Ponheary Ly Foundation

Supporting students, changing communities

I’mACE Team

The Ponheary Ly Foundation (PLF) operates in five public primary schools in northwest Cambodia and supports students throughout their studies at university or into vocational training. ACE is a proud sponsor of PLF students to study English at ACE Siem Reap campus, and the I’mACE team took the opportunity to ask PLF a few questions.

What Does PLF Do?

Our mission is to promote access to quality education for children and young people because we know that access to schooling is fundamental to building Cambodia’s civil society.  The vast majority of our work is in remote areas of Siem Reap and Preah Vihear where schooling is limited or difficult to access. In these communities, we have established a holistic set of initiatives that address not only the educational needs of children but also a variety of obstacles that keep children from attending school regularly and/or meeting success once there. 

Why is English Important?

English education is critical for the future of our students. Whether they pursue vocational training or university, English provides our students with a leg up for success. In fact, our university students consistently report back that their knowledge of English is the key to thriving in the classroom. PLF provides extracurricular English classes starting in Grade 5 and continuing through university. Recently, thanks to ACE’s support, we’ve begun providing ACE scholarships to our high school students in Siem Reap as well as our university students in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Do PLF Students Enjoy Studying at ACE?

Our students are already loving their classes at ACE, reporting that not only do the teachers explain clearly and pay attention to student understanding but also focus on the ability of students to immediately practice and apply what they are learning. Says one participant, "ACE is great! My teacher is friendly and cares about the students!"

What Does the Future Hold for PLF Students?

Most of PLF’s 2,800 students have parents who never went to school or, if they did, not long enough to become fully literate or develop a wide range of life skills. Our work is to break the generational cycle of poverty and create opportunities for many rural children. These students will step out of college into a middle-class income, lifting their families out of poverty in one generation. Their own children will not struggle in the same way they did.

Our work is changing families and thereby changing communities. Those communities will change Cambodia’s future and ACE is now a key partner in that work.

For more information about the work of PLF, visit their website at theplf.org or Facebook page. To find out about ACE’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, go to the ACE website.