Launched in 1992 under a joint Cambodian/French initiative and partly financed by the EU since 1998 under the "REPLIC" programme, Chantiers-Ecoles vocational centre trains 650 apprentices a year including 160 in fine arts & crafts. The site is open to the public wanting to be guided through the different workshops and watch the artisans at work. The visit is free of charge. The apprentices, aged 18 to 25, come from the Siem Reap area and are selected based on their precarious situation and lack of schooling. They follow a 6 months training course in the subject they have chosen: stone sculpture, woodcarving, polychrome (the art of wood lacquering and stone patina), or silk weaving. On completion of the training they spend another 6 months in a production unit on-site to learn to perfect their art. At the end of that year they are set up in groups of 12 to 15 as one of the 35 Artisans d' Angkor rural workshops created in villages in Siem Reap province and continue to produce from there. The pieces are then sold to the best hotels and boutiques in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Chantiers Ecoles are located behind the Psa Chas and are open Mon.-Sun. 7:30am to 5:30pm. A shop Les Artisans d' Angkor has opened opposite Angkor Wat.
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