Since 2002, Sala Baï has trained around 150 young Cambodians each year from very modest families, often living on less than $1,000 per year. Created by the NGO Agir pour le Cambodge, the school was born from a simple idea: to offer young people without prospects free and concrete professional training in the hotel industry.
In Siem Reap, these students aged 17 to 23 learn careers in cooking, service, reception, housekeeping or spa for a year. For many, it is their first real learning environment. And upon their arrival, everything is taken care of: accommodation, meals, uniforms, health care and even a bicycle to get to their internship.
The school welcomes mainly young women — 70% of students — in order to respond to inequalities in access to education which remain significant. At the end of the training, graduates obtain official certifications recognized in Cambodia and ASEAN.
A study that follows graduates five years later
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In November 2025, a study carried out by Rapid Universal looked at 205 former students trained more than five years ago, in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. The objective: to measure the evolution of their professional life and their living conditions, long after leaving school.
The authors of the study sum it up simply: “the effects of the training are lasting, visible, and continue to be felt years after the end of the program” .
A job found… and kept
The first lesson is clear: 97% of those surveyed have a job today. The vast majority work in qualified or semi-skilled positions, far from the precariousness they knew before arriving at school.
The average income is now $950 per month, including benefits — a major change for these young people and their families. “Training opens doors, but above all it provides the means to progress afterwards”underlines the report.
A lasting link with the hotel industry
Five years after leaving school, 78% of graduates are still working in the hotel sector. For many, it is not just a job, but a journey that has been built over the years: increasing skills, increasing responsibilities, sometimes even a first supervisory or management role.
Direct support for families
The study also reminds us that the impact does not stop with the graduate alone. 78% of alumni contribute financially to support their family. For households previously living below the poverty line, this stable income is often a turning point.
“The changes observed affect several generations”notes the study.
The gender gap persists
The survey, however, highlights a point of vigilance: women graduates earn on average 22% less than men. The gap appears over the course of one’s career, a sign that women are less likely to access management positions. An inequality which goes beyond the scope of Sala Baï, but which the school could help to reduce through reinforced support.
What avenues can we go further?
The study recommends continuing to strengthen support for graduates, particularly in career development, to enable them to more easily access positions of responsibility. The opening of international internships, the consolidation of language skills and the increased involvement of former students in mentoring new classes are all avenues that could broaden their horizons. The challenge for the coming years will also be to better support young women in their professional progression, in order to reduce the gaps that appear over time.
Twenty years after its creation, Sala Baï continues to have a direct influence on the lives of hundreds of young people each year.
The study confirms what many are already observing in the field: solid training leads to a quick first job, then progression which lastingly transforms individual and family trajectories. In a Cambodia booming in tourism, school remains one of the places where social mobility for the most vulnerable is concretely built.
To find out more: the Salabaï website
