Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Ministry mulls end to teacher exam exemptions: PM

Ministry mulls end to teacher exam exemptions: PM

A teacher supervises students during class activities at a Preah Vihear primary school last year.
A teacher supervises students during class activities at a Preah Vihear primary school last year. Hong Menea

Ministry mulls end to teacher exam exemptions: PM

A year after approving a Ministry of Education request to automatically admit students earning As, Bs and Cs on their Grade 12 exams into teacher training, Hun Sen on Monday said the ministry “will reconsider continuing to prioritise students” with those marks.

In comments during a speech at a graduation ceremony at Panha Chiet University, and later posted on Facebook, the premier said the ministry will consider making those students sit an exam, just like applicants who earned Ds and Es. “If there’s an examination, you should not be afraid, especially the ones receiving As,” the post reads.

Ministry of Education spokesman Ros Salin declined to comment on the remarks yesterday.

According to ministry figures from early 2015, more than 80 percent of applicants earned only Ds or Es on their exams. However, by late October, more than 1,200 B and C students had submitted their applications to become teachers, prompting the ministry to request the exemption in the first place.

Chin Chanveasna, executive director for the NGO Education Partnership, said the exam exemption – which applied retroactively to previous years – had helped attract better applicants.

With a career in teaching often a last choice, he said, “the education sector can’t get a good quality” workforce, reinforcing the need for exemptions.

San Chey, of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability, however, suggested that perhaps “the prime minister wants to gain popularity among all the C, D and E students”.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Tina rebuffs ‘false claims’ over falling paddy price

    Agriculture minister Dith Tina has shed light on the trade of paddy rice in Battambang – Cambodia’s leading rice-producing province – in a bid to curb what he dubs a “social media fact distortion campaign” to destabilise the market. While acknowledging that the prices of paddy

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm