Overview

What does Seametrey stand for? Se-rey pheap (Freedom as opposed to fear) A-rey thos (Civilisation as opposed to barbarism) Metrey-pheap (Love as opposed to selfishness and hatred) Seametrey Children’s Village offers a fully integrated bilingual nursery and primary education. We are located by the beautiful lakeside of Tonle Bati. The aim of the school is to make quality education accessible to all Khmer children. Seametrey Children’s Village hosts eight primary classes offering lessons in both Khmer and English as well as an excellent array of extra curricular activities. Seametrey also boasts an excellent bilingual nursery from children as young as 13months. Seametrey Children’s Village is an NGO school with a social integration as a core policy. It delivers free, quality education to those left behind by the expensive mainstream education system while more able parents contribute a nominal fee to the school. Seametrey is striving to achieve a school site that is environmentally friendly, self sufficient, as much as possible fuelled through green energy as it aims to be fully self sustainable. As you will see our entire philosophy is centred around Khmer tradition harmoniously blending with international influence and modernity. We are proud to be a Khmer school with local Khmer teachers who work alongside the many volunteers from around the world. Fundamentally our school is a Montessori school. We enable and empower our children to drive and take charge of their own learning. This approach challenges old cultural beliefs and enables our children to aspire for a more prosperous life, it instills within our children ambition, confidence and self-belief. Our staff and numerous volunteers, without whom our work would not be possible, help to deliver the national Cambodian syllabus following the Montessori pedagogy, with a unique international perspective. At Seametrey we also teach our students the importance of human dignity, respect, rights and freedoms. We wish to nurture tomorrow’s best minds, but also human beings that respect all, show kindness and love, champion human dignity and value education as a vehicle for prosperity.

Background

Muoy You, Director and Founder of Seametrey Children’s Village Born, raised and educated in Cambodia, I left for postgraduate studies in France with a scholarship from the French Government in 1972. When the Khmer Rouge came to power on 17th April 1995 and sealed the country, newly married, I and my husband started our life in exile, leaving France to go and work in Sudan, the Ivory Coast and Qatar, raising four children and waiting for an opportunity to go back home. In 1997, I came to Cambodia to open a bilingual primary school. The political events in July of that year made the project fall through. For the sake of my children I had to leave Cambodia again. I decided to quit teaching teenagers and university students to acquire valuable experience in primary and nursery schools. Working with very young children has convinced me that early education is crucial in shaping and changing society. Working in a Montessori school in London made me fall in love with the approach which is so similar to my own ideas and aspiration. I realised I was a Montessorian without knowing it. I realised also our traditional way of raising babies respecting their natural patterns and needs was essentially Montessorian. I decided to take up the course and trained at Montessori International London.