Ministry of Education Outlines Plans 
for Reform

Faced with an impoverished education system in which students pay bribes for their grades often at the request of poorly paid teachers the Ministry of Education has a big job ahead as it seeks to improve the nation's schools.

Speaking to reporters before opening a two-day conference on the future of education in Cambodia, Minister of Education Tol Lab said his vision for the nation's students includes free basic education, food programs and scholarships for poor children and girls, who are often are over­looked as struggling families choose whom they will pay to send to class.

"My ministry has asked the gov­ernment to provide some money to schools so poor students will be able to attend for free, at least up until grade nine-this is a basic education that everyone de­serves," he said.

A pledge like that will require massive reforms and money. The conference ends today as ministry officials and governors from each of Cambodia's 24 provinces are to agree on a five-year school reform plan. Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to close the conference.

Tol Lah, the man who steers the government's education programs, said his concerns for poor children and especially girls, who tend to drop out of school before boys, will guide some of his planning for the next five years. Tol Iah said by offering incen­tives such as food programs and financial scholarships, schools may draw and keep more at risk students. But even this simple step will require the help of international donors, he said, since the government's education program lacks the money needed to provide tree education.

At least some help is available, Tol Lah said. We have met with the World Food Program and the detail have not been specified yet, b we know that some amount rice will be offered to students, Tol Lah said. Scholarships will be offered to those who are at particular risk of dropping out, especially girls, who tend to stay in school only one or two years, Tol Lah said.

"Fifty4hree percent of the population is female," he said. We are losing a lot of potential, so we need to get out and talk to families to encourage girls to cre­ate favorable conditions for themselves," he said. Tol Lah said another key objective of the program is relocating teachers from Phnom Penh to rural areas of the country where there is a shortage of trained and qualified staff.

Teachers will be encouraged to relocate with incentives such as salary increases, coverage of travel costs and family visits, as well as preferential treatment when it comes to returning to Phnom Penh, he said. "Right now, some teachers in remote areas have to teach two different grades at the same time." And there's an even more pressing problem with education in rural areas. Some villages do not even have schools, Secretary of State Pok Than said.

The project, funded by the international community, will disburse money directly to the provinces to build their own schools. The ministry will oversee the projects but the planning and building will be the responsibility of the provinces. But even once in school, Tol Lah conceded that both students and teachers face additional obstacles in education.

Students and teachers are often victims of bribery students offering teachers money for better grades and teachers demanding money from students just for basic lessons. "Cambodia is a country that suffers from cultural bankruptcy," Tol Lah said. "The Ministry of Education is working hard to teach human rights and morals ...a culture of peace has to be introduced."

Tol Lah added that he doesn't think violence toward teachers is a major cause for concern. He said he believes the murder of a teacher a few weeks ago was "an isolated incident, and not typical of Cambodia." "In a basket of fruit, there can always be one or two rotten piec­es," he said. Secretary of State I'm Sothy, speaking at the conference, expressed the urgency for educa­tional reform in Cambodia.

He said during the floods last year about 1,000 school buildings were damaged, leaving 48 percent of the primary schools with only two or three classrooms and delaying the return of many students to school "Now is not the time to walk," he said "We need to run."