plaguing the quality of university education in Cambodia, students
say, driving them overseas in search of masters and PhD programmes,
write Shane Worrell and Chhay Channyda for The Phnom Penh Post.
If the government hopes to keep its best and brightest at home, it
must resolve these issues and build a world-class university system
from within, said Sim Socheata, one of three Cambodians on scholarship
at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who spoke to the Post about
their frustrations with Cambodian education. "It is time for
Cambodians to start researching, analysing, drawing conclusions and
suggesting what needs to be done," said the 29-year-old, who is
studying for her masters in public health.
Obstacles hindering Cambodia's higher education system include low
salaries for teachers - which force them into second jobs - lack of
materials and equipment and a "mushrooming" of the private system,
which has encouraged a focus on profit over quality and flooded the
labour market with graduates who can't find work in their field, she
said.
Full report on The Phnom Penh Post site
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012010353742/National-news/for-many-its-a-matter-of-degrees.html
Comment:
There is a far larger educational crisis in Cambodia. Cambodian
parents often remove their girls from school before theycomplete grade
3.
Later, as young women, their lack of education makes it impossible to
get a decent job and they frequently wind up in near-slave conditions
and desperately poor.
The many aid organisations here only focus on children - it seems they
think that once a women hits 18, she's a lost cause (educationally).
So even if the children were lucky enough to get an education, all of
their income would be drained caring for their destitute parent.
Educate the mothers, on the other hand, and you also dramatically
increase the chance her children will get a good education.
The only group I know of that is really helping is the Women's Library
in Siem Reap, run by the US non-profit, GETSET-GO.
http://getset-go.org/learningcenterhome.html
It is the only place many women can go to get education denied them as
girls, which they can use to build an independent, dignified life.
If you really care about education in Cambodia and Cambodia's future,
then you'll want to support the Women's Library and more like it.
Srey Chilat
