As many as 220 students of the Khmer-Vietnam friendship primary school in Cambodia on December 11 attended a ceremony to start their new academic year.

The school, located in Prek Sai Kho commune in Prey Veng province, about 100 kilometres east of Phnom Penh, was built in August last year at a cost of 185,000 USD. Of which, 145,000 USD was sponsored by Vietnam ’s Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.

Speaking at the ceremony, headmaster of the school Nguyen Van Hao said the students, accounting for 70 percent of Vietnamese children in the locality, are grouped in seven classes, including five Vietnamese and two Khmer. All the students enjoy free education and uniform

He blamed the late start of the new academic year for the impacts of the recent devastating floods.

Since the school was put in operation in 2012, it has received attention from the local government and the Vietnamese community in Cambodia, as well as the Vietnamese Embassy and the Dong Thap People’s Committee, he said.

However, he also pointed out that the school is facing numerous difficulties such as poor infrastructure and teachers’ low income.-VNA