Letter submitted by CITA to the minister of Education, Youth and Sports to intervene in the overtime pay for teachers in Kampong Cham

http://www.box.net/shared/my2qdpujoouqbu9r6i05

The Constructive Cambodian [-On Cambodia's education system]

Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Tharum Bun
The Phnom Penh Post

AS the Council of Ministers recently approved a draft budget law for 2011, hopes are high for those working in the education sector that this year’s rise in spending on the sector is a sign that public promises from the government to prioritise improvements in education marks the beginning of an upward trend in spending that will ultimately drive improvements in education and the residual development of the country’s human resources as a whole.

While $218 million of the $2.4 billion of spending in the draft budget was allocated to spending on education, a 9 percent rise on last year’s figure, slight increases are not likely to fix the problems plagueing education in the Kingdom, in particular low wages for teachers.

The increased spending on education sends a strong signal that the government’s strategic efforts to meet its 2015 plan of Education for All, as well as its long-term investment in human resources development, aren’t only lip service. But it’s not time to sit back and declare victory.

It’s critical to take a closer look at an issue facing teachers and students in every public school across the Kingdom. The financial pressure on underpaid teachers leads to low morale and stifled motivation among the very people that Cambodia desperately needs to provide guidance to help young children.

Even the practice of paying informal fees to public school teachers for a passing grade, text books or photocopied materials, which is generally seen as a forgiveable form of corruption allowing teachers to stay out of poverty, has a deleterious long-term effect on students whose perceptions of education and morality are shaped by their teachers.

In any classroom it is the teachers who set examples, and the children should follow in their footsteps. Their main role is to educate, to teach children to solve problems by explaining what’s right and what’s wrong. But there are times when their low salaries force them to act improperly. It happens every day and so often that most of us get used to it. It only gets our attention during national exams or tests when it’s reported in the media that teachers or examiners accepted bribes in exchange for ignoring their students, who are busy copying from each other, not to mention getting the answer sheets from their examiners.

A few months back, it became international news when Agence France Press reported that Cambodian high school students used mobile phones to cheat during the nation-wide exam to permit them to qualify to enter university. There seems to be a new spin on the same, tired story every year, but society’s ability to change the perception and behavior of students and teachers involved in corruption needs to happen fast if the next generation of Cambodians are going to have the skills to fill vital roles in improving the country.

How can Cambodia eradicate its rampant corruption when its younger generation sees their respected teachers openly taking money every day? The Anti-Corruption Law will set the rules for some, but as long as teachers must choose between food and morality, wholesale changes in their behaviour seem unlikely. Teachers should be able to rise above these types of problems and serve as role models. It is fundamental to a strong education system.

Children shouldn’t only learn the material in their text books while in school, they should also be guided towards honesty and strong social values. That’s not happening right now, but hopefully continued action by the government to increase their attention, and spending on education, will allow teachers to feed their families without taking money from the families of their students. It may not happen soon, but this could be the first step.

Police Ban Teacher Demonstration Over Salaries

(Photo: DAP news)

By Heng Reaksmey and Chiep Mony
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 October 2009

Phnom Penh police clashed with demonstrating teachers on Monday, as a union demonstration for higher government salaries was banned.

Teachers are demanding a raise from around $30 a month to $250, a demand the government said was not possible.

Police said the members of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association had gathered in public without a permit. No one was injured, witnesses said.

“One cannot teach on an empty stomach,” said Rong Chhun, president of the teacher’s association.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Confederation of Trade Unions on Monday requested the Ministry of Labor raise minimum salaries for factory workers from $50 per month to $93, as high food prices continue to eat into monthly budgets.

The minimum salary was “not a lot,” conceded Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia. “But $50, for the workers, as a minimum, the workers can survive.”

If they work with incentives from factories, working hard to sew many garments, workers can earn up to $150 a month, he said.

“We want to create the incentive for the workers to work hard,” he said.

No World Teachers' Day celebration allowed in Hun Xen's Cambodia

Cops preventing the celebration of the World Teachers' Day (Photo: DAP-news)

Teachers not allowed to celebrate World Teachers’ Day in front of the old National Assembly building

05 October 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), declared earlier that his association will hold a meeting that includes 150 teachers to celebrate the World Teachers’ Day on Monday 05 October 2009 in front of the old National Assembly building. However, this morning, Rong Chhun cannot hold the event because the cops closed all the streets starting from in front of the royal palace all the way to the public park located in front of Wat Botum Pagoda. Police forces are also seen guarding this area. On Sunday, Rong Chhun said that the Phnom Penh city hall did not authorize CITA to celebrate the World Teachers’ Day that would include a parade leading to the old National Assembly building and the ministry of Education, Youth and Sports because that celebration would be done to attract the attention on the teachers’ role from the part of the government and the public. Furthermore, CITA also planned to demand that the government increases the salary for teachers to 1 million riels ($250) per month during that day.

Teachers demand salary increase

Monday, 06 October 2008
Written by CHUN SOPHAL and HOR HAB
The Phnom Penh Post

THE government should reduce the pay gap between members of parliament and teachers if it wishes to improve the quality of education in the Kingdom, said Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), on Sunday.

"The salary gap is a serious abuse of human rights," Rong Chhun said at a news conference after the World Teachers Day celebration in Phnom Penh. "It would be reasonable [for the government] to increase teacher salaries to 1 million riels (US$245) per month if MPs earn a salary of nine million riels per month."

Cambodia currently employs about 100,000 teachers nationwide, earning approximately $45 per month, according to a report compiled by CITA.

But Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Assembly's Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audits, said it is not reasonable for the union to expect that teacher salaries be comparable to that of MPs.

"I wish Rong Chhun was an elected MP so he could understand our duties and why there is a salary gap," Cheam Yeap said, adding that MPs only receive around $242 per month.

But Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yim Sovann welcomed the teachers' demand for higher wages, saying the government promised to increase their salaries by 20 percent both in 2008 and 2009.