Preparations for next month’s grade-12 national exams are well and truly underway as students increase their study load in order to give themselves the best shot at success in the high-stakes assesment. Recently, Post Plus interviewed several Cambodian high school students to see how they approach their study workload in the lead up to the exams on August 21 and 22.

Chhuor Sochan Vimul, 18, Chea Sim Samaki High School Chhuor Sochan Vimul, 18, Chea Sim Samaki High School I go to school regularly to study with teacher sand friends in class because it is important that I don’t miss out on learning the content. When my friends and I have free time from studying in class, we always do extra study exercises as a group. Moreover, when I come home, I always do my homework again and again in order to understand things better by practicing. Every day I spend five hours in public school and three hours on extra classes,and then I study at home on my own. Since the beginning of the year, I study with a student club of ten people which we created ourselves. However, we now have to study individually in the lead up to the big exams. With regards to the upcoming exams, I am very confident in myself that I will score well in the exams. After this national exam, I want to learn two skills: business management and chemistry foods because I want to produce a non-chemical food production facility for locals.

Sochan Borey, 19, Hun Sen Thnal Totoeng High School Sochan Borey, 19, Hun Sen Thnal Totoeng High School I feel I have been prepared to take the national exam since the beginning of the year. Even though I don’t have much time, I have set a good learning schedule for myself at night after attending school. Learning at home is unlike school. I am studying at school more than I do at home because I put in extra hours at school. In my school, there are free additional training courses from the Ministry of Education in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and Khmer literature so that I can practice what I have learned there. In order to improve my knowledge for the national exam, I am trying really hard in all the subjects. My favorite subjects are mathematics and physics. In this grade-12 national exam, I would like to tell all grade-12 students that they should also be able to relax, get enough sleep and maintain good health for the upcoming exam next month. For me, if I pass the exam, I will study at university and take extra part-time classes related to photography.

Sron Molida, 17, Chea Sim Samaki High School Prin Sovandane, 17, Chea Sim Samaki High School To help me study for the exams, I review every subject over and over as we are not allowed to cheat. I don’t feel nervous at all. I have recently been doing extra study hours with my teacher at school and I do additional hours by myself at home to remember everything. I started preparing for the exams at the beginning of grade-12 and I joined a study club with my friends so that we can improve our abilities in all the subjects. I think that all my study efforts can give me good scores and I believe in my own abilities. With only one month left until the national exams, I want to spend more time reviewing all my homework and study materials. If I pass, I am considering two options for study at the university level: hospitality and tourism management or chemistry as I am excelling in these areas.

Prin Sovandane, 17, Chea Sim Samaki High School Sron Molida, 17, Chea Sim Samaki High School For the grade-12 national exam, I try hard to study all the difficult topics and I go back to my teacher when I don’t understand them. Now, I still have time to ask my teacher or other friends at school for help so they clarify it for me before the exam comes around next month. I have done a lot of learning exercises from school with friends who are taught by different teachers and we share one another’s notes during practice. Biology is my favorite subject in class and I am largely confident for this grade-12 national exam. What’s important is for all grade-12 students to learn general topics and do extra exercises because repeating the exercises will train up the memory when it comes to the time to take the exam. To help prepare, students can also look at a previous year’s exam questions and redo them. After I pass the national exam, I will study international business management at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.