Social media star Thy Sovantha, who last week was granted a licence to start a university, said on Saturday she would not be the director of the school when it opens, and that she was in the meantime focusing on distributing $1 million in scholarships and aid.

Sovantha’s request for a licence was approved last Monday, according to an education official, leading to an outcry on social media criticising the decision given that the 21-year-old had twice failed the Grade 12 exam.

At a press conference at the Sunway Hotel, she said people were confused about the issue and that she had a memorandum of understanding with a famous Singaporean university.

“I want to laugh at people who speak about this and believe it. Speaking frankly, last year, I failed my high school exam, and I do not have a certificate yet,” Sovantha said. “I have no capability to be a university director, both [in terms of] capability and legality.”

“We are cooperating with, and processing an MoU with a big university in Singapore, and we . . . have plans to open an international university in Cambodia to help poor students and provide more scholarships.”

“Regarding the scholarships for 1,000 students, it’s not my personal money, but it is from our organisation’s project that is cooperating with an international monetary fund,” she said. “The first project, we received $100,000, and after, we received $1 million.”

Sovantha would not identify the name of the Singaporean university or the international fund.