Teach For Cambodia Information

Now placing its fifth cohort, Teach For Cambodia aims to support the younger generation of Cambodians to build a new future for the country. TFC recruits a diverse cohort of fellows, nurtures a deep sense of trust and connection between those fellows during the two-year program, and invests in building the capacity of fellows to understand the problems of the Cambodian system and how they might be solved. Several alumni from the first three cohorts are already working in key roles within the system, shaping and implementing nationwide education policies. Teach For Cambodia’s hope for the younger generation—to shape the future of Cambodia—is a response to the shared history and trauma of the genocide that touched the lives of all Cambodians. While the hope for the younger generation is widely shared, young people face significant challenges. Many boys and girls live in poverty and are forced into laboring jobs or migrating to find even subsistence-level work. The education system is similarly challenged. In schools, TFC Fellows are typically responsible for teaching 250 students, and some responsible for up to 1,300 students. 90% of TFC Fellows come from the same tough and challenging low-income backgrounds as the students they teach. Some fellows have experienced homelessness, domestic violence, malnutrition growing up; one is the first woman in her district to go to higher education. This means fellows are resilient, humble and hold deep empathy for the students and communities they work with. Fellows become representatives of the girls and boys that they work with in schools and are committed to the mission to rebuild the nation through younger generations.