In addition to the prepared text addressing to the graduation and diploma presentation at the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences Samdech Hun Sen made the following comments that we have selected and translated into English for interested visitors to the www.cnv.org.kh website.
…. Please allow me to take this opportunity to present my appreciation to Director of the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences as well as other involved leaders and students for the part they played in developing this Faculty. As I have said elsewhere though the cock does not crow, the sun is shining still. What I mean is the policy that we have put out ten years ago on liberalization in the field of education by making use of school or university facilities to address the need for development by themselves has yielded fruity progress.
… According to the report by Mr. the Director, in this school year, there are 3,256 in the total 4130 students who have been enrolled by payment. Take the figures to mind and ask a question if we were to allow no enrollment by payment where could the 3,256 student go for their education? They would have no other options but to drop schooling. They were to have no other choices because the scholarship provided by the state is so small. In such a situation, not only that we could not build up our human resources but also our youth would not be able to find jobs and/or to continue their studies… This may lead them to dull sickness. This sickness would lead to inappropriate actions in the society.
… Well we have this number of paid-enrollment students in this Faculty, but we also have more in other universities. The figures will be greater if we were to put them together. An opportunity has been created for the betterment of human resources. In Phnom Penh, currently we have some universities as private education institutions. But we also try to provide education possibility also through some state universities, in which practice, as I have said earlier, some are enrolled as scholarship students and some by their own coffers. This is a creative thinking so that more opportunities could be provided for the building of human resources. Of course the educational facilities provided by the state is yet to adequately respond to the need. In this front, private education institutions are playing very important role in relation to the human resources development.
… Liberalization in the field of education with such development has provided HE Cham Prasidh, the Cambodian Minister of Economy in ASEAN and team leader on the Cambodian side in its negotiation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) a better position in his response to the WTO questions. Among other things, Cambodia has to respond to the WTO queries on issue of education liberalization. As we could see now that Cambodia has not got any barrier on issue of education. If Cambodia is posed with this question, I think the answer is the fact here. Usually the sun is shining when the cock crows but what has happened here from scratch, only 70 people in Phnom Penh and punishments, we have brought this country to a survival. We have started from a situation where those who know more help those who know less or nothing.
… Some of our students here are those who got born after the bombardment time (or after the war) and would not be able to have a proper feeling of those difficulties. You all are here present because your parents are able to pay for your education fees so I wish to see that you all are studying hard in response to their hardships in bringing you up after their survivals (from the genocide and wars.) We all wanted to live and have tried to live up to the present time in pride as a real Cambodian nation.
… I am glad that today I have a chance to be with more than 4,000 students on this occasion. In fact I always have all level of educational facilities – kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary education, in my eyes and my heart. If we overlook this sector we would not be able to realize anything at all.
… When I was Minister for Foreign Affairs, what I had as my food regime was 16 kg of rice but ten kilograms in rice and 6 kilograms in corn. In those days, the then Ministry of Education requested me to give some lectures to the newly trained teachers, both in daytime and also at night time. The Faculty of Pedagogy at that time was next to my house and it was so convenient to fulfil the task. When the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was well established, I did also lecture on issue of diplomacy. HE Cham Prasidh used to be one those students. What could we do otherwise if that was all we knew in those days? And what we did was in fact giving us positive result.
… Let me join you all in congratulating on the best efforts that you all have made for such a progress. There are quite a number of students who get jobs and today a number of companies hope to be able to recruit some more students who need jobs. In many countries, like in Singapore, skilled people would not like to have a government work. I mean real skilled people. Why? Because they feel freer working with the private sector and they are better paid as well. Some people would go for a private sector job because they have private or family business to develop (self-employment.) They worked hard to expand their business, to seek more funds for training and improvements of knowledge both in business as well as in agricultural production. They sent their children to agricultural school not because they want them to be Minister of Agriculture but for their purpose of development of household or community agriculture.
… Though HE Yuok Ngoi did not mention in his report, but according to HE Chea Sophara, Governor of Phnom Penh, the Director seems to wish to expand the Faculty but could not do so because of lack of land. His proposal would be to make use of the free land next door, which belongs to the Secondary School of Boeung Trabek. The Director of the Secondary School seemed to agree with the idea but request a payback in a sum enough to build a school building. In this case I instruct HE Yuok Ngoi and HE Chea Sophara to conclude the deal with the Director of the Secondary School of Boeung Trabek. If he agrees to let the said land to be included to the Faculty, I would offer him two school buildings and not one as he requested. As for the building I wish it to be built by Oknha Mong Rithi with my own money…