Youth See Volunteerism As a Means to a Jobs

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 11 November 2010

“If they don't do volunteer work with an institution or community, they will probably be unable to find employment opportunities.”

With unemployment still high among Cambodian youth, some have begun to seek volunteer opportunities as a bridge to decent jobs in the future.

More and more graduates have shown an interest in volunteer work, which helps them gain experience and expand their networks, said Som Monorom, a project officer at Cambodian Volunteers for Society.

“If they don't do volunteer work with an institution or community, they will probably be unable to find employment opportunities,” he said, adding that most volunteers came from poor or middle-class families.

“There are hardly any youths from well-off families who want to volunteer, because most of them have a lot of money, so they do not care much about job opportunity,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

Cambodia has the highest per capita population of youth in the region: those between 10 to 24 years old make up 35 percent of the populace.

But with an estimated 250,000 youths entering the employment market each year, and the main industry, garments, only supplying a total 300,000 jobs, work opportunities are scant.

That means greater competition for the jobs that do exist.

“Today, getting a job requires work experience,” said Pen Sophal, youth media officer for UN Volunteers. “Even though you graduate from a university, you'll find it hard to get a job without work experience.”

Student Loans Remain a Heavy Risk for Lenders

More than 28,000 students graduated from 45 private and 18 state institutions last year, but the number who went on to jobs is not known. (Photo: AP)

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 26 August 2010

“A student may end up jobless after graduation, so this is a high risk business.”

A lack of protections and an unpredictable job market have made lending institutions reluctant to provide student loans, banking officials say.

Students may be hard-pressed to find work after they graduate a university or they may simply not finish school. This has led to closed doors for poor students, especially in the countryside.

“If we do this, it is very risky, because we don't know whether students will finish their educations,” Sophan Nary, deputy CEO for Acleda Bank, told VOA Khmer Tuesday. “Only if the students can earn some income to pay the bank back monthly can we consider offering them loans. Or only if they have guarantees to make sure the bank can get back the money it lent.”

But even with some guarantees, lending institutions are reluctant.

“Some students are orphans, so we need to consider the guarantees also,” said Horn Rozana, the chief executive officer’s secretary for Phnom Penh Commercial Bank.

Nearly 40,000 students graduate from high school in 2007, the latest figures from the Ministry of Education show, and officials say the number is increasing yearly. But the high cost of education means that many do not finish their university studies, which cost an average $1,600 for four years.

And with no system in place to avoid risks for lenders, much of that money has to be saved ahead of time or earned along the way.

“Unlike in developed countries where they have social security numbers for their citizens, in Cambodia an individual identity cannot be tracked down,” Chea Phalarin, general manager of Amret, a microfinance institution, said. “If the person goes to a far away province or somewhere else, how can we get him to pay back the money he owes if we do not know where he is?”

Amret will sometimes offer loans to parents, who are less risk, he said. “We can’t lend to students directly because we are not confident they can pay back the money.”

In places like the US, where student loans are common, graduates begin paying back their loans after they find employment. But in Cambodia, the job market is uncertain, creating another roadblock to lending.

More than 28,000 students graduated from 45 private and 18 state institutions last year, but the number who went on to jobs is not known.

“A student may end up jobless after graduation, so this is a high risk business,” said Kong Phean, a brand developer for Cambodia Mutual Savings and Credit Network, or CMSC.

CMSC did provide 13 students with loans in 2009, but that went to students at well-known universities who were at least in their third year.

“Those in third year are less likely to drop out of school,” Kong Phean said.

There is also a belief among some lenders that school tuition is not high enough to warrant loans.

“Tuition at the moment is still affordable for most families to support their children’s education, so the demand for student loans is still not huge,” said Bun Mony, CEO of Sathapana Ltd., a microfinance lender.

Mak Vann, a secretary of state for the Education Ministry, said the ministry wants as many students to go to university as possible, but Cambodia needs to put a system in place.

“There is still a lot more to learn, say, on how it is done in the US for example,” he said.

And the ministry does offer up as many as 4,000 scholarships a year to poor high school graduates, he said.

For students like Mok Socheat, who borrowed $400 a year ago from CMSC, loans are worth it, even if he has to pay interest.

“It helped reach my goal,” he said, having landed a job as a machine operator for an electric company after graduating from the Cambodian Institute of Technology. “Without the loans, I would probably not have finished my students and would not have this job.”

Sam Rainsy's interview on Candle Light Radio on youth joblessness in Cambodia

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer (MP3)

300,000 youths completing their "high school and bachelor degrees" face joblessness each year in Cambodia: NGO survey

Tens of thousands of Cambodian youths are facing joblessness like youths in other countries

11 August 2009
By Ratana
Khmer Sthabna news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On Wednesday 12 August 2009 which is celebrated as the International Youth Day, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-general, sent a message on this special occasion stating:

“The theme of this year’s International Youth Day -– “Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future” –- is a global call to action for young men and women. Our world faces multiple interconnected crises with severe and far-reaching impacts that fall disproportionately on the young.

In 2007, for example, youth comprised 25 per cent of the world’s working age population yet accounted for 40 per cent of the unemployed. The global economic downturn means that, in the near term, youth unemployment will continue to climb. Unemployment rates tell only part of the story, especially for the vast majority of youth who live in developing countries. For them, informal, insecure and low-wage employment is the norm, not the exception.

Climate change, meanwhile, continues to compromise economies and threaten tremendous upheaval, saddling young people everywhere with an unjust “ecological debt”. This is a potentially crushing burden. At the same time, I am encouraged by the contributions that young people have made to the debate on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Their views and proposals can help build the momentum necessary to “seal the deal” in Copenhagen later this year.

Indeed, young people have proven themselves to be key partners in sustainable development. They have got involved in international forums such as the Commission on Sustainable Development, and have helped their Governments and communities to formulate poverty reduction strategies, entrepreneurial schemes and many other policies and initiatives.

Young people often lead by example: practising green and healthy lifestyles, or promoting innovative uses of new technologies, such as mobile devices and online social networks. They deserve our full commitment -- full access to education, adequate health care, employment opportunities, financial services and full participation in public life. On International Youth Day, let us renew our pledge to support young people in their development. Sustainability is the most promising path forward, and youth can lead the way.”

Cambodia is also affected by the aftermath of the worldwide economic crisis, and several tens of thousand of factory and company workers lost their jobs and income because their companies and factories went bankrupt and a number of private companies cut down on the number of their workers or reduced their salaries.

Surveys conducted NGOs indicated also that, each year, about 300,000 Cambodian youths who completed their high school and bachelor degrees are jobless.

Cambodian sudents: Graduating to joblessness and despair

Cambodian students facing joblessness

09 December 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy and Socheata

“My name is Kuy Koeun, I am very disappointed because we were expecting that, after completing our degree at the university, like me for example, I studied in the administration of human resources, when I went to look for work in my field of study, I couldn’t find any. The majority of jobs require 2-3 years of experience. I looked for a job for almost one year already, since 2006.”

The deception and hopelessness after completing a university degree does not happen to just Kuy Koeun alone, there are several other university students, even those who completed a master degree one year ago, who claim that they couldn’t find a job yet.

Kim Ty expressed his deception, saying that since he completed his degree in 2005 in law, he looked for a job everywhere, and now he already completed his master degree in administration since the beginning of 2007, and he still couldn’t find a job yet.

Kim Ty explained the reason why it is so difficult to find a job: “The problem stems (partly) from the students themselves. This means that their education is not what the job market needs, for example, in the use of English, sometimes these students took classes also, but they never attend the class, when they complete their degrees, they cannot work. Right now, (the job market) demands knowledge, and even expertise. The second issue is a society problem, this can be considered as an economic problem also: the investments in our country are not functioning properly to be able to absorb the work force fresh out of universities.”

Suon, another student, claimed that he completed his degree in information technology two years ago, and he still couldn’t find a job yet. This made him lose hope and confidence in the education and the government.

Suon talked about his concerns on his future, saying that he should be able to find a job in his specialty field, and earn at least $300 per month. But, instead, Suon said: “Right now, I don’t have a job.”

Along with the hopelessness of their children, the students’ parents are also disappointed because their children completed universities already, but yet, they still have to feed them.

Seng, a villager from Leuk Dek village, Kandal province, told RFA with a sad face that he worked hard in the field to save money for his son to attend school, and sometimes, he wouldn’t even dare spending the money on himself so that he could send it to his son studying in Phnom Penh, because he expected that after completing his degree, his son would find a decent job. However, he is very deceived because his son, who completed university 2 years ago, sill cannot find a job yet.

Seng said: “It’s a difficult problem, because (I was expecting that) at the end (of his schooling), there wouldn’t be anything left to talk about anymore. In fact, my family struggled hard to have our son attend school, sometimes we didn’t even have enough money, so we saved to have him attend school. Normally, we struggled so our child can study, but I am extremely disappointed that after school, he couldn’t find a job at all…”

According to Roth Sokha, the director of the department of higher education, he said on 06 December that, each year, almost 20,000 students complete their university degrees, and among these, about 30% of them couldn’t find a job.

Roth Sokha said: “From what I see, the no. 1 problem is that when they apply for a job, their education is not compatible with what the job market needs, with that they fall once. Secondly, the number of job positions that can absorb them is too small, our (job) market is too little.”

Roth Sokha added that in Cambodia, there are 65 universities, 24 of which belong to the state, and at all universities, the Ministry of Education (MoEYS) directed them to abide by the standard of education so that graduated students have the ability to work to build the country in the future.

Mak Sarath, a coordinator for the Cambodian Youth Council (CYC), indicated that, currently, the number of jobless people amounts to between 300,000 and 350,000 each year. He said that most of the youths have no jobs because the degree of education was not high enough, and they don’t have experience, for example.

Mak Sarath said: “There is no job market, in fact, in Cambodia, our youths should aim their education towards finding a true job, not aiming at just obtaining any degree.”

Mao Veasna, President of the Students’ Movement for Democracy (SMD), indicated that out of 10 students graduating students, only 1 of them has a true job, and hundreds of students came to his group to ask to work for free.

Mao Veasna said: “This is an obstacle to the development of our country, because in a democratic country, people wouldn’t let their youths, the core of the nation, to remain jobless like this.”

In response to the issues above, Oum Mean, the under-secretary of state of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MoLVT), said that in order to reduce joblessness, the government is looking for a partnership with other countries that need labor force, such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong etc… The MoLVT had also organized a number of job training programs for jobless people.

Oum Mean said: “We provide training for people who have no expertise, these are ordinary expertise, such as hairstylist, engine repair, AC repair etc… so that they can find a job. Furthermore, for students who do not have the ability to go to a university for higher education, we provide training for them in centers, vocational training and professional schools. We provide three types of training levels: the general one, the upper one, and the medium one. Those who have the ability can pursue their training all the way to the upper level.”

He added that, in fact, in 2007, the government sent out more than 70,000 people to work overseas, among those there were people who have some expertise and those who don’t. The government hopes that by 2018-2020, people will all have jobs (in Cambodia).

Economist Chan Sophal, an economic researcher, said that joblessness is a step towards social problems, and Cambodia must effectively resolve this issue.

Seekers Outnumber Jobs Six to One, Group Says

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 November 2007

Cambodia has at most 60,000 jobs and at least five times that number looking for work, creating widespread worry, a group said Thursday.

"Currently, my parents very often remind me to look for jobs," a marketing student named Bora told VOA Khmer. "I also try my best, but still I fail. I am very worried."

Between 300,000 and 350,000 job seekers are competing for 50,000 to 60,000 jobs, according to the Cambodian Youth Council.

"Everyday our youth are extremely worried about lack of employment when they finish both high school and college, because the job market in Cambodia is too small," said Mak Sarath, president of the Youth Council. "And if they want to find jobs in companies or other organizations, these workplaces require two to three years' experience, and they do not have that."

The problem is not just related to the size of the job market, but a lack of qualified individuals that graduate, he said.

"Nowadays, a lot of colleges are mushrooming, especially in Phnom Penh, [and] students usually complain about the quality, which cannot meet the job requirements," Mak Sarath said. "College education should not be bachelor's or master's degree oriented, but to the job market. That means that [students] should learn to be employed, not to get a degree. So, the government, especially the Ministry of Education, should find the relationship between education and the market."

Li Somony, undersecretary for the Ministry of Education, said that not every school had low performance.

"It makes sense that the quality is low when there are too many schools," he said, "but [the quality] of some state-run schools and some others is not low."

Youth joblessness in Cambodia [-Rong Chhun: Only about 10% of graduating students find jobs]

11 November 2007
By Keo Pech Metta
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A number of NGO officials who are working on Cambodian youth issues indicated that among Cambodian youth, especially those who completed their degrees in high schools and universities, the majority of them cannot find a job currently, and that this issue will bring hardships to the Cambodian society in the future if there is no timely resolution to this matter.

Mak Sarat, a coordinating official for the Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC), indicated that, based on civil society’s observation on the youth, each year between 300,000 to 350,000 Cambodian youth are looking for jobs to make a living, however, among all these youths, only 50,000 to 60,000 of them can find work. Therefore the joblessness problem is a major issue that the government must resolve.

Mak Sarat indicated: “The government is responsible as the ruler of the country, and it should organize to create a large job market by attracting investments, or by sending the youths to work overseas based on clear regulations. The youths themselves should put in their effort by considering themselves as part of the labor force, they should obtain the ability to produce, just like factory workers who must learn expertise, and these youths should have a true purpose and be honest.”

Regarding the joblessness issue among high school and university students, Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), said that it is necessary for the government to further expand the job market for the people because from one year to another, the number of jobless people keeps on increasing, especially among the many tens of thousands of youths who completed their schooling, but ended up facing joblessness instead.

Rong Chhun added: “Each year, several tens of thousands finish school, but only about 10% of them find jobs, and those who are jobless amount to 90%. This problem is one that the government leader must bear responsibility for, if he neglects this issue and allows Cambodian students to remain jobless, our society will face problems in the future.”

In response to the issues raised above, Oum Mean, the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MoLVT), said that his ministry, like the government itself, is working hard in the past and currently to attract various companies to invest in Cambodia, such as garment factories and other type of companies, in order to create a job market for the population, including students who completed their studies.

Oum Mean added that, besides this, the government is also looking at overseas markets, such as South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, etc… so that Cambodian workers can go to work there. Currently, there are about 20,000 Cambodians who are working overseas in various countries.

Oum Mean said: “Therefore the ministry (MoLVT) is putting its effort so that investors remain and that they will continue to invest, and we are also attracting other investors to invest in Cambodia. When there are investments, there will be factories, companies, farms, or service industry such as the hotel industry for example, then our people will have jobs.”

Chiming on this issue, Osman Hassan, the MoLVT secretary of state, indicated that the provision of overseas jobs benefits also those with low level of education, because his ministry has set up good relationships between the ministry and companies which also include a short training for workers before they leave to work overseas.

Osman Hassan said: “In fact, it is the ministry (MoLVT) which puts its effort to seek a job market, both for workers with low level of education, and for students with higher education. In fact, since we put in our effort, there are a number of countries where our workers went, such as South Korea and among these, there are some students who went also. However, the salary in South Korea is high, in average, the lowest salary is between $500 to 600, and some even get up $1,500. Therefore, for our students, when they hear about going to South Korea, a lot of them want to go work there also.”

Mak Sarat said also that in order to resolve the joblessness issue for Cambodian youths who are currently facing difficulties, a number of NGOs, including the YCC and the Youth Stars of Cambodia, are setting up a program to provide volunteer service by high school and university students so that they can gain experience with various organizations and institutions, or within the community. These opportunities will provide an assets for these youths to help them find a job in the future also.

Mak Sarat indicated: “Normally in Cambodia, experience is needed, even if we finish school, if we don’t have experience, it’s hard to find a job. Therefore, now there are volunteers in 9 of the provinces and municipalities who constitute a network of volunteer youth from the YCC, there are almost 2,000 participants, and in 402 communes, we can see that when they participate in either the YCC or other NGOs (volunteer work), they have the opportunity to find work.”

Osman Hassan indicated also that for the MoLVT and the government, besides the help they provided to find a job market for the population, they are also cooperating with local and overseas investment companies to expand the search for job markets with various countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Arabic countries.

Regarding the job market issue, Robert Zoellik, President of the World Bank, who recently visited Cambodia, said also that Cambodia needs to provide a job market to at least 300,000 people each year in order to respond to the jobs demand in the country.

Amid post-war boom, unemployment stalks Cambodia's brightest

Students walk out a private university in Phnom Penh 08 October 2007. As Cambodia turns the corner from political strife, it is being confronted with one of its biggest challenges to development: huge numbers of newly-minted university graduates with high expectations, but few worthy jobs and dimming hopes for the future. (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Thursday October 25, 2007

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - With more than two years to go before he graduates, university student Kiang Saran is already so crippled by unemployment fears that his grades are slipping.

The pressure to land a job and support his family in Cambodia's rural Prey Veng province is a "constant worry," the 22-year-old economics major says, as he sits waiting for classes to begin at Phnom Penh's Royal University of Law and Economics.

"There is never a time I don't think about this," he tells AFP.

Kiang Saran is just like tens of thousands of young Cambodian men and women -- smart, ambitious and eager to ride the country's post-war boom that has generated double-digit economic growth and re-emerging middle class affluence.

But as the country turns the corner from political strife, it is being confronted with one of its biggest challenges to development: huge numbers of newly-minted university graduates with high expectations, but few worthy jobs and dimming hopes for the future.

"This is a big, big problem in our society," says Neau Vira, programme director for the Faculty of Education at Pannasastra University of Cambodia.

Between 1996 and 2006, Cambodia's young labour force -- more than half of the country's population is now under the age of 25 -- grew by a staggering 78 percent.

This is compared with an average of six percent in other ASEAN countries, according to the International Labour Organisation, and also coincided with an explosion in university enrollment as Cambodia enjoyed increasing stability and prosperity.

Seven years ago, only 25,000 Cambodians were participating in some form of higher education.

By 2007, that number had increased to around 91,000, according to figures from the think-tank Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC). At the same time, though, only one in 10 university graduates have found work, creating a daunting challenge for the country, which overall remains mired in poverty despite the economic successes.

On a recent visit to Cambodia, World Bank president Robert Zoellick addressed the issue of the country's labour market, saying some 300,000 jobs needed to be created each year to keep up with the demand for work.

Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh echoed Zoellick's thoughts on the urgent need for jobs, pointing out that it has taken Cambodia's garment sector, the country's main industrial employer, nine years to create a total of 330,000 positions.

Those are almost all low-skilled, low-wage jobs, highlighting one of most serious obstacles to white-collar employment in Cambodia; a glaring miss-match between university education and the demands of Cambodia's job market.

The largely agricultural country remains propped up by the most narrow of industrial sectors -- garments and tourism, neither of which require the skill sets taught at most universities.

"We did a study with garment factory manufacturers to see if the curriculum taught in Cambodian universities fit what the industry needed," says EIC director Sok Hach.

"Almost none did," he says, adding that efforts to create hospitality programmes to feed Cambodia's growing tourism industry have also floundered.

Young Cambodians are churned out by the thousands with various specialities, from law and management to communications and languages.

But with little official oversight, the quality of Cambodian universities swings broadly from good to bad, and observers warn that many are simply degree factories intent only on collecting tuition fees.

"Some of these schools give out diplomas that are useless, which parents have paid a lot of money for," one Western diplomat says.

At the same time, many students are short-sighted, rushing to secure any degree, no matter how irrelevant it might be to the existing job market, says Pannasastra University's Neau Vira.

"They don't think much about the job after graduation," he says, adding that many university graduates are woefully naive about the realities of employment.

"Their expectation is to get a good job, but they don't even know what a good job really means to them or what a good job is," Neau Vira says.

The result is thousands of recent graduates -- however under-qualified they might be -- competing for a few select posts in the private or government sectors.

"So many students graduate with degrees in law and economics," says Nop Ratanak, 22, a fourth year law student at the Royal University of Law and Economics and president of its student association.

"Like for me, the job market is so narrow, I may have to find another option," he says, adding that he hoped more foreign investment in the future would spur job growth.

But government figures show that foreign investment, while on the rise, is still likely to create mostly low-wage, labour-intensive work in factories or on construction sites.

The most likely alternative for many like economics student Kiang Saran is to do nothing.

"I've heard a lot of university students say they've graduated and don't have jobs," he says, before settling in to the first lecture of the day.

"Many of those who earned a degree, including my friends, can't find work and simply stay home.

"I have never had hope that this school will find a job for me," he says. "There are many candidates applying for one job."

70% of the youth are jobless and are involved in crimes

11 August 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

One NGO involved with the youth, indicated that 70% of the youth are jobless and are now involved in criminal activities.

During the day commemorating the 8th International Youth Day, Long Khet, the president of the Youth Peace organization, said, on 10 August, that 70% of Cambodian youth ranging in age between 18 and 30-year-old, are facing joblessness and these youth are currently involved in drug use, gangs, delinquency, creating unrest in the society, and are providing bad influence to the younger generations.

Long Khet added that the reason these youth are struggling in the society is because they are very poor and they did not get any education.

On the same day, Touch Marim, the deputy governor of the Kompong Chhnang province, said that whether the society will face success or failure depends on the youth, therefore the youth who are currently involved in criminal activities should change to better themselves.

Touch Marim added that the guidance and the education of the youth are not the responsibility of the government alone, but that it is an issue involving everyone. He said that he will arrange to have lights installed along a number of roads, and to have better security in order to facilitate for the youth in their studies.

According to Yean Reaksa, a youth from the People Development for Peace organization, he said that his participation in the celebration of the International Youth Day is aimed at telling aimless youth what they should do for the society.

Yean Reaksa said: “The first role of the youth is to help build peace, and help find various solutions in order to help the country’s development.”

Socheata, another young student from the Hun Sen junior high school, is attracted by the activities performed by the youth during this day which is an education of human beings of all age, and in particular to the children and youth, in order for them to behave well in the society so that they can become a pillar for the nation to rely entirely on. Socheata said that she will take the knowledge she acquired to educate her friends and younger siblings also.

Um Mean, the undersecretary of state of the ministry of labor and vocational training, said that he cannot provide a judgment on the number of jobless youth yet because he has not seen this report yet.

The Youth Peace organization celebrated the International Youth Day – which normally falls on 12 August – in Kompong Chhnang province on 10 August with the march of groups of people coming from 3 different directions. The marchers then proceeded to a forum which was participated by about 800 youth, school children and police officers.