Mr. Loy was born in a poor family. His parents, farmers, have five children. He is a middle son and only son in the family. He aspires to be a teacher. His inspiration came from the time when he was young. He particularly wants to be a science teacher because he thinks that it is needed in Cambodia. He was aware that poor students do not have access to good resources in science in Cambodia. Thus, he wants his students to have access to quality science resources, particularly the students who are slow-learners and come from a poor family.

Mr. Loy has been a teacher for almost 20 years. He does it with his heart because he believes that “Do good, Get good”. He likes to study, so he continues his study for a Master Degree. He spent his weekends going to Phnom Penh, 8 hours driving back and forth, to study for a Master Degree at Royal University of Phnom Penh. He just recently graduated in March 2019.

Mr. Loy believes that having good education brings opportunities. He wants to give opportunities to his students, particularly the poor ones. He wants to give them a chance to have a better quality life. He works very hard preparing for every class, starting from paying attention to the students’ information such as their names, their characters, their learning styles and their family background. Having come from a poor family, he realizes that motivation is one of key success factors to make the students learn. Many of his students are poor and do not have motivation to study, particularly in science. Thus, he creates good learning environment in his class by decorating the classroom to be clean, green, nice and equipped with materials for students in order to make them feel comfortable and enjoy studying.

He said that he has to win the heart of the students first before he teaches. His teaching strategy is to make the lesson relevant to the students’ daily life and establish the confidence in learning among the students. For example, he tells the students the importance of science and to view science as part of living, “Science for Life”. In classroom, he will use simple exercises at the beginning to make students gain confidence in learning and then progress to more difficult ones later. He believes that through practice, students will gain more knowledge. He also pairs good students with slow-learner so they can learn from each other. He uses group discussion in his lesson which gives the students incentive to learn. Mr. Loy also develops his own teaching resources for learning physics and science, using low cost materials, so that the students can experiment and understand difficult science concepts.

For many years, Mr. Loy has spent his time after school tutoring fifty students for free of charge in order to help them with their studies. As a result, these students pass the entrance examination and be able to get into good universities both in Cambodia and abroad.

Parents of his students trust Mr. Loy. They understand that Mr. Roy will help their children learn and pass the exam. Thus, they allow their children to study extra hours with Mr. Loy. As a result, Mr. Loy has good relationship with the community. They trust that he will help their children wholeheartedly.

Mr. Loy said that there are four factors that contribute to the students’ success. First is their family. It is the best factor which supports the students with care. Second is the school. He believes that the school is a good place for not only the students can have knowledge, moral and skills but also it is a place where they can discipline themselves and get rid of their bad habits. Third is the community. It is a place where examples are set for the students to follow. And Fourth, is the students themselves as they are the ones who choose their own destiny.

Mr. Loy is currently teaching 12 Grade Level students at the Hun Sen Roleapha Ear High School, Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia. He is married and have 3 children (two girls and one boy) at the age of 15, 13 and 10.