Thursday, September 01, 2011

Parents Say Poor Education Aiding Illiteracy

Two young Cambodian boys play near their slum home on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. (Photo: AP)

Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
“We illiterate, it’s like we have blind eyes, and we don’t make any progress like the literates.”
Van La is a rice farmer in Kampong Speu province’s Udong district. Like many Cambodians, she is illiterate. And while she hopes her children will not suffer the same fate, many parents and educational professionals fear that Cambodia’s education system may fail her.

“We face difficulties,” she said as she worked at planting rice seedlings on a recent day. “We illiterate, it’s like we have blind eyes, and we don’t make any progress like the literates.”

Government statistics show that 70 percent of the population is somewhat literate, but development experts say that a poor education environment and other factors are hurting the country’s progress.

Van La said she was determined to send her children to school, so that they might learn to read and write and better their futures, but she could still face an uphill struggle.


Poor parents cannot always afford to send their children to school, where low-salaried teachers often ask for bribes.

“If my family has money, I will study to high levels like others,” said Un Dom, who is 12 and lives in the same district. “But if my parents have no money, I cannot continue my studies in upper classes. I have a poor family. I may not be able to study to the upper classes as others do.”

Some parents, like Van Botum, 34, who lives in Phnom Penh, say that even when they send their children to school, they aren’t learning as well as they should.

“My oldest daughter studies in Grade 6, as normal,” she said. “But my youngest daughter, in Grade 5, can’t read or write at all. She feels bad, ashamed and fearful, and then she doesn’t mind her studies.”

Educators, too, acknowledge the difficulties.

Ros Tith Malay, a teacher at Boeung Trabek primary school, said the worries of parents and children are warranted.

“Teachers have a hard time making a living from the government’s inadequate offers of salary,” she said. “So the teachers have to demand money from students in exchange for their teaching, for fuel and to support their lives.”

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said such practices damage Cambodia’s human resources and socio-economic development.

“The young have very little knowledge, no skills and no resources,” he said. “So investors hesitate to invest in Cambodia.”

Illiteracy also begets its own problems, said Heng Sreang, a professor at the Royal Phnom Penh University.

“The illiterates cannot walk out of their villages,” he said. “So their lives are facing more poverty.”

Even those few who can read and write have difficulties finding a job, he added.

Santosh Khatri, an education specialist at Unesco in Phnom Penh, said illiteracy is common among the rural poor, those who survive on basic agriculture. Efforts are underway to encourage more reading, he said. “They can improve their livelihoods and improve their agricultural techniques” with literacy.

The government, meanwhile, has “six strategies” in its approach to education, including the promotion of literacy, said Ou Eng, director-general of the Ministry of Education.

“For this reason in both primary and secondary schools, we have a number of works aimed at strengthening education quality and service with equity,” he said.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everyone in this world including PM Hun Sen knows the importance of education in the development of a country and the reduction of poverty so there is no excuse for the current government of Cambodia to have failed so far in providing this very important ingredient for Cambodia's attempt to rebuild herself after years of wars.

There are at least 2 important ways to remain in power for someone who loves it all the way to the grave:

One way is to keep the population as ignorant and poor as possible so that governing them is easy and there is not much challenge from the governed to worry about since they have just enough to eat and are more interested in surviving for a short term period rather than a long term one.

I would challenge or urge PM Hun Sen to look at my option 2 advice and not to feel offended for daring to say the following words. If they are true, then learn from them and if not, then just ignore the words and take the advice.

You need to look at your family, close allies and government and begin to think of how you are going to manage the widespread corruption which hinders everything in your kingdom.

You have at least 4 advantages with respect to the preservation of your power:

1. Vietnam is ready to help you at any moment not so much for your benefit, but for theirs and the way you are proceeding, you will never get out of their grip.

2. Cambodians are tired of instability after having gone through many regime changes and the new one seems to be worse than the previous one in term of almost everything.

3. Lots of Cambodians are poor and not well educated or informed so tend to contend with daily survival.

4. Last but not least, the indifference among Cambodians to the poor state or condition of their poor fellow citizens.

Now comes my advice or a challenge.

Without a slightest doubt, you love power and please don't deny it. It is alright to admit to it!

Your love for power has already made you prepare your Hun dynasty in our modern time even though such a concept is out of date and quite destructive to the nation and people.

Be a dictator like Lee Kuan Yew and build Cambodia the same way he built Singapore and this way you remain in power by making everyone rich and better so even though they may have in their mind that you are in power for too long and shouldn't be, they will still be happy to let you hang on to power since their lives are getting better as far as economic prosperity is concerned.

At the end, you will die as Emperor Hun Sen, who did not build Angkor Wat, but has built the best education system in our shared beautiful Kingdom of Cambodia.

Pissed off

Anonymous said...

នៅឯណា​ទៅផ្ទះទេវតានោះ?????????
កុំធ្វើតែពីរឬបី ថតដាក់ទូរទស្សន៏ដើម្បីបង្អួត
គេនោះ ហើយថាខ្លួនស្រឡាញ់ខ្មែរ
ឯងខំតែជឿថា គេបែរជាចិត្តល្អវិញហើយ
តែតាមពិត
ឆ្កែកន្ទុយខ្វៀនវានៅតែខ្វៀនដដែល

Anonymous said...

Keeping population as illiberality is one of the Hun Sen 's Win Win policy .Because this could allow to CPP to prevent from Jasmine revolution .

Anonymous said...

There is no value to live as human under AH HUN SEN regime!

So dirt poor will be dirt poor!
So slum dweller will be slum dweller! The Cambodian are meant to be exploited and take advantage no less than animal! Just imagine breed as human but live as animal! What kind of life is this for these dirt poor Cambodian people!

My prediction is the longer AH HUN SEN stay in power and the revolution by Cambodian people will happen!

Anonymous said...

Only Ah khmer rouge will have the revolution!

Anonymous said...

you do not have to be khmer rouge to star a revolution.