Students migrate, leaving school at the border

Before she dropped out of school in April, following her cousin to a factory in Thailand where a week of making mattresses pays $48, Dong Sreyda was ranked third in her ninth grade class in Banteay Meanchey province. Pring Morkoath, deputy director of the Ministry of Education’s secondary education department, said the problem stretches along the border, where Thai business owners are locating their companies in order to attract Cambodian workers. “In Thailand, they say they need much manpower, especially from Cambodia or Myanmar or other areas,” he said, adding that migrating to Thailand “is easy compared to other countries.”

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