The Ministry of Public Function has begun conducting a census of teachers in Cambodia ahead of a planned salary increase, officials said yesterday.

Minister Pich Bunthin said the census aims to determine the distribution of teachers nationwide.

“We don’t want to see that some schools have too many teachers and some schools don’t have enough,” he said.

Bunthin added that the ministry had started the census as part of efforts to prepare for a planned salary bump for civil servants, which will see teachers earning a monthly minimum wage of 1 million riel (about $250) by 2018.

Ministry undersecretary Chouk Mony said that with 110,000 teachers throughout the Kingdom, the census was necessary to establish parts of the country where more teachers were needed.

He said it had so far found a lack of staff in rural areas.

Ouk Chhayavy, acting director of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, welcomed the census, which she said she hoped would also identify “ghost workers” who claim a wage but don’t show up to work.