Last week, on Sunday, I traveled to Pohnear Leur district, Kandal province with my colleague and YCC’s program officer, Mr. Chheung Sineang who is working closely with Cambodian youths studying grade 10, 11 and 12, in an attempt to reveal them about the dissemination of ICT and hi-technology. He has worked with youths and known well about youth’s needs and concerns. It is good chance for me to question him about the concerns of youths living in remote rural areas related to their education and future.
“Pupils are sitting in class in Preah Thomrpreah Hun Sen High Schoolâ€
As you know, at the present time, youths are facing problems in current society such as drug usage, gangs, gambles, school drop-out and so on. Mr. Sineang raised some problems that youths in rural areas are getting concerned.
He said that youths expressed hopelessness when they knew that their brothers, sisters, relatives and their seniors are unemployed after graduating university. It doest not encourage them to study. They think that if they still continue their study and later they will have no job as well. All of these matters make them to lose confidence in studying.
He added that youths in rural areas have lack of possibility to access equal education like other youths in city and towns. By the way, the corruption in education system is obstacle to complete their study, he added. Meanwhile, they voice concerns that after finishing high school, they have to continue university in towns or city. They will have no enough money to pay for school fee because their families are poor. Private institutions are remarkably booming, it does not mean that all young Cambodians have equal opportunity to attend school; it is because of the poverty.
In the end, he showed that their village chiefs do not give opportunity to young Cambodians to participate in meeting relating to village development. Those village chiefs said that “you are young, so you should not know about village’s tasks, you have to only study.†At this point, youths lose opportunity in society.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
people in the rural areas are always disadvantage in many way, from life style to health, education to jobs. I have experienced that in my childhood [my childhood grown up in the era of war, Pol Pot regime and refugee, and I can't think of any happy moment being and youth or adulthood].
Australia is or may be a lucky country on earth, where the Government have always encouraged its people, and paid them to stay in school , at least, achieving a Higher School Certificate [equivalent to Bac II there], and had been given loan to pursue further academic study at the university, through Austudy scheme [loan for study which can be progressively repaid back to Government when they receive or have incomes]. But I can tell you that many children would or will drop out from school when they are 15 – just when they are at Year 10.
Some are choosing to enter technical college to learn trade or particular skills that they may want to pursue. Some are rather to start working with a very low wages and may opt to go back to school later.
Some are gaining Master or Bachelor degree but is not meant that they can get the job they want as job market are very competitive and as a fresh graduate without experience makes it even harder.
As Australia is now an aging population country, always short of skill people , Government is now coming up with another idea: – encouraged people to learn skills, short the required apprenticeship period and award degree, which is to address a short and long term shortage, other than rely on the import of skill workers from overseas.
I don’t really know that explanation above mentioned address the point you are making. Thanks