Prince Holding Group ("Prince Group"), one of Cambodia's largest and fastest-growing conglomerates, and Plan International Cambodia ("Plan International") officially launched their Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene ("WASH") intervention programme at all levels of education in Preah Sihanouk province during a school reopening ceremony officiated by Minister of Environment H.E. Say Samal, Preah Sihanouk Governor H.E. Kuoch Chamroeun, and Under Secretary of The ceremony took place yesterday at Prey Nob district's Hun Sen Veal Renh High School.
“I would like to thank Prince Group and Plan International Cambodia for this joint initiative to support safer school environments in conjunction with the school reopening. The program is set to install 198 pedal-operated handwashing stations across 99 schools in Preah Sihanouk. In addition, Prince Foundation also donated 990 infrared thermometers,” H.E. Say Samal, Minister of Environment, said during his speech at the event. According to H.E. Khun Rachana, the WASH initiative will increase access to handwashing for nearly 39,000 students throughout 72 primary schools, 18 lower secondary schools, and nine high schools in Preah Sihanouk, Prey Nop, Stung Hav, Kampong Seila, and Kaoh Rung. Meanwhile, H.E. Kuoch Chamroeun, Governor of Preah Sihanouk, gave the Samdech Prime Minister's message, emphasising that in September 2021, the MoEYS will formally authorise schools to reopen following a positive count of vaccinated children aged 5 and above. "Through successful measures, we are glad to state that today marked the beginning of a new chapter for Cambodian students, particularly youngsters who have recently registered in school to begin their educational journey under the 'New Normal in Education Sector.'" Beginning the year with its 'Back to School' campaign, Prince Group Cambodia has been actively engaged in empowering young Cambodians and preparing them for a bright future, most notably through the Chen Zhi Scholarship, which will provide full university scholarships, stipends, and internships to 400 Cambodian students, among other initiatives. “We believe our initiative to ensure safer school reopening is a timely and valuable contribution. It has been a great pleasure to work with and learn from Plan International, which has been supporting child development in Cambodia for the past 20 years,” said Cliff Koh, Secretary-General of Prince Group. “We are also honoured to be invited by the organiser alongside H.E. Say Samal and H.E. Kuoch Chamroeun to jointly introduce the WASH programme with Plan International through our philanthropic arm, Prince Foundation.”
Read more about Cambodian education system Yi Kimthan, Acting Country Director of Plan International Cambodia, stated that the organisation would collaborate with relevant MoEYS departments to ensure that two individuals per school – the school director and a teacher – are trained on how to install, operate, and maintain handwashing stations. “The project aims to ensure that 90% of the school children will have increased awareness of good hygiene behaviours as COVID-19 prevention measures,” he added.
