NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, October 20, 2017

This month, Teach for Cambodia will officially launch and begin recruiting its first group of fellows. If all goes according to plan, 30 recent college graduates, young professionals, and existing teachers will be selected, trained, and distributed among some of Phnom Penh’s poorest schools starting next year.

The program is the first of its kind in Cambodia, where founder Siv Monirath, or Moni, hopes the global model can gain a foothold in his country. A staunch advocate for educational equality, Moni has firsthand experience of the difference that the right or wrong type of schooling can make. Born and raised in Cambodia, Moni spent the first 16 years of life in five different Phnom Penh public schools.

After moving to the U.S., he completed the last year of high school in California, graduating valedictorian. Moni later joined Teach for America, working as a science teacher in a Camden, New Jersey, high school. The experience was formative. He completed a master’s in education and began to think about how such a system might be adopted to Cambodia.

Photo courtesy of Bart Verweij.