Reforming Cambodia's education system

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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

November 28, 2022
Cambodia’s education needs reform, says educationist
Instead of bringing changes to a specific level or area one at a time, the education sector needs a wide range of reforms from all angles and stakeholders, including parents, to produce dependable human resources for the development of the nation.

During Khmer Times’ live Cross Talk session on Friday, Dr Quach Mengly, the founder and chairman of MJQ Education, the corporation behind the American Intercon School and Aii Language Centre, said that given its status quo today, the Kingdom’s education is not equipped with enough capacity to build adequate quality human capitals that fit in with the nation’s rapid development.

“We can see that many students who graduated from the university today cannot find jobs and even have to force themselves to work low-paying jobs to make ends meet,” he said. “Overall, we can also notice that many of them who have entered the labour market do not possess the skill which is demanded by the modern enterprises.”

Mengly said he is not blaming the Ministry of Education for the little improvement in the field as he recognised that the war and the genocidal Khmer Rouge had razed Cambodia’s education to the ground, and the sector revived back from zero in 1979.

“But, we cannot keep comparing it to the past, as our nation is developing rapidly today,” he added. “We have to look at what can be improved at the present and keep preparing for the future.”

He gave one example of how the country’s education system treats its high school seniors who every year have to bear the pressure of taking the National High School Diploma exam, also known as Bac II.

Since the education reform introduced by Minister Hang Chuon Naron in 2014, a high percentage of students sitting the exam have failed to receive their high school diploma, which would enable them to pursue a university degree.

“The exam, which has been made into a single standard to evaluate the knowledge of our students, brings out and gives pride to a handful of top students who received the top grade but at the same time makes us ignore those who fail it and who have been labeled as failures,” Mengly said. “For a time, we forget the fact that a nation along with its economy cannot survive by depending on a handful of outstanding people but an entire generation.”

Mengly claimed that such importance has turned the Bac II exam into a big source of mental strain on the students who already suffered from low-quality learning at public schools.

“Students are not always failing the exam because they are lazy,” he added. “They are suffering from the big education gap as well as the lack of qualification and professionalism of their teachers.”

He said except for schools in the cities and provincial municipalities, schools are suffering from crumbling infrastructure and shortages of other resources while many government-hired teachers are spending too much time on private tutoring to earn extra income and thus allocating less time, energy and attention to teaching in the classroom.

“Poor students whose families cannot afford private tutoring are most likely to fail the exam or receive poor grades and will later be labeled as a failure by society,” he said. “Because of this, their opportunities are cut short and they can never get out of the poverty cycle.
Full article: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501192064/ ... cationist/
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pootylicious
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

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Cambo Dear wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:13 pm ... but now kids have to pay to attend extra classes where key parts of the syllabus are taught - probanly the same outcome as when you could pay for the answer key.

Teachers salaries so low, they can't make ends meet without asking kids for extra money.

A post-compulsory education system that is only focused on academic subjects, meaning you have a whole generation of young adults with finance degrees ina country with very little demand for them.

The hierarchical structure of society, where age and status trump all so even if you know your teacher is wrong, you cannot question them or even attempt a discussion around what they have said.

A rote learning system which stymies critical thinking.

No national library or archives to draw upon for research. Not even a reading culture among most of the population.

The list is endless - a good start would be more money in education; decent salaries for teachers; zero tolerance policy on corruption and some form of diagnosis for special needs.
what should kids be studying other than things like finance?

hmm i think that most of those can be fixed. 'special needs' dont those people normally work as farmhands?
i got a few ideas id wager could make schooling here a lot cheaper.

how much is a decent salary? ... for a teacher? a coworker told me that if someone is making $400 a month, thats a decent wage. but then again he lives w his mom n granma.
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by Cambo Dear »

pootylicious wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 9:16 pm
Cambo Dear wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:13 pm ... but now kids have to pay to attend extra classes where key parts of the syllabus are taught - probanly the same outcome as when you could pay for the answer key.

Teachers salaries so low, they can't make ends meet without asking kids for extra money.

A post-compulsory education system that is only focused on academic subjects, meaning you have a whole generation of young adults with finance degrees ina country with very little demand for them.

The hierarchical structure of society, where age and status trump all so even if you know your teacher is wrong, you cannot question them or even attempt a discussion around what they have said.

A rote learning system which stymies critical thinking.

No national library or archives to draw upon for research. Not even a reading culture among most of the population.

The list is endless - a good start would be more money in education; decent salaries for teachers; zero tolerance policy on corruption and some form of diagnosis for special needs.
what should kids be studying other than things like finance?

hmm i think that most of those can be fixed. 'special needs' dont those people normally work as farmhands?
i got a few ideas id wager could make schooling here a lot cheaper.

how much is a decent salary? ... for a teacher? a coworker told me that if someone is making $400 a month, thats a decent wage. but then again he lives w his mom n granma.
I'm not sure if you're being funny, but if you are, I don't get it.

If you're not being funny then you don't get it.

One of us definitely doesn't get it and I'm not sure who?
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

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It ain't a joke, I'm in a position to help but I'd have to know, what are the real problems. I've only been here over a half year , don't have any kids or family in public schools here who could tell me what they've seen in the country's educational system.

From what I've seen most of the education needs to be re oriented for Cambodians to work in factories and construction for overseas companies in China, Korea Japan etc. So foreign languages, trades, 'hands on' learning
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

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pootylicious wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:26 pm From what I've seen most of the education needs to be re oriented for Cambodians to work in factories and construction for overseas companies in China, Korea Japan etc. So foreign languages, trades, 'hands on' learning
That's already the case. Unless they invest in higher education, STEM etc the country will get stuck in what is known as a "development trap".
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

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John Bingham wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:34 pm
pootylicious wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:26 pm From what I've seen most of the education needs to be re oriented for Cambodians to work in factories and construction for overseas companies in China, Korea Japan etc. So foreign languages, trades, 'hands on' learning
That's already the case. Unless they invest in higher education, STEM etc the country will get stuck in what is known as a "development trap".
average IQ right now might be too low for STEM, by the looks of things. But I'll try.
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by John Bingham »

Well that statement just shows how unsuited you are to the whole topic.
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by orichá »

pootylicious wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:38 pm
John Bingham wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:34 pm
pootylicious wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:26 pm From what I've seen most of the education needs to be re oriented for Cambodians to work in factories and construction for overseas companies in China, Korea Japan etc. So foreign languages, trades, 'hands on' learning
That's already the case. Unless they invest in higher education, STEM etc the country will get stuck in what is known as a "development trap".
average IQ right now might be too low for STEM, by the looks of things. But I'll try.
Pooty, there is no such a thing as IQ... that is an outdated weapon of colonialism...

Intelligence can be increased in anyone, so long as they have good nutrition and early exposure to educational opportunities. A more conducive home environment along with promotion of positive attitudes among people that education can make lives better is necessary... The government of Cambodia has neglected education for many years, spending much less than half the money per student than in Vietnam and Thailand.

Your attitude is typical of the colonizer who only wants to exploit cheap labor to export goods and nothing else. That crap all got started with the French, who pig-headedly denied building any schools for the locals in Cambodia and Vietnam. They built a school for their own kids, of course, a hundred years before they lifted a finger for their subject peoples...

The Chinese, and most foreign investors, including Americans, likewise, don't give a shit about education, only cheap labor...
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by IraHayes »

I have set the link to start at the point he discusses the reasons people don't like IQ tests.. and why the US military have poured more money than anyone into the research into IQ.
And after all that research they only admit people with an IQ > 83.
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Re: Reforming Cambodia's education system

Post by techietraveller84 »

As far as I understand it, IQ is not what you know, but your ability to learn. Just because people don't have the access to STEM, doesn't mean they can't learn it. It is more difficult if you don't have the foundation, but if you give them the opportunity, I think you will find they are quite capable.
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