Border school nearly destroyed by shelling, leaving hundreds of students without classrooms

Border school nearly destroyed by shelling, leaving hundreds of students without classrooms

#National

Oddar Meanchey– A primary school near the Cambodian-Thai border has been almost completely destroyed after being repeatedly shelled during two rounds of fighting, leaving hundreds of students without classrooms and raising serious concerns over the targeting of civilian infrastructure.

Lay Phalla, Principal of Ta Moan Senchey Primary School in Kol Mon Commune, Banteay Ampil District, Oddar Meanchey province, said the school was first hit on July 24 during an outbreak of Thai military aggression, when shells landed directly on the campus, damaging classrooms and school facilities.

A second and more destructive phase of fighting occurred between December 24 and December 27–28, lasting 21 days, during which the school suffered near-total destruction.

Lay Phalla, principal of Ta Moan Senchey Primary School, said:

“On July 24, the first armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand broke out. Thai forces fired shells that directly hit the school, causing serious damage to classrooms and other facilities.

The second round of fighting occurred from December 24 to December 27–28 and lasted for 21 days. The damage from this second conflict was extensive, almost completely destroying the school. All six classrooms were damaged.

In addition, a newly constructed building funded by an organisation, which was about 80 percent completed, was hit by two shells, with many more landing around the compound.

Other damaged facilities include toilets funded by an organisation and those built by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

Overall, the destruction during the second round of shelling was severe.

As a result, students were left without a place to study. After the school year began on November 1, classes were held for only one month. With support from Caritas Cambodia, four temporary learning shelters were built. However, by December 6, the situation deteriorated, and on Sunday, December 7, villagers from Ta Moan Senchey fled the area.

On December 8, the day of the incident, only six students came to school, and I sent them home.

This means that even those six students were unable to continue studying.

Our school has a total of 200 students, including 99 girls, and eight teachers, three of whom are female. One teacher is a contract teacher.

Damage to school facilities is extensive, including the kitchen, toilets, water filtration system, one six-classroom school building and one building funded by an organisation, all of which were completely destroyed.

The school is not a military base. Yet during both conflicts, the Siamese aggressors shelled only the school area. Shells landed throughout the compound and surrounding areas.

This raises questions about their intention — whether they aimed to destroy Cambodian children’s place of education or had another motive.”