Cambodia’s Annual School Holiday Period Means Crowded Classes at Champey Academy of Arts

August and September are the annual school holiday months in Cambodia and every year during that period our class ranks at Champey swell because our students have more time to work on their arts training.

Some of our kids attend both the morning and afternoon sessions during this holiday period and a few even study in more than one area so, for example, studying drawing and painting in the morning and dance or music in the afternoon.

This year during the school holidays our student numbers jumped from the usual 70 to 80 students per day to usually 90 to 100 students which often strained the capacity of our teaching spaces and our instructors. Latecomers to the drawing class, for example, often found no table space at which to do their work and the music students routinely had to double up, sharing one instrument between two students. This did not, of course, make for the most effective teaching but we were happy to welcome so many kids to our classes every day.

Below are recent photos of the children during classes at the Champey Academy of Arts.