Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Cambodia's French-Khmer teachers quit due to financial shortage

April 03, 2007

Teachers of bilingual classes of French and Khmer across Cambodia halted work on March 30, but will resume work if the government pays them the promised salaries, local media reported on Tuesday.

"It will be regrettable if the bilingual classes will vanish from Cambodia due to financial problems," said a complaint filed by staff members and teachers of French-Khmer bilingual classes in Phnom Penh to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, French- language newspaper the Cambodge Soir reported on Tuesday.

"Both the teachers and the pedagogical advisors can't work without a salary," it said.

Staff members and teachers for the classes in Battambang province complained that "pedagogical assistants and advisors in six districts (that offer bilingual classes) have not received any salary since January 2007, while teachers and management in four schools have not been paid from March 2007 onwards."

"We would like to remind (the ministry) that up until now staff members and teachers of bilingual classes have collected their first-trimester salaries from the French Embassy and second- trimester from students' parents, and now it is time for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport," reported Cambodian newspaper the Samleng Yuvechun Khmer, quoting the statement.

Last July, the ministry signed an agreement agreeing to be responsible for a third of the budget for French-Khmer classes, which include a general curriculum alongside language classes, while the French Development Agency and students' parents paid equally for the remaining two thirds, it said.

Parents of a student needed to pay 15 U.S. dollars to attend the course, it added.

"It is the fault of the ministry, which has not respected its own promise. The ministry may have signed (the agreement) just to maintain its honor and pretend to be serious in front of French- speaking countries," the Cambodge Soir quoted a teacher as saying.

The teachers' decision to stop working on March 30 will not immediately affect students as it is currently a vacation period, the paper said.

The ministry still has time to find solutions until the start of Khmer New Year, which falls in mid-April, it added.

French is one of Cambodia's social languages. The country was colonized by France for almost 80 years from 1863 to 1942.

Source: Xinhua

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who care about French language,
anyway? Plus, they are just a bunch
of losers. We better off just learn
Chinese because they will soon to
be the Economic Super Power.

Anonymous said...

Learning French language is a waste of time. Replace it with Spanish or English is more beneficial.

Anonymous said...

Bon voyage la francophonie?

Hey Chirac, tu dois envoyer ta petite Vietnamienne adoptee immediatement pour remplacer Hun Sen a Nam Vang pour que la francophonie survive au Vietcam (futur nom du Cambodge de la federation indochinoise que la France avait soutenue depuis longtemps) n'est-ce pas?...Merde Chira, que tu es plus ruse que les Viets eux-memes, non???...Mdr!!!

Anonymous said...

French is a death language!!!Cambodian people paid to study English and I wonder why!!!!

Does anyone remember American embassador said??? If you want a fucken job and you better study English!!!!

Anonymous said...

Learning never waste of time. Multiple language should keep in school, but France should subsidize
the program.

Anonymous said...

Bon voyage la francophonie?

Hey Chirac, tu dois envoyer ta petite Vietnamienne adoptee immediatement pour remplacer Ah Ho Chi Minh in Saigon pour que la francophonie survive au Chineyoun (futur nom du Vietnam de la province de la Chine que la France avait soutenue depuis longtemps) n'est-ce pas?...Merde Chira, que tu es plus ruse que les Youns eux-memes, non???...Mdr!!!

Anonymous said...

Que t'es drole anonyme a 2:58AM! mdr! Bon, fais comme tu veux...mdr!

Anonymous said...

Actually, we should stated to learn
Vietnamese because they have kicked
the French asses all over Vietnam.
Moreover, Vietnam is growing so
fast, I think they will be the
new Japan in Asia. Thus, Vietnamese
knowledge should come in handy if
you want a good paying job in the
future.

Anonymous said...

Something like this anon@8:40AM - DO MAER anon@8:53AM!

Anonymous said...

Chet roy anon@8:40AM....lolz

Anonymous said...

why do you ever bother to teach anything in Cambodia when you don't get paid. I'm sorry to say that we do care and want to help our own common people. but bull shit, if I don't get paid, I rather be the slave of a Foreigner in a foreign country and get full paid, rather fucker slave your ass to no meaning and got no shit to put food on table for your family. Fuck helping Cambodia..Help yourself first.

Anonymous said...

Hey, if you want to be poor, that
is fine by us (Khmers). As far as
we concerned, we'll go where
winners and sucess is, and that is
certainly not you.