Re: Khmer professor Tith Narahnkiri of John Hopkins tackles development issues of Cambodia
- From: Peter Wong <Kampuchun2002@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 26 Apr 2007 14:37:56 -0700
On Apr 26, 11:53 am, Chim <Chi...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.rfa.org/khmer/audio/2007/04/26/hnp-malay1.mp3http://www.rfa.org/khmer/audio/2007/04/26/hnp-malay2.mp3http://www.rfa.org/khmer/audio/2007/04/26/hnp-malay3.mp3http://www.rfa.org/khmer/audio/2007/04/26/hnp-malay4.mp3
World Bank and ADB fund rural school expansion
By Cheang Sokha
About 700 school buildings will be built over the next four years with
World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds to meet the
needs of Cambodia's rapidly growing school-age population.
Pok Than, secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Sport (MoEYS), said the WB and ADB had finalized their proposals last
month and construction is scheduled to start in early 2006 and
conclude in 2009. The WB plans to build 300 schools and the ADB 400.
The school buildings will be designed to hold five classrooms. The
government will contribute 10 percent of the required funding.
In the first four months of 2006 approximately 100 schools will be
built in remote provinces, Than said.
He said the priority will be building lower secondary schools to teach
students in grades 7, 8, and 9. Many communes did not have lower
secondary schools, and students could not continue their education
after they finished primary school.
About 93 percent of children attend primary schools and the MoEYS
hopes to reach 100 percent by the year 2015, Than said.
"Our policy is to promote poor and ethnic minority students to study
at least to grade nine," Than said. "I hope that in the near future
community education will be improved."
In February 2005 the ADB signed a $45-million soft (low-interest) loan
agreement with the government for school construction. The ADB project
is known as the Second Education Sector Development Program, with $20
million going to the Ministry of Economy and Finance for budget
support and $25 million to the MoEYS for the investment project.
In May the WB approved its building plans in a new Education Sector
Support Project of $28 million of which $20 million is an
International Development Association (IDA) grant and the remaining $8
million an IDA credit.
The WB project will target the most disadvantaged children and will
focus on girls, ethnic minorities and communes with widespread
poverty.
Mar Sophea, social sector officer at the ADB, said the project will
start in the first quarter of 2006 and is expected to finish by 2009.
The ADB will also build a total of 48 model schools, 24 will be
constructed in remote districts.
"ADB will follow up to ensure the quality of school building," Sophea
said.
He said during the past five years the education sector had seen
improvements in primary enrollment, with government budget allocation
increased from 12 percent to 19 percent, though that was not yet
enough to build competent human resources.
"More work needs to be done," he said. "We cannot compromise by
concentrating only on quantity enrollment and increased promotion, but
we have to think about the quality. It's time for us to look at the
quality issue. We will investigate teacher training, curriculum
development, textbooks and school director management."
Than said the government had selected 5,000 teachers this year to meet
the needs of remote provinces. The government has also agreed to
increase teachers' salaries by 15 percent each year beginning in 2004.
At present, primary teachers are paid about 120,000 riel ($30) a
month, lower secondary teachers 180,000 ($45), and upper secondary
teachers 220,000 ($55).
Sophea said that in order to strengthen the overall quality of
education, curriculum and textbooks must be revised and updated, and
teacher and student materials must be provided.
"The quality issue is a big challenge for the government, for students
themselves and their families - and donors," he said.
The ADB project includes the transfer of $7 million from the MoEYS to
the Ministry of Labor to fund community-based skills training programs
for young people aged between 15 and 19 who have dropped out of
school.
Sophea said these young people will not qualify for decent jobs if
they don't have any skills. The project will help them get practical
experience in their communities so that they can look for better
employment or start their own businesses.
"Students dropping out of the school is not going to get worse, but it
is a big concern," he said.
Another two ADB projects being implemented between 2005 and 2007 will
be funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. One will provide
scholarships for poor girls and children in ethnic minority areas, the
other will aim to improve primary school access in disadvantaged
communes. The two projects, which will be implemented in rural
provinces, will cost roughly $5 million.
According to a WB book published in May 2005, education indicators for
ethnic minorities and highland people in remote or mountainous areas
are much lower than the national average.
There are about 414 remote schools in Cambodia, with around 68,000
students and 1,000 certified government teachers. The net enrollment
in remote schools is 76 percent, compared with the national average of
93 percent. Literacy among ethnic minorities and highland people is
lower than among lowlanders.
Tim Sangvat, chief of the Mondulkiri education office, said his
province needs at least 15 new school buildings to meet the needs of
the growing number of students, and more teachers are needed.
Officials from the MoEYS had visited, and building would start in mid
2006.
Sangvat said about 35 percent of Mondulkiri students belong to ethnic
minorities. Most do not attend school regularly because they live in
rural areas and spend a large portion of time helping their families
farm.
There are 7,999 schools with 3,433,048 students and 76,350 teachers in
Cambodia. This breaks down to 1,238 pre-schools, 6,063 primary
schools, 486 lower secondary schools and 212 upper secondary schools.
..
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