest schoolhouse located in the rural village of Ang, (Popel Commune, Baribour District, Kampong Chhnang Province) a few miles away from the City of Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia. Before the establishment of this website, the school was entirely self-funded. The backbone of this organization lies in the family of Marin Him, the school’s founder and lead teacher. Marin and his family have dedicated their lives to the school’s operation and subsistence. In order to see the school and organization continue to grow and flourish, we are now extending our reach to the Internet to raise awareness, seek support, and promote the KCEO’s mission.

Marin (pictured second from left in the green shirt) with his family, some close village friends and students.
Marin (pictured second from left in the green shirt) with his family, some close village friends and students.

Prior to the Covid pandemic KCEO’s enrollment steadily rose to over 400 regular students attending a variety of classes – ranging from multi-level English classes, mathematics, Khmer language skills, and computer skills to subjects such as health and hygiene. For two years during the pandemic Cambodian students could not attend government schools or programs like KCEO. Since reopening, KCEO is working diligently to help youth catch up and now has 361 students attending academic classes at KCEO, 210 who are female, and 189 receiving scholarships (including some young Buddhist monks). The rest pay on a sliding scale according to their family’s ability. Most of these youngsters come from families of subsistence farmers, and all of them attend on their own vocation, which may be in addition to their primary schooling. As such, the KCEO provides a unique avenue for supplemental learning before and after the traditional public school environment. With 75% support from World Vision, KCEO also offers satellite life skills training clubs providing programming in 26 villages and 4 communes to 1000 youth with 80 youth leaders. World Vision’s contribution is not expected to be long-term, so KCEO is campaigning to raise funds for the programming to be sustainable.

Students in an indoor classroom being taught by KCEO teacher Sokhi.
Students in a three-walled indoor classroom being taught by KCEO teacher Sokhi.

Sadly, a large number of our students have unfortunately dropped out of their primary, formal studies elsewhere due to poverty and lack of familial resources. For these individuals, the KCEO stands as the only means of education. Marin and his family especially pride themselves on being able to provide education for these children. They hope to see these young people and their families grow, providing them with the knowledge that shall equip them to progress in obtaining jobs and improving their standard of living – and, consequently, making an impact on the standard of Cambodian living overall. KCEO is adapting additional curricular programming to assist students and their families in need of learning cost-effective farming practices increasing their ability to be financially self-sufficient.

Students learning outdoors.
Students learning outdoors.