VUTHASURF

Two-year birth certificates have been required for junior and senior school examinations by the ministry of education in order to avoid accidentally wrong names and birth date on the list. But local authorities have charged the copied birth certificates between $2.50 to $5 in the provinces and $10 in Phnom Penh, just only stamped on, local newspaper reported.

I doubted that why the local authorities have to charge the students’ copied birth certificates. Is the commune council’s policy? This is possibly the obstacles to the poor students to fail to take exam or drop school. At the point, the ministry of education should immediately take it into consideration in order to reduce corruption in the local levels, and have to encourage and protect the interest of the school boys and girls.

The government always has encouraged all parents to enroll the students without paying anything. The government should participate in damaging inactive points happening in education sectors. Education is important role playing for young children and next generation because they will be able to be the country leaders in the future.

This photo described that “not money to pay my teacher, I dare not to attend school”, “my mum told me that enrollment is free, why does my teacher require me to pay money every day”. This photo is courtesy of Sony”

Popularity: 2% [?]

After Khmer Rouge regime was toppled, most of Cambodian people attended school too late. Because school building had been destroyed and closed. To me, I was too late to attend school as well, aged at 10. Looking at the present time, young boys and girls start their study at the age of more than 3 or 4 at private school. What is different from the past and the present? I really appreciate them; they are clever, smart and brave. But there are differences between the children in rural areas and town and city. Children in rural area have no good chance like those in town and city.

My niece, aged more than 3 years, attended English private school in Phnom Penh.

Popularity: 3% [?]

At the beginning of new academic year 2007-08 started on October 2007 with an opening ceremony as planned. Parents have been required to register their children at public school at age 6, while they reach the age of schooling. Even though, all of them have an equal chance to attend school, the children is living in poor family, in rural and remote areas have less opportunity than the children in rich and well-off family.

When we talk about quality of education, we talk about quality of life as a result of education in school.

Prime minister said that “these problems include the fact that many children and young people, the majority of them female, poor, and living in remote areas, cannot attend school, because of a lack of school buildings and a lack of teachers.

As we knew, all parents often need their children to attend school like other children but poverty is the main obstacle to sending children to school. Poor parents always need their children to help generate income. By the way, those children often drop out or repeat class because they are busy to help their family make a living.

While it was raining heavily, I was sheltering at gas station, seeing a few hopeless children who were begging for money from people standing there. I asked them “where is your parent?” they said that they were sitting nearby. And they told me that they do not attend school yet. Some of them reach the age of schooling like others, but they have no chance to attend school it is because of poor family. Their parents are also beggars.

To these points, the poor children are losing education opportunity. Does the government have strategy to help them? According to new draft law on education, parents are forced to send their children to school. If they are poor, they are impossible to support their children to attend school, despite free enrollment, how do they send their children to school?

Popularity: 27% [?]

I joined Khmer traditional wedding in rural district in Komport province on July 08, 2007. While I was sitting together with my brothers eating food, there were approximately 6 boys and girls standing around the guest tables and some moved from one table to others. What were they doing?

All of them were living in the poor families. They asked for some food and soft drink from guests to eat and drink and were trying to scramble the used cans of beer each others, thrown under the table. Why did they do like this? They collected them to sell for money. Amongst the boys and girls were at the age from 4 to 13 year olds, whose ages are in schooling. I had not asked them about their study, but I could assume that they had no more opportunity to attend school like other children.   

I took photo of a boy collecting the can of beer at wedding ceremony; he was the youngest boy among others. It is because of the poverty situation causing them to earn money by picking up something thrown at wedding tent and in public place.

The boy was collecting the can in the wedding tent in Kompong Trach district.

Popularity: 2% [?]