ANTON L. DELGADO and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL - Associated Press
•8/17/2026
KAMPONG PRAHOK, Cambodia (AP) — On Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, getting anywhere has always meant navigating the water. It isn’t any different for schoolchildren.
Most mornings, a gas-powered boat chugs through Kampong Prahok floating village, steered by students often no older than those climbing aboard. They pull up alongside floating homes, as peers in crisp uniforms clamber aboard, careful to keep their backpacks dry.
The Iran war is driving up fuel prices, making it more expensive for students to get to school.
Some children are quitting school and starting to work to help their families make ends meet. Cash-strapped governments in hard-hit Asia also are struggling to fund education initiatives and school meal programs that help keep millions of children in classrooms.
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Associated Press reporter Sopheng Cheang contributed to this report.
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