Asean marketplace, as the region becomes more closely integrated,
youth advocates say.
"It is difficult for individual young people, especially those in the
countryside, to know what the job market demands, because their
understanding of Asean is still limited," Cheang Sokha, executive
director of the Youth Resource Development Program, told "Hello VOA"
Monday.
"So, the government must do research to find out where we are now,
what our strong and weak points are and what the regional market
demands will be, so that we can start focusing on the skills
required," he said. "And then it must make its findings widely known
to youth so that they are better prepared."
This year, Cambodia is the rotating head of Asean, which hopes to
fully integrate economically by 2015.
Despite a population of 14 million people, Cambodia is only able to
employ a small number of the 300,000 university students who graduate
annually. Students say their skills do not match the market demands.
"Youth themselves need to focus more on real sciences like technology,
rather than social sciences, if they want to integrate well into the
Asean community," Him Sothearoth, a fourth-year student of
international studies at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said as
another guest on "Hello VOA." "In terms of know-how, the abilities of
Cambodian students are the lowest of Asean countries," she said.
A caller from Kampon Speu province who identified himself as Sareoun
said it is unfair to compare Cambodia, which suffered years of civil
strife, to other Asean countries.
"Even though the quality of our education is not as good as we want
now, we have improved to an acceptable level," he said, adding that
Cambodian youth will be competitive in Asean in the near future thanks
to what he called "a mushrooming of higher education institutions."
Him Sothearoth, is a 4th year student of International Studies at
Royal University of Phnom Penh with Cheang Sokha, executive director
of Youth Resource Development Program, on "Hello VOA" program on
Monday.
