A project to help boost the number of English-language teachers in Cambodia has been

started by the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) at

Phnom Penh University.

The program, costing A$2 million over two years, aims to produce 100 Bachelor of

Education (TEFL) graduates and 30 translators.

The students were selected from 2,250 candidates who applied last month for the two

courses of two to four years, designed to produce senior high-school teachers and

specialized translators.

The four-year Bachelor of Education course will be a first for Cambodia including

units as diverse as literature, cultural studies, linguistics and teaching methodology.

The Phnom Penh University English Education Project (PPUEEP) has six Australian and

four Cambodian teachers who hope to alleviate the severe shortage of English-language

teachers at all levels of education throughout the country.

In 1990, the Ministry of Education began its first English-language training program

but failed to provide any qualifications to the students.

The most popular course in Phnom Penh are available privately, with teachers renting

school buildings while others teach in their own homes, offering courses in Essential

English, Streamline and others trimmed from newspapers.