From today's PPP: Have I read this right or are they proposing that the best way to raise the quality of teaching in Cambodia is to make it easier to become a teacher?
After a year of overhauling the nation’s notoriously corruption-riddled grade 12 exam, the Ministry of Education said yesterday that 2015 will be the year of reforming teaching quality.
“The government’s strategic plan from 2015 to 2030 will focus on the capacity of the teachers . . . Teachers are the key to raising the quality of education in Cambodia,” said Nath Bunroeun, secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, during an education workshop in the capital.
In order to amend a long-standing teacher shortage that has left the nation with one of the worst student-teacher ratios outside of Africa, the Education Ministry will now make it easier for the top-scoring graduates of the national exam to become a teacher.
“From next year, those who get A, B or C [on the exam], if they want to become a teacher, they can become so automatically, no need to take any exams,” Bunroeun said.
This year’s strict no cheating standards saw just 1 per cent of students receiving the top three marks during either of the two exam rounds this year.
Education experts warned, however, that the incentive for high-scoring teacher recruits should only be a temporary measure.
“This is a good encouragement for students to try to study hard, but I think it should be limited to a period of time like two or three years only. Then there should be a [teachers’] exam, so that we can have more quality human resources,” said San Chey, a coordinator for social accountability group ANSA-EAP.
But teachers’ low wages, which force up to two-thirds to take on a second job, may prove the bigger barrier to much-needed bolstering of the education corps, others warned.
“Teachers’ salary should be increased so that they can afford their living expenses and spend more time on teaching,” said Kem Ley, a longtime analyst who recently announced plans to launch a series of political parties.
The government announced earlier this year that a series of teacher wages teachers would see earnings increase up to $200, but instructors have criticised the announced raises as still amounting to too little.
Raising the quality of teacher's in Cambodia
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[quote]Raising the quality of teacher's in Cambodia[/quote]
Your title is a joke, right? Right?
I don't think the proposal is unreasonable. I would want to offer some in-service training, but I'd say those 5 or 6 students who got a grade A, together with the rest of the top 1% in the country who got high grades through honest study are certainly teacher-material. Once reforms kick in and 50% of the candidates get grade C or above it won't be a wise idea, but as a kick-start measure, why not?
Where the idea does fall to pieces, and this is the part you should fully grasp, is that obviously the top 1% of Cambodia's youth surely have far better job prospects than that of a lowly-paid teacher, so I'd expect the responses of the students to this generous offer to be, "Thanks, but no thanks".
Your title is a joke, right? Right?
I don't think the proposal is unreasonable. I would want to offer some in-service training, but I'd say those 5 or 6 students who got a grade A, together with the rest of the top 1% in the country who got high grades through honest study are certainly teacher-material. Once reforms kick in and 50% of the candidates get grade C or above it won't be a wise idea, but as a kick-start measure, why not?
Where the idea does fall to pieces, and this is the part you should fully grasp, is that obviously the top 1% of Cambodia's youth surely have far better job prospects than that of a lowly-paid teacher, so I'd expect the responses of the students to this generous offer to be, "Thanks, but no thanks".
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I love how for every problem Cambodia faces, from traffic to education, they continuously ignore the key issues. It's like putting a band-aid on a badly bleeding femoral artery. Raising salaries and teaching standards, not lowering recruitment standards is the key. For starters, Cambodians already literally study half the amount of time your typical western student does. I think ASEAN integration will be a hard wake up call for Cambodia. It's not like they're integrating with Europe or anything, but I think it's still fair to say that they'll be at a severe disadvantage to their neighbours education-wise (which to be fair, does have some benefits). Teachers are forced to charge 500riel per "explanation sheet". Students have to buy 2-4 of these sheets per day and take "extra classes". This vicious circle will continue unless a real effort is done at raising salaries and erasing this sort of practice. Funding education (without trying to force other countries into "donating") rather than one's own pockets is something they'll soon realize is important. Cambodian leadership and its incessant lack of foresight and planning is truly a continuous source of marvel.
On a side note, a new land/property tax is going to start being levied next year. It'll be interesting to see how that transpires.
On a side note, a new land/property tax is going to start being levied next year. It'll be interesting to see how that transpires.
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Raising salaries is one of a raft of reformative measures the Education Minister has already announced and which I posted about a while ago. The Education Minister is in no doubt of the enormous challenges ahead - he's discussed all this. Sorry, but it's not a very educated attitude that takes one tiny proposal and raises it to some central policy without knowledge of the bigger picture. Scooby - get yourself informed - don't dumb down K440 lower than it already is.
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Andy, most of us have heard about other reforms steps being planned. I still think being both critical and skeptical about the country's education reforms, especially given past track records, is good. We're essentially discussing what newspapers and people in the west debate regarding similar reforms done there (something which local Khmer language newspapers rarely report on). Don't mistake criticism for unbridled pessimism regarding Cambodia's education system. It has made some strides in the right direction, but still needs a complete overhaul from primary to tertiary. I still wish the minister the best of luck and hope he succeeds in taking some baby steps towards reform (hell, even the Khmer language should be reformed). No doubt he has 1-3-5-10-year goals, but still, given the scope of what needs to the be done and the various limitations which his superiors impose on him, I think being skeptical isn't exactly uncalled for.
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Yeh, that's valid. I was having a go at scooby for reducing the whole complex issue to a thoughtless soundbite.
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Cambodia has a sane education ministry compared to that here in Indonesia. Here's a glaring example. Earlier this year there was an horrific case of child abuse, by Indonesian cleaning staff, at Jakarta International School. First response, deport 20 foreign teachers who, of course, had nothing to do with the abuse, then arrest a Canadian administrator who, once again, had nothing to do with the abuse. Finally, in order to ensure that this kind of thing can never again happen at an international school in Indonesia, ban the use of the word "international" in the title of any school in the country. Seriously, I couldn't make this shit up if I tried...
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Teachers can only do so much. You really want to improve the system? Make students accountable. I recall 10 years back a Canadian university took civil action against two medical students caught cheating.
What gives Ivy league universities their prestige...is the quality of their graduates.
What gives Ivy league universities their prestige...is the quality of their graduates.
I don't think I did this. I posted a story that appeared in the PPP and asked a question, hoping to be given some more informed views by those who work in the education sector or who are close to the Education Ministry because I know nothing about the education sector in Cambodia.andyinasia wrote:Yeh, that's valid. I was having a go at scooby for reducing the whole complex issue to a thoughtless soundbite.
I was disappointed.
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Haha. So true. A 'dust off' used to refer to helicopter extraction from a combat zone. Now a dust off refers to parental extraction of little jimmy from that life destroying C-Chuangt2u wrote:WallaceScott wrote: Make students accountable.
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Pay teachers a reasonable salary and raise the qualifications. In Laos, most university students are completely useless and just sit around drinking beer and showing up to class only when necessary. It is rare to see a student reading. I have spoken with many fourth year English majors and they can't even hold a basic conversation. Optimistic teachers say that they are shy to speak but let's be realistic and admit that they're also lazy to learn.
Most English teachers cannot speak English. I have spent 4-5 months of my life in Thailand and am more comfortable holding a conversation in Thai with a Thai English teacher than I am in English.
Lao society has the money to afford competent teachers. However, most people would rather spend their money on drinking and women. How do schools in countries like Cambodia and Laos honestly hope to find competent and educated English teachers when the offering rate is often times below the minimum wage of the countries where the Western educated teacher comes from?
It is also not acceptable to fail a child and the parents rarely take an initiative to push their children to pursue success.
Most English teachers cannot speak English. I have spent 4-5 months of my life in Thailand and am more comfortable holding a conversation in Thai with a Thai English teacher than I am in English.
Lao society has the money to afford competent teachers. However, most people would rather spend their money on drinking and women. How do schools in countries like Cambodia and Laos honestly hope to find competent and educated English teachers when the offering rate is often times below the minimum wage of the countries where the Western educated teacher comes from?
It is also not acceptable to fail a child and the parents rarely take an initiative to push their children to pursue success.
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