As high school exam results were formally released on December 23, many of the successful candidates expressed their pride in passing the challenging assessment. They were happy to acknowledge that the exam conditions were strict, and that they did not cheat.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports announced that a total of 90,950 candidates, about 72.33 per cent, passed the exam, with 37,185 fails among 128,135 candidates.
1,049 students earned an A grade, while 7,232 students made Bs. 19,053 students earned a C, 31,166 made D grades, and 32,450 students got an E.
E-grade candidate Nhob Sokha, who sat the exam in Phnoom Penh, said that regardless of the outcome, he was happy with his results, as it was all his own work, and he did not cheat.
“In my class, there were 25 candidates who took the exam, six of whom failed. When I passed the exam, I was very happy. Although I did not score as highly as my classmates, I was happy, as it reflected my abilities. During the exam, the teachers did not allow me to cheat on the exam. I have heard that years ago, students copied from each other all of the time. My generation does not, so I am very proud of my honest results,” he added.
Another B-grade candidate in Kandal province, Em Setha Udom, said he was very happy to have achieved such a good result.
He added that to reach this point, he had studied hard, practicing exercises in class and at home, both day and night. He had even taken extra tutorials. Thanks to his excellent result, he is speaking with his parents about what he will major in at university.
“I want to study law as well as IT, but my parents want me to study medicine. We are having deep discussions, as medicine is very expensive and I am not sure if I will be able to afford the tuition,” he continued.
He thanked the education ministry and the relevant institutions for tightening the exam conditions to encourage students to study hard.
An A-grade female student, who asked not to be named, told The Post she has received many years of quality instruction from her teachers.
“To the next generation of exam takers – please study hard from the beginning of the year because there are many benefits right up until the day of the exam and it will give you self-confidence,” she said.
“When the exam day arrives, you will not be nervous. You will believe in yourself. While you are at home, you should study hard so you will grow as a person and make your parents proud,” she added.
Prime Minister Hun Sen sent a congratulatory message to the parents, guardians and grandparents of the students across the Kingdom who passed the high school examination.
“I also offer my thanks to the nation’s teachers for their hard work in helping the students to obtain excellent results. I would also like to thank the exam committees and local authorities across the country for the close attention they paid to preparing the exams successfully,” he said.
