Meeting with Mention-A High School Graduates Every Year
… Before I am with you here, I had a meeting with your parents in the room downstairs. We do not have a room big enough to put everyone together. We decided to allow only the graduates, a school director, and a deputy governor of the province to sit in here. We have made it a clear responsibility that a provincial deputy governor and director of provincial education office are to be present all along. It is indeed a pleasant meeting this year. I think we may as well have an annual meeting of mention-A high school graduates. In the first year of reform of education and senior secondary school exams, there were only 11 graduates with mention A. The number grew to 108 graduates in the second year, and in this year, we have up to 405 graduates. I think we will continue to have this meeting though there will be thousand of them because it is the fruits of our reform efforts. We have reaped the benefits of reform now and parents as well as the whole society welcome this development.
I would like to take this opportune moment to express my congratulations for the mention-A high school graduates as well as everyone who passed the exams with every other mention, though it is impossible for all more than 50,000 of us to meet. I am also urging those of you who have failed the exams to continue to make further efforts to pass the exams next year. You are in your age of 18 or 19 years old, or even 20 years. It is not beyond making efforts yet. I hope you make efforts, and will make it next year. HE Dr. Hang Chuon Naron has said it that “you will make it if you have the knowledge.” It is something we must do. Well let me tell you that the Peace Palace is where many heads of states and governments come and work. The room in which your parents are now is one for the heads of states and governments to have their meals.
More Female than Male Graduates in 2016
Last night I stayed up working until 7pm and I had to check some more work when I got home. In the course of searching, here is what I have discovered. According to the figures sent to me, 55,753 students passed the high school exams, in which 28,807 or 51.6% of them are female students, after making a calculation. Only 26,946 male students or 48.4% made it. For the 405 Mention-A graduates, 204 are female and 201 are male. In percentage, female graduates made it 50.37%. In mention B, 1,466 graduates or 52.33% of 2,801 are female. This means there are 1,335 or only 47.67% graduates are male. For mention C, among 5,595 graduates, 2,967 or 53.02% are female, and only 2,628 are male. In mention D, 8,835 graduates scored it. 4,664 or 52% of them are female and 4,171 are male. In mention E, 38,117 scored it and 19,506 are female gradates.
This has shown that in every mention, female students scored better. I think this is a remarkable achievement in the sense of gender. This has also indicated positive results in gender that we have achieved along with educational reforms. Among provinces, number of graduates broken down into female and male percentage varies accordingly. Ranking by mention A, there are 16 in Bateay Meanjei, seven of them are female students. In Battambang, 24 out of 34 graduates with mention A are females … In Kompot, eight female students scored mention A out of eleven in the whole province […]
Rural Vs Urban Education; Connectivity and Infrastructure Support Education
… Mondulkiri has up to 80.80% students in the province that passed the exams successfully. It has been within this range for two years in a row. It is not true that more students in Phnom Penh and/or lower areas are doing better at all. There is a high school in Kon Mom, Ratanakiri, where every student passed. All 22 of them passed. Traveling by Rovieng district of Preah Vihear, I learnt that 78% of their students taking exams passed. It is not true anymore to say that students of families residing along the national road are doing better in exams. They have now come to more or less close to each other […]
… The fact that I brought up the issue of Iv Srey Lin of Mondulkiri, I wished to illustrate to you how difficult it was to travel then to Mondulkiri. In those days people had to travel sometime to Vietnam before entering Cambodia again at the province. One other idea is to single out the fact that education makes progress thanks also to connectivity and other infrastructure. Should there be no roads Mondulkiri could have been idly isolated. Knowledge would not go into Mondulkiri because no teachers would want to come to Mondulkiri. Nowadays, with road and infrastructure in place, from Phnom Penh people will travel and have lunch in Mondulkiri of the same day.
Moving Junior Secondary School Closer to Primary; Senior to Junior Secondary
… It is worth noting that higher rate of passing the exams successfully among female students was a result partly of our policy to move schools closer to their homes or villages. In the past, we had one or two secondary schools in a province. Now we have one or more in district level. In the course of my journey of over 3,000 Kilometers, I had participated in reorganizing educational geography in the province of Preah Vihear, Uddar Meanjei, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri because I noted that the distance between primary schools and junior secondary schools are too large. We need to provide them with more buildings so some of the primary schools could become junior secondary schools. Next year, primary graduates will not have to go far away from home to study and some who are currently going to junior secondary schools away from home will be able to do so nearby.
Price of Peace
Today we are able to bring our students to Phnom Penh without any fear along the road. I would take this opportune moment to express my sincere thanks to those who had contributed in peace building in Cambodia. I wish to remind everyone of hardships that your parents, grandparents, etc. met in the past. In time of war and genocide, no one could go to school in peace. War inflicted us with impacts like what current Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and other countries are encountering. The Royal Government is currently concerned for our troops stationed in conflicted areas of Somalia, Central African Republic, Sudan, and top a lesser concern Lebanon. In the past, we encountered hardship from war on the one side and lack of infrastructure on another. That is why for us, before anything else, we must have peace. I thank our people and concerned parties for accepting, cooperating, and implementing the win-win policy until we are able to make full peace.
Win-win Policy Transforms Battlefields to Development Zones
Over a long distance journey on land to many provinces, about four fifth of the whole was formerly battlefields. However, these regions have now become ones of development. Peace has provided us – everyone and everywhere chance for development. The Royal Government expresses its sincere thanks, especially my own thanks, for our people and involved actors for accepting the win-win policy. Take for instance Pailin, formerly a battlefront, now has mention-A high school graduate too. We also had one from Uddar Meanjei. We may ask ourselves, without peace would it be possible for us to build up schools? I could recall that in older days, when the US and Lon Nol regime dropped bombs all over the country in between 1970 and 1075, teachers had to dig up trenches for their students and themselves. Under Pol Pot there were no education, but after the regime fell, fighting continued. Again, they dug trenches to hide themselves and their students. In those circumstances, how could a country build anything, either schools or bridges?
The win-win policy created chances for everyone. I thank my colleagues, the Cambodian people, and involved actors for joining with me under the win-win policy to end a divided country status and to establish one that is under one rule, one Constitution, one King, one Royal Government, and armed forces. National division occurred in the past. We ended it. We replaced it with one under one rule. That is the invaluable meaning of peace. We must therefore protect this hard-won peace. I reiterate, without peace nothing no one can achieve anything.
Cambodian Children and Youth to Have Better Chances
… Allow me to express my sincere thank to everyone involved in building more schools and investments relating to education because they have provided facility for students. I have made it a clear point that I would not leave Cambodian children in unfortunate circumstance as I did when I was a small boy. I had to part from my parents when I was 13 years old in search of education. At present, millions of children have reaped the fruits of peace in which the state provided fund for the construction of schools, and those assistance provided by development partners as well as resource sharing among our people. These collaborative efforts have provided more chance for our children and youth than in older days […]
Without schools, we would be in serious problem. The art of sharing resources allow us to build more schools. We cannot depend only on the state coffer. We noticed that community and even Buddhist monks have paid high attention on this matter. In Kratie, at the pagoda of Thmor Kre, a pagoda divided its land into two – one for primary, and junior and senior secondary schools. In between Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri, in the district of Koh Nhek, I had to build schools there. I saw the need for more schools. When I handed out land titles to people, I discovered challenges. Places where people resettle, we need to address the needs for schools, clean water, hospitals, and communication – all four of them […]
Deep Reform in Education Deserves Praise
I appreciate and bestow my praise to the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, especially HE Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, for leading a deep reform in education. It is now giving our people its fruits. People may say anything, for instance, our diplomas are not of any value, but most of the students study in the country. I told my colleagues, I have a strong hope that in twenty more years, Cambodian human resource will be remarkable […]
Every time I travel abroad, my priority request was to ask for scholarships. It is in this reason that thousands of students we have in foreign countries in this stage. We cannot depend only on foreign help. We need to improve local training capacity. We have gradually every year chances from state and private investment efforts. Reform efforts led by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports lately have proven through actions to help prop up students before taking exams. When I was in Kompong Chonang and Pursat provinces, it was when students took junior secondary school exams. I saw students coming to school for supplementary classes […]
… There has been a huge interaction from reform in the secondary education level. I thank everyone involved, especially the working group of the Cambodian People’s Party everywhere for making their effort to sustain teachers’ effort to provide supplementary classes. I am sure other political parties also did the same. I thank them for it. Here we are not talking about political parties but about education for all. In case that they did not do anything to help, it is fine. In case they did, I thank them. I thank teachers for spending efforts to provide supplementary classes for students before taking exams. I thank the students themselves for taking part in the classes […]
Graduates to Take Exams for Teaching Careers
… There is an issue. I wish to address to you. Please concentrate and be brave. As a policy, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports prefer to have best mention graduates to take up teaching careers. Last years, 1,200 high school graduates with mention A, B and C could take up teaching careers automatically. It was a smaller number. We have allowed new recruitment only 3,000 teachers per year. As for this year, there are 2,800 graduates with mention B and 5,595 with mention C. I think it is better for you to take exams to ensure it is just for everyone.
… Those of you who are picking up teaching careers, you will have to take a twelve years plus two years (12 + 2) training. I learn that in the new system, they would have a 12 years + 4 years training program. This will set our teaching staff a standard. We must ensure that there is a standard set to guarantee professional level. You all must take exams to ensure entrance to teaching careers […]
… It is unfortunate that we have not time to get it organized or we could have thrown a dinner together. Finally, I would take this opportune moment to express my heartfelt appreciation and congratulations for achievements scored by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, Education offices at all levels, sub-national authority, especially parents and superintendents, as well as the students themselves, for making this progress possible. Everything is Cambodia, for everyone, who will be the future of the country. I hope there will be many of you who will come and work in the Peace Palace […]
… You may want to take a look of the building with parents and relatives. You may also see the working office of the Prime Minister and places where we conducted the ASEAN summit. It is a symbol of national power./.
