Cambodia Aims to Make the ASEAN Grade
Text and Photos and by Moeun Nhean

PHNOM PENH – Cambodia aims to build its human capacity in national education in order to integrate well into the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) community, which is meant to be formed by 2015. Indeed, many public and private schools have been set up in this South-east Asian country over the last decade. But Cambodia needs more time - and the ability to give much more educational opportunities ¬– in order to meet its goal for its younger generation.

According to a 2010-2011 report by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Cambodia has 3.19 million students (including 1.52 million female students) in its 10,455 schools. These institutions include pre-school facilities, primary school, college (high school) and secondary schools.

In addition, there are 316 professional and vocational schools and universities, both public and private, with 179,639 students, including 80,606 female students.

Some 25 percent of Cambodia’s 13.4 million people are students, according to the 2008 national census.

“Since 2011, we aim to increase understanding about and to integrate with ASEAN by 2015,” said Phon Phan, director of Prey Nhea High School and Secondary High School of Kampong Cham province, about 70 kilometres north-east of the capital Phnom Penh. “We only have very little - less than one hour per week - programme time for studying about ASEAN according to the education programme designed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.”

The Cambodian schoolyear runs from Oct. 1 to the beginning of July, with about 32 to 33 hours of class time per week. At the secondary school level there are 11 major subjects, including about ASEAN. “Both students and teachers are interested in the new lessons of ASEAN and especially the neighboring countries,” Phon Phan added.

There are other everyday challenges to education in a developing country like Cambodia. Many Cambodian youngsters live in the countryside, which means that they are not only busy with their school lessons but with doing farm work to help their families.

It is common for these students to come to school for only half a day, and they do not have enough money to pay for extra private lessons. Many of them also work as farm labourers, cow or buffalo boys or fishermen, among others.

Vanna Rin, director of Pring Chrum Primary and High School in Kampong Cham province, about 100 km north-east of Phnom Penh, said: “Only around 15 percent of students in our school come to school regularly according the programme. For the rest, they are frequently absent from school because they go to work with their parents to help the family get more income.”

“In the past few years, there have been less female students because the parents don’t have enough money to pay for their daughters go to school,” he added. “Families choose to support the boys first.” However, Vanna said, the number of female students has increased with more scholarships for them provided by non-government groups such as Room to Read.

Cambodia’s efforts to catch up on education are also occurring against the backdrop of three decades of civil war, including the Khmer Rouge years. The 1975-1979 genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge left Cambodia’s educational infrastructure devastated. Teaching materials such as textbooks were destroyed, as were most school buildings. All universities and publishing houses were closed. Teachers, researchers as well as technicians were either killed, fled the country or were taken to the countryside to endure forced labour.

Much rebuilding has occurred in the decades, but there remains much still to be done.