General Education or Professional Education for the Education of Teacher: Cambodia

Cambodian education is very unique in a sense of historical development perspective; to be more obvious, Cambodia has been through warring situations, namely the Pol Pot regime, followed by Vietnamese supervision during early 1980s. In attempting to recover and develop Cambodian education, basic education and teacher training (education) have been given priority since then (Duggan, 1996). Regarding with teacher education, the question might raise: what should teachers be provided/educated—general education or profession, even now? To answer this question, for Cambodian context, general education for teachers will still be demanding, due to some reasons and situations Cambodia is facing now.

To compare the good point of general education and profession in terms of self advancement, surely the profession trains them to be specialists and on the other hand it promotes the discipline; this kind of education has proved benefit for a highly developed and industrialized country. However, Cambodia is still under-industrialized country. On the other hand, recently Cambodia has financed 1.7% of its GDP and 14.6% of Government Spending on Education as a whole (World Bank, 2008) However, please be notified that teacher education is also considered as a tertiary level of education; then tertiary level of education as a whole shares the proportion of only 13.6% compared to Primary level, 64.6% (World Bank, 2008). Therefore, can Cambodia afford such education?

Regarding the quality of teachers themselves, it has been observed, believed, and notified that the quality of teachers in overall and at all level is poor. As it has been mentioned that Cambodia used to go through dark period, teachers have been selected from city streets and village pathways (Duggan, 1996). They were provided just a short training (ranging from three weeks, 1 or 2 months). Particularly, the courses were to broaden their general knowledge rather than teaching skills or pedagogy. Once again, as quoted by Duggan (1996), one senior ministry official noted that 55,000 out of 65,000 were unqualified.

Moreover, shortage of teachers is still a pressure for Cambodian education. After the genocidal era, 75-80% of the teachers and higher education students fled the country or died (Pellini, 2005). To be more obvious, “only some 87 of the 1,009 teachers in higher education prior to the Khmer Rouge period had survived (cited in UNESCO, 2008).” This implication is clear that before reaching the provision of profession to students from teachers, it still requires general education first. Additionally, there are 6,365 primary schools housing 2,461,135 students (MoEY, 2006), with 51,212 teachers (World Bank, 2008). As a result, the pupil-teacher ratio is 56 in 2003 and 50 in 2006 (World Bank, 2008). This ratio is very high compared to other low-income countries including Vietnam (21), Myanmar (30), Laos PDR (31), or Mongolia (33) (World Bank). This has implied that more numbers of teachers are still needed urgently at this level of general education.

According to the Education framework, vision and policies, as outlined in the Education Sector Support Program for 2006 – 2010, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEY) has set three objectives for its teacher develop programs. Furthermore, the program lists two targets and indicators. First, it is to recruit 5,000 new trainees per annum; and second, 3,000 primary teachers should be upgraded to become basic education teachers at six Regional Teacher Training Colleges [Centers] (RTTCs) by 2010 (UNESCO, 2008). This has implied that basic education teachers are still in need and focus.

This short report cannot embrace all other aspects besides looking at the shortage of finance, low quality and quantity of teachers as a whole. Moreover, looking at the priority of Cambodian education framework, vision and policies, it can be seen that general education for teachers is more pressuring and urgent than professional education for them. However, this does not mean that professional education for teachers is ignored or will be ignore; it is a matter of time, money, willingness and effort. This really requires firm cooperation from international and national bodies concerned. Internally, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia perhaps is the most responsible though it also requires cooperation and collaboration from schools (principals, teachers), parents, students and all kind of people, in order that Cambodian Education system as a whole can be improved nation-wide, region-wide and world-wide.

Reference:

Duggan, Stephen J. (1996). Education, Teacher Training and Prospects for Economic Recovery in Cambodia. Comparative Education, 32:3, 361-376.
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (2007). Education Indicator 2003 – 2007. Phnom Penh: MoEY.
Pellini, A. (2005). Decentralisation of education in Cambodia: searching for spaces of participation between traditions and modernity. Compare, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 205-216.
Pich, S. (1997). Educational destruction and reconstruction in Cambodia (p. 43-49) in Educational Destruction and Reconstruction in Disrupted Societies. UNESCO.
UNESCO (2008). State of Teacher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. UNESCO.
Word Bank (2008). Retrieved 24 July, 2008, from http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/DDPQQ/showReport.do?method=showReport

Entrance Examination in Japan: A Blessing or Curse

1. What caused Examination Hell?
- Educational Perspective: MEXT is the only one who plans and decides everything including policy, curriculum, programs and funds (Fujimori, 1999; MEXT).
- Society Perspective: Japan is an “education credentialism” society, which success and access to a top-ranked university is a one-time opportunity and life-time success determined by entrance exam.
- Economic Perspective: The major business companies tend to employ those are from famous universities; thus, the university that a student attends is most often the sole criterion that employers consider in their decision to hire a potential candidate (Asianinfo, 2000; Bossy, 2000).
Subsequently, the university entrance exam is a determinant of future success, status, and welfare of Japanese youngsters.

2. A Curse
This provokes pressure for students.
- Pressure from the Society: Not all students pass the university entrance exam; 5 students competed for every one opening in national universities, 9.7 students competed for every one opening in public universities, and 10.6 students competed for every one opening in private universities (JMOE, 1994).
- Pressure from Parents: Achievement of children is one foremost priority of the family goals. Investment in their children's' education is a very high priority for Japanese parents. Educational expenses such as juku, private tutors, and related materials account for 15.8 percent of consumer spending by Japanese households, more than 5 times that spent in the United States (Japan Times, September 18, 1994, p. 3). In return, studying hard and obtaining higher grades is a must. Academic success rewards families with fame, high social status, economic security and honor, while failure means low family status, economic hardship, and family shame.
- Pressure from Teachers: Teachers, getting trust, praise and priority from parents, discharge an enormous influence on students; and some even go too far. Teachers closely scrutinize whatever students do; students are under the thumb of teachers who do whatever it takes, including physical and sexual abuse. Some students fear teachers.
- Pressure from Peers: Students who are outstanding are not looked up to; in return, they would become strangers. It is difficult for students to restrict their own performance. Moreover, many other students will do whatever that guarantees their success to university; some, hoping that it will disturb other from studying, physically intimidate the brighter ones.
As a result, a side effect of all this competition is severe stress that comes out by bullying, violence and "allergies to school". The bullying and violence are the causes of suicide and murder in the junior and high schools across Japan (Asianinfo, 2000; Mori, 2002).
Free time is lost by exam preparation—even elementary school children always return home after 10 o`clock at night (Random, 1985, MEXT). Thirty nine percent of public elementary school students, 75 percent of public middle school students, and 38 percent of public high school students attend juku (MEXT, quoted in Japan Time, 28 July, 2005).
Additionally, students feel exhausted. The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare White Paper recently stated: Upon examining the daily schedule for elementary and middle school students, we find that the average weekday time used for school work and commuting to school is 8 hours and 15 minutes for elementary school students and 10 hours and 10 minutes for middle school students. Excluding sleep time, these figures amount to 54.0 and 62.096 of their daily schedules. In other words, more than half of their daily schedules are devoted to school work. (See more detail at MEXT statistics about Daily Study Hours of Students). A survey has shown that 27% of elementary school students and 64% of junior high school children feel fatigue in their daily lives[1].
This will prevent students from growing up with sound mind. It is against the Japanese Constitution, Chapter III: Rights and Duties of People.
Article 13: All of the people shall be respected as individuals. Their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness shall, to the extent that it does not interfere with the public welfare, be the supreme consideration in legislation and in other governmental affairs.
In short, the psychological impact of the pressures that students have to endure at home, in school and in the society is great. It is also what drives many to uncharacteristic violent behavior, and even suicide. For many, the load is too heavy. One eighteen-year-old boy wrote:
I thank you for taking care of me for a long time. I have been in a slump the past month and did not study. I don't know why, but I am not in the mood to study. It is impossible in this condition to pass the entrance examination, which is coming in about a month. I gave up hope of passing the examination. I give up. I have decided to die. (Iga, 1986, p. 39)
The status difference among top-ranked universities is enough to cause students to commit suicide. A paragraph from a suicide note written by a Kyoto university student reads:
The only significance of life is to enter Tokyo University, which is the best in Japan. When I entered Kyoto University, students and professors here looked so inferior to those in Tokyo. The fact that I entered this university worsened my nervous condition, contrary to my mother's expectations. I could not be proud of being a student here. (Iga, 1986, p. 41)
The latest NPA data confirm that suicide by elementary- and middle-school students is a serious social problem. The suicide rate for this group rose by a massive 57.6%, representing a total of 93 innocent lives lost, 34 more than in 2002. Among high-school students there was also a sharp rise of 29.3%. In total, 225 young lives were lost in this category. There was also an increase in the number of college students killing themselves. The overall suicide rate among people aged 19 or younger rose by 22%. (Curtin, 2004). (For more detail of suicide rate, see WHO statistics).

3. Reasons and Suggestions to Remedy
Reasons to Remedy
The Japanese educational system places all its eggs in one basket-the university entrance examination. (Bossy, 2000).
According to Amano (1994), the entrance examination and secondary education is not well matched because Japanese higher education was instituted at the end of the 1860s to train high-class civil servants to catch up with Western countries. (quoted in Mori, 2002).
While the exam could not assess students` abilities in analysis; synthesis; creativity; and critical thinking skill, another criticism against this exam is that too much influence from the industry which over-put evil emphasis on university ranking.
Suggestions to Remedy
Diversification of admissions criteria: modify the questions in the test, conduct interview and selecting based on recommendation from teachers.
The power to decide curricula and content should be transferred from the Ministry to private schools and local governments to enhance democratization of education so that schools and local governments can pursuit for better education on their own initiatives. This will provide a variety of educational values reducing competition among students, and lessening the centralized competition of the past (Fujimori, 1999).
"The nation's schools and workplaces need to demonstrate more willingness to educate and openly discuss issues like stress and depression, which often lead to suicide." (Asia Times)

4. Conclusion
Who is to blame? It can be seen that parents, though sacrifice much for the sake of children` education and success in life, may not perceive the harm that they expose on them. On the other hand, they may know, but they believe that there is no choice. Teachers also incite pressure for their students. However, Japanese society and culture are perhaps the most responsible for this kind of incident and pressure.
The problems have been found and are to be tackled by the Japan herself, namely MEXT, though, it takes time.

References:
- Asianinfo, (2000). Japanese Education and Literacy. Asianinfo. Retrieved 11 July, 2008, from http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/education_literacy.htm#ISSUES%20IN%20JAPANESE%20EDUCATION
- Bossy, S. (2000, winter). Academic pressure and impact on Japanese students. McGill Journal of Education. Retrieved 12 July, 2008 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3965/is_200001/ai_n8894769
- Concar, D. (1993, October 02). Examination hell: Britain wants its schools to be more like those of Japan - competitive, conservative and uniform. But Japan has its own problems. New Scientist Magazine, Issue: 1893.
- Curtin, J. S. (2004). Suicide also rises in land of rising sun. Asia Time Online. Retrieved 13 July, 2008, from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/FG28Dh01.html
- Fujimori, S. (1999). What causes examination wars in Japan? Retrieved 11 July, 2008, from http://www141.sannet.ne.jp/juken/e-index.htm
- Iga, M. (1986). The thorn in the chrysanthemum. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Japanese Ministry of Education (JMOE) (1995). Educational issues of disciplining students and the Ministry's countermeasures. Tokyo.
- Japanese Ministry of Education (JMOE) (1994). Educational issues of disciplining students and the Ministry's countermeasures. Tokyo.
- Lee, D. (2004). What is the fate of examination hell in Japan? Retrieved 11 July, 2008, from http://uniorb.com/ATREND/JExam.html
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, (2006). School Education, Tokyo.
- Mori, R. (2002). Entrance examinations and remedial education in Japanese higher education. Higher Education, 43: 27-42.
- Random, S. (1985). Schooling in Japan: The paradox in the pattern. Education Week, February 20. Cited in Ogura, Y. (1987). Examination hell: Japanese education's most serious problem. The College Board Review, (144), 8-11, 26-30.
- Sato, M. (Thursday, July 28, 2005). Cram school cash in on failure of public schools. Japan Times,
- The Constitution of Japan (1946). The Constitution of Japan. Japan.
- WHO: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/
- Yoshida, R. (2001, Fall). Intense Years: How Japanese adolescents balance school, family and friends. McGill Journal of Education. Retrieved 12 July, 2008 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3965/is_200110/ai_n8959360?tag=artBody;col1
[1] Life and study survey by the Nagano prefectural education committee, February 1996.

Teacher’s Salary and International Cooperation Get Cambodian Education Better

Cambodia has been facing many crises, including natural disasters, population growth, poverty, illiteracy, diseases, and suburb-urban disparities. These crises are mainly consequences caused by negative impacts from the country past history (Neau, 2004). For instance, during the Democratic Kampuchea or so-called Pol Pot regime (April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979), Cambodia was in year zero (Ponchaud, 1978). Everything including education, economy, religion, infrastructure was complete destroyed.

These social and economic issues are enormous to be solved at once with one solution. But, one of the main solutions to these is education, which involves with all kind of people in the life-long learning; without education, Cambodia finds it hard to stand in an international arena. However, Cambodian education per se has also undergone critically dark period so far. Educational quality, facility, qualified teachers, curriculum, as well as school attrition rates are out of doubt (Pak, 2001).

Recently, many school buildings have been built and restored; educators at all levels have been and have trained. These have been done under the donation and financial support of national and international organizations and institution. Yet, despite this much effort, one main problem among others still needs solution badly.

This problem clearly results in dropout of school of children as Pok (cited in Barton and Sam, 2006) said that, “teachers taking money from students is also another key reason causing children to drop out of schools.” Teachers financially are in crisis to get survival; thus they are forced to betray their professionalism and conscience; they have to ask extra money from their pupils, besides taking official teaching time to work a second or third job. This ‘informal fee’ has leaded many pupils to quit class. This point of this case can be seen from an example of a girl named Pich Dy, living in Sangkat Chbar Ampov (Phon Penh); “The teacher asked me to stand up, … sometimes I was ordered to stand up for 30 minutes, because I did not have money” (Launey, 2007). Finally, at the age of 14, she was forced to drop out of school and it is unlikely that she can return to school back (Launey, 2007).

One anonymous teacher in Phnom Penh also said that the salary is not enough to pay for electricity or water basically, let alone on anything else (Launey, 2007). She also added that her colleagues and she took money from students for the test papers, course materials, or simply for attending the class. Likewise, another case from teacher’s side can be heard from another teacher in Kandal province. His extra income came from driving a motor taxi and he thought that ‘informal fee’ is as simple as a matter of survival (Launey, 2007).
This story happens in Phnom Penh city and it is no doubt that this will happen in all poor community all over Cambodia. This demanding for ‘informal fee’ is forcing Cambodian children to drop out of school because their parents cannot afford to pay.

One of the solutions to this problem is likely to be the enough amount of salary for the teachers. Rung, a president of the Cambodian Independent Teacher’s Association, believes that the quality of education as a whole will be improved if teacher’s salary is increased (Barton and Sam, 2006). If the teachers can survive with their salary, ‘informal fee’ will not be implemented. Therefore, the salary should be increased to a certain level that can be enough to pay for the expenditure. Teacher salaries are set to increase 15 percent annually, but the increases are hardly enough. According to Cheang (2008), at present, the primary school teachers are paid about 140,000 riel ($35) a month, lower secondary teachers get 200,000 riel ($50), and upper secondary teachers 240,000 ($60), while Vietnamese teachers get 150 US$ and Thai teachers get 200 US$ (KI MEDIA, 2006). However, teachers still find it hard to survive with this amount of salary due to the increasing price of goods in the market. So what is needed more?

The answer is international cooperation. Even though Cambodia has already depended on overseas assistance technically and financially for about half of the national budget, it is high likely believed that the best way is to raise teacher’s pay. It is high probable that if the pay is high, the teachers may not ask for extra money from their pupils; then the dropout rate might decrease; the quality of teaching and learning might be assured. The fact can be seen in a case of one school in Prey Veng province, Cambodia. There, a Japan family has helped improved the teaching and learning condition, and teachers in particular, by paying extra money more for teachers. Obviously, we acknowledge that this kind of assistance will help only in a short period of time. However, in the mean time, it is really a great remedy for this problem; that is “something is better than nothing” (IICD, 2007).
Therefore, beyond the provision of extra pay, the donors can provide the training too in order to guarantee the sustainability of the development and improvement. Another way which international cooperation can help is that the assistance can be used to conduct a weekly or monthly training workshop or seminar on capacity building which is useful in their profession including the mastery subject and pedagogical skills. From this, the teachers can not only get extra pay but also increase their knowledge and skills useful for their career and quality of education as a whole. Teachers are willing to join and they said they just wait to be called for workshop or training (Neau, 2004). This case in point can be seen in some international projects such as The Flemish Association for Development Co-Operation and Technical Assistance (Belgium), Agdar University College (Kristiansand, Norway), and Belgian Technical Cooperation (Provincial Teacher Training College Siem Reap, 2005). One component of these projects, though in different educational levels, ecologies, or setting, is to build teacher capacity. These are just a few examples only, not mentioning about JICA, whose assistance is tremendous in terms of fund. In short, besides guaranteeing the sustainability of capacity development, this kind of international cooperation is an urgent need for Cambodian education, particularly teachers at all levels.

As it has been mentioned above, in the mean time, through international cooperation, what can effectively contribute to solve the problem of teacher salary is to go to the place directly and immediately take action. The two suggested solutions, which are to pay for the teachers more and at the same time to train them both in content and pedagogical skills, will possibly be the effective remedy to this problem. However, to solve this problem more effectively and sooner, it actually needs not only international cooperation, but also national cooperation and the contribution from all kinds of institutions and people concerned. This process is challenging one and will not be achieved overnight, but will be a long-time effort, based on mutual and continual understanding, trust, respect and support.


References
Barton, C, Sam, R (Jul, 28 - Aug, 10, 2006) Corruption and poverty get school dropout blame। Phnom Penh Post. 15/15. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://phnompenhpost.com/%20TXT/current/stories/1515/corrup.htm.
Cheang, S. (December 14 – 28, 2007A). ADB approves $27 million secondary education grant. Phnom Penh Post. 16/25. Retrieved February 20, 2008, from http://sroeu.wordpress.com/category/adb/
Chhin, S. (2007). Developing Graduate Programs in Teacher Education: The Royal University of Phnom Penh, Paper Presented at UNESCO-APEID Hiroshima Seminar on “Innovation and Reform in Teacher Education in Asia and Pacific Region”, Hiroshima University, Japan, 4-9 December, 2007.
Dy, S. S. (2005) Basic Education For All in Cambodia: Policies and Strategies for Quality Improvement. Doctor Dissertation, Hiroshima, Hiroshima University.
Dy, S. S., and Ninomiya, A. (2003, December 18). Basic Education in Cambodia: The impact of UNESCO on policies in the 1990s, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(48). Retrieved [Date] from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n48/.
Institute for International Cooperation and Development. (2007). Something Is Better Than Nothing. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from (http://www.iicd-volunteer.org/page_view.%20php?page=482&title=Something%20Is%20Better%20Than%20Nothing.
KI MEDIA (2006). Rong Chhun: The Teachers’ Voice. KI MEDIA, Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2006/12/rong-chhun-teachers-voice.html.
Knight, K., & MacLeod, K. (2004). Education for all in Cambodia: Teacher status, social dialogue and the education sector. International Labor Office Publications. Retrieved January 18, 2008 from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/educa- tion/teachers-voices.pdf.
Neau, V. (2004). Ongoing Professional Development for In-service Cambodian Teachers of English in Secondary Schools: Contemporary Issues, Needs, and Future Direction, Doctor Dissertation, Hiroshima, Hiroshima University.
Pak, Th. (2001). Cambodia in the 21st Century: In Quest of World Class Development, Democracy, and Education, Doctor Dissertation, Ann Arbor: Fielding Graduate Institutes.
Provincial Teacher Training College Siem Reap (2005). Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www.pttcsrp.com/coop_eng.html.