Public works minister Sun Chanthol meets with 500 students at the Techo Sen Institute of Public Works and Transport on February 6. TSI
Plans have been unveiled for an extension of the Techo Sen Institute of Public Works and Transport (TSI) as it anticipates more Cambodian students enrolling in the next few years, reflecting a governmental pivot away from foreign expertise in the transportation infrastructure industry.
During a study orientation programme at TSI on February 6, Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol said the transportation system and infrastructure – including road construction, bridges, and ports – play an important role in the development of the country and in attracting foreign investors.
He added that the ministry is now rapidly expanding the institute – the first in Cambodia to provide public sector education – in response to the lack of human resources in these fields.
“In the first year of establishing the Techo Sen Institute alone, there were 191 students, and recently we recruited 200 more. We think that this institute will be full next year, and have insufficient space for the student population, so we have designed and prepared funds to build another high-rise building,” he said.
Chanthol expressed hope that through the expansion, more Cambodian students could be trained to build a quality infrastructural system for the Kingdom, which can in turn rely less on foreign expertise that currently comprises the bulk of infrastructural industry talent.
“I would like to see Cambodians build bridges across the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap rivers, and build subways under the sea by ourselves. Now, we rely on all foreign companies because we do not have the resources yet,” he said.
Under the ministry’s current framework, students who graduate from TSI are given a priority score in the public service entrance exam that is worth 15 per cent of their total grade.
When the new nine-storey building is completed, the old site will be repurposed as student accommodation to house enrollees from the provinces.
TSI director Hoeun Samneang told The Post that the institution’s success in the first and second generations was down to the huge increase in demand for public works and transport skills, and that this has driven the ministry to expand the institution.
Currently, the institute has an enrollment of 600 and can accommodate between 500 to 700 students. But with the introduction of the next cohort, Samneang believes there will not be enough space to house the resources required to train them.
“Besides the 200 undergraduate and engineering students each year, there are middle-level technicians, senior technicians and training worker, truck-driving trainers, and maintenance workers [to consider]. The building cannot currently support the number of students who need training in 2022 to 2023,” he said.
When the new building is completed, it will be able to accommodate around 3,500 students and can receive between 500 to 1,000 students per year.
Samneang said the project is expected to be completed by 2023. The new building will have an area of 20,000sqm across nine floors and is projected to cost between $7 million to $8 million, excluding the cost of modern equipment.
He added that the institute expects to launch additional courses in public works including roads; bridges; ports; railways and highways; water purification systems; economics; land transport; logistics and supply chains; and water navigation.
Currently, TSI also offers two types of scholarships: full 4-year scholarships for the 50 top performing students, and 50 per cent scholarships across the four years for female students who rank in the 50th to 200th places, to promote women’s participation in the field of public works and transport.
Tan Monivann, vice-president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said that because of Cambodia’s status as a developing country, it is crucial to meet the Kingdom’s infrastructure, transportation and local human resource needs.
