Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Challenges crippling Cambodian education
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 Diana Saw The Phnom Penh Post Three decades after the darkest years of the civil war, the educational system in Cambodia continues to be plagued by bribery, cheating, low wages and funding, and expensive schools Opinion By Diana Saw Among students from the poorest 20 percent of the population, education costs represent 79 percent of their per capita non-food expenditure, according to a 2005 study by the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and UNICEF. Though the government has steadily increased the education budget as a part of total government spending during to 12.4 percent in 2007, according to UNESCO, households, donors, and NGOs still provide much of total financing for education in Cambodia. According to the UNICEF study, there are some 113 organisations that support 223 education projects in Cambodia, at an estimated cost of US$225 million from 2003 to 2008. Efforts by the Cambodian government to improve education in the country should be recognised, but the work has been inconsistent and greeted with mixed results. So while literacy rates have increased from 62.8 percent in 1998 to 77.59 percent in 2008 (according to government census figures), there was little growth in adult literacy in the period from 2001 to 2006. And though school enrollment across all levels has also gone up, to 92 percent, completion rates are still low. DIANA SAW Cambodia’s education system is plagued by a range of detrimental factors including an absence of suitably qualified or trained staff, rampant corruption and a lack of morale among low-paid teaching staff coupled with the high cost of schooling. The starting salary for primary school teachers in the cities is US$30 per month. High school teachers are paid between $50 and $60. These low salary figures in state schools fail to attract quality educators, which has resulted in a vicious cycle of uninterested teachers and hapless students. Educators are saddled with the burden of inadequate resources and a shortage of schools and classrooms, particularly in rural areas, limiting the number of children with access to basic education. Schools often have to be content with poorly trained teachers and little government funding, resulting in insufficient teaching materials and poorly furnished school facilities. Low compensation forces teachers to collect informal school fees from students, creating a barrier to education for poor children. To supplement their income, teachers offer extra, after-school classes for a fee. Often, teachers will withhold the standard syllabi during school hours, reserving them for the private classes, to place pressure on parents to pay the extra tuition. Students who cannot afford, or who refuse to pay, risk humiliation, failing their exams, repeating their grade or dropping out of school. Although collecting fees is officially banned by the Education Ministry, the practice remains widespread. According to the Times Higher Education Supplement, Cambodian students have long admitted that examinations go hand in hand with money. It still costs around US $2,000 or $3,000 for someone to get into a school of law. Phnom Penh-based NGO Riverkids provides free education for children at risk of being trafficked. Founder Dale Edmonds describes a recent visit to a primary school that most of the children attend: “The bathrooms have been broken for a long time, and the director admitted that they had the funds to repair it, but they had kept them instead. We offered to repair the bathrooms in exchange for a discount on the unofficial daily school fees for our children, but they’d rather collect more bribes. The school is slowly falling apart, and the last time I saw the senior staff, I counted the number of gold rings on their hands.” Wealthier parents more concerned with their child’s grades see an opportunity to exploit the system, offering to pay for school repairs or building projects, or giving gifts to teachers and principals in exchange for passes or high grades. Parents and others share their complaints over the customs that have been practised for years in this country – corruption that leads to poor delivery of real education. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, has openly criticised the government over poor management and open corruption in education. Rong Chhun added that the trading of scores for cash has gone on openly since 2001, in which student scores from two semesters are added into their final examinations in the ninth and 12th grades. Because of this growing corruption, there are a considerable number of undergraduate students who clearly do not deserve a place in the universities. Debby Adams teaches English to second- and third-year-level students at Cambodian Mekong University (CMU), a private institution. “One-third of my students can barely speak English,” she says. “Another third are extremely brilliant students who would excel in any country. My challenge is how to help these top students and not leave the others behind.” It seems that often there is no incentive for students to study as hard as they should in order to pass their examinations. “There is a reluctance to fail students, as failing students mean dealing with confrontational parents who put the blame on the teacher. It also means extra remedial classes. It’s just easier to let them pass,” says Adams. Impressive statistics [see sidebar] mask a grimmer reality. Academic credentials may not be closely linked to the laurels of political and economic success. However, the culture of corruption, underachievement and worthless paper qualifications is something Cambodia cannot afford or it risks the inevitability of its neighbouring countries’ pulling further ahead of it in development. ________________ Diana Saw manages Bloom Cambodia, aiming to build a successful social enterprise making trade fair through fair wages and fair prices. Bloom Cambodia makes consumer products such as rice bags with recycled materials. From: [email protected] To: [email protected] CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: Part 8 : OPPRESSED CAMBODIAN PEOPLE LIVE IN TEARS UNDER VIETNAM OCCUPATION Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:54:23 -0700 Le PPC réaffirme sa confiance à Hun Sen dimanche 26 avril 2009 « Hun Sen est toujours le candidat du PPC au poste de Premier ministre après les prochaines législatives » a confirmé Chea Sim, lors de son discours prononcé hier devant les 564 participants au congrès annuel du comité central de ce parti. OPPRESSED CAMBODIAN PEOPLE LIVE IN TEARS UNDER VIETNAM OCCUPATION King Jayavarman VII : "He suffered from the maladies of his subjects more than from his own; for it is the public grief which makes the grief of kings, and not their own grief." Inscription referring to the hospitals. Where is King Jayavarman VII ? OPPRESSED CAMBODIAN PEOPLE LIVE IN TEARS UNDER VIETNAM OCCUPATION Vorn Yoeun died with her unborn child still in her stomach because her husband did not have money to pay what a journalist of the Koh Santepheap called the "animal-doctors" who refused to give her the surgery she needed to deliver her baby (Photo: Koh Santepheap)A Cambodian homeless man, left, sleeps under Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple sign board in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, March 26, 2009. Preah Vihear temple in a world heritage site is located near the Cambodian-Thai border, about 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) SEE THE PICTURE OF KING SIHAMONI, FORMER KING SIHANOUK, QUEEN MONIQUE SIHANOUK AND THEIR VIETNAMESE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS , HOR NAM HONG. between two Cambodian flags . THE VIETNAMESE TRICKS IN CAMBODIA OCCUPIED BY VIETNAM.THE VIETNAMESE WEARING THE LABEL "CAMBODIAN" Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information, during a press conference held on 04 January 2009. KHIEU KANHARITH , A VIETNAMESE WEARING THE LABEL"CAMBODIAN" Children sleep outdoors in Phnom Penh. A recent report says economic hard times may lead to instability. (Photo by: AFP) gas tank truck killed a kid of 15 years old. Thursday, February 05, 2009 Sok Kong's Sokimex in line for big rewards from Hun Sen regime Sok Kong(a Vietnamese ), the owner of Sokimex, a crony of Hun Sen Sokimex gas station in Cambodia (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) SOK KONG SAYS HE IS A VIETNAMESE , CAN A VIETNAMESE OWN ALL THIS IN CAMBODIA ? THE FACTS ARE : UN Passes Strong Resolution on Cambodia Human Rights Abuses Feb. 27, 1982 : UN Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva adopted a resolution condemning Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia as a violation of Cambodian human rights. The vote was 28 in favor, 8 against, and 5 abstentions. Oct. 21, 1986 The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution A/RES/41/6, by vote of 116-21 with 13 abstentions, calling for a withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Cambodia. this woman , the Deputy Prime Ministers Men Sam An(A VIETNAMESE ), Nhek Bun Chhay and Keat Chhon. Ms Chea Leang seen here on this picture ,the so called "CAMBODIAN" CO-PROSECUTOR, is a Vietnamese woman Phnom Penh (Cambodia) 20 November 2006. Co-prosecutors Robert Petit talked to Chea Leang(a Vietnamese posing as "Cambodian" co-prosecutor) during the plenary session of judges for the KR Tribunal (Photo: John Vink/Magnum) Tribunal Prosecutors Differ on Added Suspects Chea Leang(a Vietnamese )posing as "Cambodian" co-prosecutor)Tribunal judges will determine whether more suspects should be investigated. WHAT RIGHTS DO THESE VIETNAMESE INVADERS HAVE TO CONTINUE TO REMAIN IN THE COUNTRY AS MASTERS OF THE LAND? Bury Windows Live™ SkyDrive™: Get 25 GB of free online storage. Check it out. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222986/direct/01/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
