Social development
Education and training
Maritime school official questions abuse claims by seamen
Two days after four men were repatriated to Cambodia following their escape from a cargo ship docked in the Philippines, an official at the maritime school where the group studied questioned the veracity of the reports of mistreatment. ...
Ouch Sony and Anthony Jensen
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/maritime-school-official-questions-abuse-claims-by-seamen-93165/
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//
Ministry defends pro-CPP speech at university
The Education Ministry on Monday defended a pro-CPP speech delivered to some 1,500 students at a university in Phnom Penh on Sunday, reasoning that the school did not breach the ministry’s new directive against political activity at academic institutions because classes had finished for the ...
Aun Chhengpor
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-defends-pro-cpp-speech-at-university-93048/
Pregnant test-taker may get 2nd shot
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is spearheading calls for a pregnant woman rushed out of this year’s national exam after going into labour to be allowed to re-sit the test amid strict reforms, which include no second chances for those who “fail”.Twenty-five-year-old Pich Sam Ath ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pregnant-test-taker-may-get-2nd-shot
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/
Fine arts university relocation sparks concerns
A plan to move Cambodia’s oldest fine arts college is sparking concern among teachers, students and artists. Established in 1918, the university is considered the primary center of arts and culture education in Cambodia. ...
Socheata Hean and Sun Sokhen
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/fine-arts-university-relocation-sparks-concerns/2934383.html
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/
Tighter security on exams, but critics say teachers need paid more
A major exam for students this year included tighter security in order to prevent widespread cheating, but critics say more needs to be done to improve Cambodia’s education system. ...
Socheata Hean
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/tighter-security-on-exams-but-critics-say-teachers-need-paid-more/2933104.html
Cambodia’s 'no cheating in exams' policy is working
Cambodia’s education minister says this year’s effort to prevent final-year students from cheating on their exams worked well, and he is confident results will be better than they were for the class of 2014. Many pupils will be hoping the same, given that 60 percent ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voanews.com/content/education-minister-says-cambodia-no-cheatig-in-exams-policy-is-working/2932876.html
Hun Sen admires education reforms
Prime Minister Hun Sen admired the ministry of education for doing good job at education reforming during the national exam in the last two years. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/hun-sen-admires-education-reforms-8891
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/
Rector says student was warned against activism
After a Khemerak University student was jailed in Phnom Penh on Saturday over a social media post calling for a “color revolution” in Cambodia, the school’s director Monday claimed that politics had “poisoned” students at his institution. ...
Aun Pheap and Anthony Jensen
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rector-says-student-was-warned-against-activism-92373/
Exam a test of nerves
As the grade 12 national exam kicked off yesterday, the Ministry of Education said early indicators suggested a marked improvement on last year’s dismal results, though incidents of students caught cheating and others buckling under the pressure of the high-stakes test remained.The two-day exam began ...
Taing Vida and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/exam-test-nerves
Test takers say their prayers
On the eve of the grade 12 national exam students across Phnom Penh put down their revision notes and flocked to local pagodas and shrines yesterday, praying that they will pass the high-stakes test – and that the proctors will let them cheat.With testing starting ...
Taing Vida and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/test-takers-say-their-prayers
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/
Schooled on penalties
Despite unprecedentedly strict anti-cheating measures being implemented in last year’s grade 12 examinations, the Kingdom’s Anti-Corruption Unit pledged yesterday that punishments will be tougher still for proctors caught selling answers and accepting bribes this time around. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/schooled-penalties
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/
Ministry breaks ground on new tech institute
The Ministry of Education on Monday broke ground on a new Institute of Technology campus in Kompong Speu province’s Thpong district that officials said is being built with funds from the Thai royal family on land partially donated by agribusiness magnate Ly Yong Phat. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-breaks-ground-on-new-tech-institute-91900/