Education and training
Primary and secondary education
Japan gives more grants for schools
The Japanese government Friday granted nearly $20,000 to repair and upgrade fascilities at schools in two provinces. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18903/japan-gives-more-grants-for-schools/
NGOs point to mounting dropout problem
NGOs on Saturday aired their concerns about the possibility of a high school dropout rate, particularly in rural areas. The organizations said that government policies, lack of school facilities and unfavorable school environments are all factors leading young people to drop out. ...
Srey Kumneth and Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18904/ngos-point-to-mounting-dropout-problem/
Schools to learn disaster risk reduction
The Education Ministry will include an internationally agreed disaster risk reduction component in school curriculums from next year as part of a growing global move to teach students and communities how to deal with events such as flooding and major storms. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18489/schools-to-learn-disaster-risk-reduction/
Sports, fitness curriculum planned for junior high
The government this week agreed to partner with an NGO to create a new national physical education curriculum for junior high schools, the education minister said on Friday. ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sports-fitness-curriculum-planned-for-junior-high-98923/
Grade 5 testing aims to cut learning gaps
Cambodia will join three other regional countries in carrying out standardized testing for grade five students as part of a pilot program that aims to improve primary school education in Asean, officials said this week. ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/grade-5-testing-aims-to-cut-learning-gaps-98543/
Teachers push for higher wages, rural schools with books
Teachers are demanding that their salaries be raised to 1.5 million riel (about $270) per month next year, and are warning the government that if this does not happen, they will continue protesting “like a headache that will not go away.” ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16536/teachers-push-for-higher-wages--rural-schools-with-books/
Big ambitions for model school program in Cambodia
On a leafy campus near Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, a group of 50 schoolchildren are benefiting from a bold educational experiment with a dual aim: to turn out youngsters who can improve the country, and to develop a model program that can be replicated internationally. ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/big-ambitions-for-model-school-program-in-cambodia/2991893.html
Project aims to make Phnom Penh school ‘center of excellence’
The Ministry of Education has given a local education NGO $370,000 and one year to implement a pilot project aimed at replacing a long list of informal payments required of students at a Phnom Penh high school with a merit-based payment system that rewards high-performing ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/project-aims-to-make-phnom-penh-school-center-of-excellence-96350/
PM Inaugurates a new international school in Phnom Penh
Prime Minister Hun Sen presided over here on Saturday the inauguration ceremony of the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP), an international school in Cambodia, according to the State News Agency-AKP. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/pm-inaugurates-a-new-international-school-in-phnom-penh-8972
Students head to ministry to appeal national exam scores
After the national high school exam results were released over the weekend—with about 56 percent of students passing—a number of those who did not make the grade headed to the Ministry of Education on Monday to submit official letters of complaint. ...
Mech Dara and Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/students-head-to-ministry-to-appeal-national-exam-scores-94215/
New national exams made easier this year, critics say
The Ministry of Education is prepared to release the results of the two-day national exam this weekend, ahead of schedule, but critics say the exam has been made easier than in the past in an effort to move more students along to higher education. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/new-national-exams-made-easier-this-year-critics-say/2960014.html
Education minister predicts an improvement in exam results
After thousands of teachers completed grading the grade 12 national exam on Wednesday, the education minister on Thursday predicted improved results compared to last year, when less than 25 percent of students passed the first round of the test. ...
Janelle Retka and Aun Chhengpor
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/education-minister-predicts-an-improvement-in-exam-results-93393/
Exam scores up this year, graders say
Interviews with dozens of the more than 10,000 teachers who gathered in Phnom Penh this week to grade exams taken by more than 85,000 Grade 12 students last month indicate that the results this year might not be as dismal as last year – when ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15215//
Names removed as teachers set to grade exams
Teachers gathered at nine Phnom Penh high schools Friday to anonymize grade 12 national exam papers, replacing the section where candidates’ personal details were listed with a secret identification code prior to grading. ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/names-removed-as-teachers-set-to-grade-exams-92895/
In 2nd year of stricter exam, only one report of cheating
There was one recorded case of cheating during this year’s grade 12 exam—held on Monday and Tuesday—down from about 20 last year, when the Education Ministry implemented sweeping reforms to stamp out bribes and cheats from the exam process, according to the education minister. ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-2nd-year-of-stricter-exam-only-one-report-of-cheating-92792/
Grade 12 exam asks students to explain the ‘culture of dialogue’
In the country’s current political climate, the term “culture of dialogue” is inescapable, whether because it is being used to resolve the issues of the day or allegedly being violated by the ruling or opposition party. ...
Janelle Retka and Aun Chhengpor
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/grade-12-exam-asks-students-to-explain-the-culture-of-dialogue-92667/
Private universities fear new vocational schools
Private universities in the Kingdom will have more competition as the Education Ministry laid out plans yesterday to open more vocational schools to deal with the unprecedented number of graduating high school students. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14998/private-universities-fear-new-vocational-schools/
Repeat test takers learn to manage expectations
Nam Meng Ang, 18, had little confidence in his ability to pass the grade 12 national exam this year—which determines which students get to enter university—having failed last year’s test, and the retake offered several weeks later. ...
Aun Chhengpor and Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/repeat-test-takers-learn-to-manage-expectations-92536/
State of the art high school to serve former scavengers
The Education Ministry on Tuesday oversaw the groundbreaking of a $4 million high school that will be built on land that was once the municipal dump in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district. ...
Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/state-of-the-art-high-school-to-serve-former-scavengers-92538/
Prayers, blessings replace cheat sheets
Prayers, blessings and visits to shrines have replaced cheat notes in this year’s Grade 12 exam. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14825/prayers--blessings-replace-cheat-sheets/
Students fear and welcome national exam
Students across Cambodia are preparing for this year’s national high school exam, which will take place Monday. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14691/students-fear-and-welcome-national-exam/
National exam monitors to double this year
More than 5,600 people have volunteered to monitor the national high school examination next week, an Anti-Corruption Unit official said Wednesday, more than double the number of observers who supervised the test last year. ...
Huot Chanpav
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-exam-monitors-to-double-this-year-92117/
Ahead of ‘clean’ exams, bookshops see fall in business
The owners of bookshops near the Bak Touk High School would usually be doing a roaring trade at this time of year. The grade 12 examinations each August have long been an annual boom time for the shops where students copied cheat sheets for the ...
Leng Sreynich
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/ahead-of-clean-exams-bookshops-see-fall-in-business/2924131.html
As exam nears, bribes replaced with tutoring fees
Beginning with last year’s Grade 12 national exam, the Education Ministry put a stop to the time-honored tradition of teachers taking bribes to allow students to cheat on the test, drastically reducing the passing rate among students and the profit-making potential for proctors. ...
Janelle Retka and Huot Chanpav
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-exam-nears-teachers-replace-bribes-with-tutoring-fees-92015/