The Consulate General of Vietnam in Battambang, Cambodia on July 9 inaugurated a floating school for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) students who live on Tonle Sap Lake in Koh Kek village, Kan Dieng district of Pursat province. 

The Consulate General of Vietnam in Battambang, Cambodia on July 9 inaugurated a floating school for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) students who live on Tonle Sap Lake in Koh Kek village, Kan Dieng district of Pursat province (Illustrative photo: BookMundi)

The wooden facility was funded by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry.

Koh Kek village is home to 289 Vietnamese households. There are nearly 100 students of first to third grade who study Vietnam’s curriculum. 

Speaking at the event, head of the Khmer-Vietnam Association in the village Ngo Van Ly said the school serves as a foundation for youngsters to preserve their homeland’s culture while learning the local one, helping them integrate in the Vietnamese and Khmer communities.

In March, another floating school for Vietnamese students was also built on the Tonle Sap.

Pursat province has the largest number of overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia’s north western region, with about 1,900 families of 7,000 residents, with most of them working as fishermen.-VNA