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Rural students at the Coconut school in Kirirom National Park, Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province, learn with computers – Photo: AFP
“It is true that he has many admirable points to admire such as leadership, the ability to improve the quality of education, educational policy for all and good preparation for educational reform in my country. “- replied Mr. SR, journalist from Cambodia Youth almost without thinking when asked about Cambodia’s Minister of Education – Youth and Sports, Dr. Hang Chuon Naron.
In the eyes of a father with four young school-age children, he feels secure in what his children have been receiving over the years.
The reform is on the right track
But perhaps the most visionary decision was the appointment of Vice Finance Minister Hang Chuon Naron (58 this year) as Minister of Education in 2013.
The first thing politicians with a master’s degree in international law (Lyon II University, France) do is implement a policy of “transparency, no fraud” in education and examinations, not starting from strategies. multi-million dollar reform plan.
Preparing for the high school graduation exam in 2014, she mobilized a large number of volunteers to participate in the fight against exam negativity.
In 2014, after new Minister Hang Chuon Naron toughened up the exam, Cambodia’s high school graduation pass rate from 80% in 2013 “fell free” to 25.7%.
This result is considered a shocking public opinion, revealing the “lack of definition” of the organization of examinations and examinations that lasted for many years. Everyone understands that good test results can be achieved if the exam room supervisor is bribed to turn a blind eye to passing the test.
After the decisive and revolutionary decision of the new minister, Cambodian students realized that things were no longer the same; If we want to move on from now on, the only way is to study diligently, study the truth, but we can’t look for opportunities in the temple and look forward to filming.
The high school pass rate rose to 41% during the retest a few months later. Mr. Song Soksan, director of the Department of Secondary Education at the time, commented: “Students have changed their learning attitudes and culture of learning. The quality of high school students enables them to graduate and pass the entrance exams. Creating a good foundation for higher education. “
By 2015, the high school graduation rate in Cambodia gradually increased to 56%, in 2016 it was 62%, and in 2017 it was 63.84%.
Not only did he increase teachers’ salaries so that they would live enthusiastically at their work, Minister Chuon Naron also began to reform the curriculum. Committees of experts are formed to continually review and refine the curriculum at all academic levels. The textbooks have been modified so that students can participate in the analysis. more extreme.
Improving the curriculum will boost student academic achievement. Cambodia must compete with countries in the region with superior academic capabilities.
Minister HANG CHUON NARON delivered a speech in January 2020
Recognized internationally
At the launch of the World Education Monitoring Report 2017/2018 in early December 2017 in the capital Phnom Penh, Ms Anne Lemaistre, UNESCO representative in Cambodia, once praised: “In the circumstances and In Cambodia, the reform of the national high school graduation exam has been very successful in terms of accountability. Thanks to this reform, examinees have realized that they must be replaced. They will lose their behavior if they do not study hard. And I think it’s in favor of Cambodia. “
In a statement that day, Minister Hang Chuon Naron admitted that Cambodia’s education still has a long way to go. But he promised to continue exercising greater accountability and transparency in education, because education reform will promote Cambodia to become a true learning society, the basis for building a creative country.
He is also a policy maker for continuing education for adults, wishing that as many people as possible have knowledge. He himself is a constant learner. During his time as CEO of Education Sector, he was able to study and earn a PhD in Educational Management from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand in 2018.
The 2019 Competitiveness Index Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), published in early October 2019, shows that out of a total of 141 countries – territories (reviewed by only 103 the number of groups in 12 pillars), the skills of Cambodian students and graduates ranked 104 (Vietnam ranked 116); Cambodian digital skills: 112 (Vietnam: 97); Critical thinking in teaching: 76 (Vietnam: 106); Primary school teacher to pupil ratio: 124 (Vietnam: 75); How easy is it to find qualified workers: 123 (Vietnam: 96) …
