I would like to add to what explorer has posted.
This is based on personal knowledge and experience of university students I know.

Pharmacy female student at Royal University in Phnom Penh but family in Siem Reap. Tuition costs USD$$1,500 per year and accommodation for a room in Phnom Penh US$100 per month PLUS utilities such as electricity and water and LPG for cooking. Food and transport on top of this.

Law female Student at RULE - Royal University (Phnom Penh) of Law and Economics and from a province bordering Thailand, Bantey Meanchey. A room in Phnom Penh shared with others $70 per moth plus water and electricity. Cooking on charcoal which not recommended due to causing many Upper respiratory problems. Food and transport on top of this. Tuition US$1,500 per year. And this in Toul Kork so a long way from RULE.

The many medical students I knew have all graduated and are in practice so their data is no longer valid.

OML

explorer wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:10 pm I have heard, students wanting to be teachers, may be rejected in Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham, but be accepted in Kampong Thom.

I have had no direct involvement with these places. There may be others who know more.

I hope I have been given the correct information.

For those thinking of sending students to one of the free universities, it may be false economy. A student may need at least $100 per month for food and living expenses. That is $3 per day, and the absolute minimum to survive. If they study in Phnom Penh, it is easier to get work, and they can earn most of the money then need for living expenses. So studying in Phnom Penh may cost family or sponsors similar or less. It depends a lot on where they study, and where they live.

It would be a good idea to also look at Siem Reap and Kampong Cham. University fees and renting a room is less in Kampong Cham. There are some jobs for students, but not as many as PP.

Students also need to be given freedom of choice. It is really up to where they want to study.

They are also more likely to get work near where they study. So they should think where they would like to live when they have finished their studies.

That's because there's a fairly competitive entrance exam to become a teacher. The higher your score, the higher your chances. There is also of course a lot more competition to get into the teaching system in Phnom Penh. You can typically only apply once per year, so say you apply to PP and get rejected, then the next year many will be disheartened and apply to Stung Treng or whatever. Either way, there are usually more openings back in the provinces and fewer applications, so it's easier to get a job there. It's a bit tricky as you need to figure out where your chances will be highest (depends on the year, score etc).

It's worth noting that the provincial "universities" aren't really universities at all in the proper sense (or what we would call universities). The vast majority of universities in the capital are nothing more than diploma mills, so it's unsurprising that there's a real lack of tertiary education options in the provinces. I mean, even primary and secondary schools are pretty appalling out there, so only a few bigger cities have anything resembling a "university" (Battambang and Siem Reap come to mind). They do ave some Polytechnics around though, but your only real choice is to come to Phnom Penh if you want to go to university.

Students I know in Phnom Penh are often paying $70 per month for rent, plus water and electricity. They often have 2 or 3 or 4 sharing the room, so they only pay their share of that. Working part time, they often earn $150 per month or more. One student works on a casual basis, but often gets over $200 per month. They can live with just the necessities for $150 per month. $200 a month is more comfortable. I am waiting for the latest tuition figures, but studying business or accounting at The National university of management was $600 last year.

In Kampong Cham, tuition at one university was $300 per year. Some students share rooms which are $35 per month, plus water and electricity. Others pay more for better rooms. Many students also work part time. There is less work available, so some students may find it more difficult to find work.

There may be some people who would like to help students, but cannot afford that much money. At one English school, students pay $5 per month. Most people could afford $5 per month to help a student learn English. At some English schools, they pay per day.

I would have been under the impression that the majority of university students came from that of a wealthy or middle class family background.

khmerhamster wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 1:58 pm
However, very rarely do you get the really poor attending university as they will have dropped out of school long prior to grade 12. I'm often sceptical about university scholarship donors bragging about how poor their sponsored student is/was.

Also, the poorer students in their first year normally have improved their lives significantly by 4th year.

So true, most poor areas don’t even have a highschool near by. For instance in the whole province of Ratanakiri were only 2 highschools outside of Ban Lung in 2018.

That’s why in that province the focus is on scholarships for enrollment in grade 10-12.

Yeah I think it's a bit of a myth that university students are from the middle and upper classes. Cambodians are very resourceful and good at pooling money together. A LOT of scholarships around, and many from the lower classes are able to attend university. Just about everyone knows someone in the city as well, so they end up living with auntie/cousin or whatever while attending school. It's also common for them to sponsor their younger siblings later on.

The issue with high schools is the same the world over though. It's easy to say "build more schools", but in sparsely populated rural areas it never makes much sense. Easier for the students to travel, and they all know that.

So it's actually fairly easy to go to university, probably too easy, but I suppose it's the first step before improving the quality of the institutions themselves. The poorest of the poor obviously have fewer chances (if we disregard scholarships), but tuition isn't crazy high at many of the lower tier schools, so it's generally possible for families to slowly pull themselves out of poverty.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:34 am I would have been under the impression that the majority of university students came from that of a wealthy or middle class family background.

There are a lot of university students from poor families. They work and study.

explorer wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 4:35 pm

AndyKK wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:34 am I would have been under the impression that the majority of university students came from that of a wealthy or middle class family background.

There are a lot of university students from poor families. They work and study.

From my personal experiences with BBU in Ratanakiri I have to say the statement is wrong. it's all middle and upper class. My guess is less than 10% come from poor families, with poor families making up the majority of the population.

There's two major hurdles:

- A grade 12 certificate is required
- Tuition fees are about 600$ a year for the bachelor course, learning materials not included.

On the other hand, they offer part time programs (weekend classes only) so students can work during the weekdays.

But most kids from poor families simply don't make it to grade 12. My guess is a large part won't even make it to (lower) high school.

A lot of students who live further from towns and schools leave school at a younger age. A lot of those who live in or near towns and schools stay in school longer.

Money does come into it.

Whether students stay in school or not, also has a lot to do with the parents attitude. Some parents want children to leave school as soon as they can work. Others encourage them to stay in school as long as they can.

There is a girl from a very poor family who was sponsored by an NGO to go to high school in PP. The NGO paid all the expenses. Her father died. So she left school, so she could go back to the village and be with her mother. The benefits of staying in school would have outweighed being with her mother for that time. But many Cambodians don't think about the long term consequences. They just think about today.

Some parents do the best for their children, even if it is difficult. One mother works doing construction, and has to spend a lot of time away from home. She is doing what is best for her daughter, who is still in school. Some other mothers would have told the daughter to leave school and get a job, so the mother could take it easy. It is good to see people doing what is best, even if it is difficult.

It is also amazing the number of students who leave school and don't do anything else. They just stay home. Those students should still be in school.