Welcome and Opening Address
by
His Excellency Dr. SOK AN Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers,
Chairman of the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia
on the Occasion of the 2012 Asia-Pacific Quality Network
Conference and the Annual General Meeting
Siem Reap Angkor, 29 February 2012
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Your Excellency Im Sethy, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports,
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Dr. Antony Stella, President of the Asia-Pacific Quality Network,
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Excellencies,
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Distinguished National and International Guests,
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning!
First of all, on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, I warmly welcome you all to
the Kingdom of Cambodia. I am delighted and honored to participate in
today’s opening ceremony of the 2012 Asia-Pacific Quality Network
Conference and the Annual General Meeting, co-organized by the
Accreditation Committee of Cambodia (ACC) and the Asia-Pacific Quality
Network (APQN), in cooperation with the Cambodian Higher Education
Association (CHEA). I would like to take this opportunity to express my
sincere thanks and appreciation for your participation and contributions
to organizing this important event.
Our prime minister, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN, once said, “Development
starts with human beings and ends with human beings….Well-equipped
human resources can lead our nation forward; however, our objectives of
development could drag and fail if our people do not reach their full
potential.”
This
reflects that education is a key to success. The future of our country
will depend on what we can do today to give the best education possible
to our young generation—a complete and competitive education that
develops the ability to solve problems and think critically and instills
work ethics that can underpin a whole career.
Strengthening
the quality of education is one of the most prioritized pillars of the
National Strategic Development Plan 2010-2013 of the Royal Government of
Cambodia. The Royal Government regards quality education as an
indispensable key to developing human capital and reducing poverty.
Cambodia still desperately needs to foster both social and economic
development so that it can walk side by side with our neighbors in the
region and other countries in the world.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Cambodia
has just recovered from the fragile and horrendous era inflicted by
genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge Pol Potist and a prolonged internal
conflict of more than two decades. Cambodia’s aspiration for development
of higher education followed several different paths over a long period
of turmoil and change. It was firstly influenced by the system of
France; then of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; and more
recently by Western educational models.
Since
1979, higher education institutions in Cambodia have been
re-established, and, in the past decade, have grown significantly;
however, both public and private sectors are still inadequate and there
are few consistent qualifications frameworks and standards to strengthen
and assure education quality.
The Royal Government of Cambodia recognizes that higher education plays an important role in economic development. Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen
has noted that the current mushrooming of higher education institutions
does not yet respond to our real needs and does not assure regional,
let alone global competitiveness, because the quality of education
provided by most of those institutions is far from satisfactory. There
is a great need to improve and monitor the educational curricula,
teaching facilities, learning materials and qualified lecturers.
Like
other countries in the region, Cambodia faces a set of interwoven
challenges including explosive enrollment growth, shortage of qualified
teachers, widespread concern over quality, and financial constraints.
These are common issues that require shared solutions from all nations
and quality agencies working together as we are here today to advance
our shared values and interests.
In
response to an increase in demand for higher education and a rapid
growth in the enrollment of high school students, far exceeding the
capacity of public higher education institutions, in the mid-1990s the
Royal Government of Cambodia introduced an open policy allowing
privatization in higher education sector. This trend of privatization
has gained significant momentum since 2002.
In
addition to expanding the number of higher education institutions to
cater for the increasing number of students, the Royal Government of
Cambodia also laid out policies on quality assurance in higher
education, to conform with international standards and national
development needs.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During
the ten years preceding the recent global financial crisis, Cambodia
experienced an impressive growth of around 10% per annum. Following a
relatively low growth of 2009, Cambodia has been well on the road to
recovery, with growth rates reaching 6% in 2010 and 7% in 2011.
Through
this remarkable economic growth over the period of 2000-2008, Cambodia
made impressive strides in the reduction of poverty. The proportion of
people living in poverty decreased from 100% in 1979 to 47% in the
mid-1990s to 26% in 2011, dropping at least one percentage point every
year.
Today
the world is becoming even more interconnected and interdependent. The
labor market is becoming increasingly cross-national, and economic
integration among countries makes borders less economically meaningful.
By
2015, we will establish the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims for
all our peoples to become one big family; all our nations to become a
single community. Through harmonization, common regimes and
standardization, not only in trade and economic transactions but also in
cross-border labor force, all members will agree to mutual recognition
of professional credentials.
Therefore,
the theme of this conference “External Quality Assurance in the
Asia-Pacific: What has changed over a decade?” is very timely and
reflects past as well as current issues of higher education and quality
assurance to meet future promises and expectations.
Quality
higher education requires the involvement of all—government,
educational institutions and individuals, especially students
themselves. Education is not an issue for any one person or nation, but
it is an issue that involves all people and countries joining hands in
promoting and setting higher education standards and expectations.
Quality
education means academic excellence. Our students at all levels should
be equipped with a sense of excellence in what they are doing. Quality
and relevance at all education levels are two sides of the same coin,
both vital for building capable students and advancing the nation toward
a knowledge-based economy.
Quality
higher education is paramount to social and economic well-being. Every
higher education institution should uphold Quality or Excellence as
their primary objective. Each institution should determine their
expectations for graduates in terms of quality standards and quality
measures.
To
achieve quality assurance in higher education, today all higher
education institutions in Cambodia are subject to assessment and
accreditation of their management, academic quality, curricula, and
academic staff. Only accredited higher education institutions are
eligible to confer degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctoral Levels.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Cambodia
has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region. However, I am
convinced that it will not remain so if we do not take concrete actions
today. Cambodia still has an unbalanced disciplinary structure: 66% of
students graduating in social sciences, business, or law, whilst most
university graduates going into technical and professional occupations.
So there is a great need for more graduates in science and technology,
which is widely expected to lead the way to innovation, job creation and
faster economic development.
From
my own perspective, I see that not only foreign companies but also
local companies struggle to find skilled and technical graduates. When I
hold meetings with foreign companies and investors, I always request
them to employ more local people if possible; they respond to me that
they even want to do so but it is very difficult to get people who have
the skills they need, and they even ask me if I can help find those
skilled workers for them. Domestic companies also complain that there
is a mismatch between their needs and expectation and what graduates
possess.
To
address the above issues, the Royal Government has established the
National Training Board (NTB) to prepare policy and national training
plans for technical vocational education and training (TVET), responding
to the needs for human resources in trade, industry, agriculture and
service sectors as well as to link the relationship between workplace
and institutions. Moreover, the National Employment Agency (NEA) has
been established as a Special Operating Agency under the jurisdiction of
the NTB to provide labor market information service, and to constantly
endorse the matching-ups between labor force and market needs. The main
objective of these efforts is to reduce and then abolish the mismatch
between the demand and supply of labor force.
As
business and industry face fierce competition in the marketplace,
employers increasingly favor graduates who possess both up-to-date
technical skills and the soft skills for the new workplace, such as
analytical thinking, collaboration, individual initiative, computer
skills and fluency in international languages. Globalization of markets,
interdependency of international financial systems, the expanded role
of technology and high-speed communications have created an enormous
need for highly skilled technical, professional, and managerial leaders.
Our higher education system must reflect the global shift to a
knowledge-based society.
I
urge all involved—communities, industries, parents, teachers, rectors,
and ministries—to raise educational standards in both teaching and
learning, and come up with competitive and challenging curricula
conducive to life-long learning, and to bridging the mismatch between
skills supply and demand of the labor market.
I
call upon our national and international partners working on higher
education and quality assurance to provide the technical or financial
support necessary for the development of education and human power.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We
live in a country with a very rich culture and heritage. We are proud
to host this important meeting here in this land, once known as the
Angkor Empire. We are aiming to become a middle income country by 2020
and we are devoted to the achievement of our Cambodian Millennium
Development Goals (CMDGs).
You
are all Quality champions. This is the moment that you, both local and
foreign participants, have the opportunity to get to know each other,
make new friends, exchange ideas, acquire new insights, and share
knowledge and experience.
I
am optimistic that this forum will provide important gains from the
presence of so many experts in quality higher education, helping us
develop a relevant education system that assures the better future for
our country. I sincerely hope that this three-day international
conference will bring ideas that help sharpen and improve the quality of
our higher education.
In
conclusion, I once again thank all local and international participants
who have come from many countries to share their experience and
insights with us. I also thank the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia,
the Asia-Pacific Quality Network, the Cambodian Higher Education
Association, the organizing team, and the provincial authorities that
make a contribution to this Conference and Annual General Meeting.
I wish you all a fruitful discussion and a pleasant stay in Siem Reap Angkor.
I now pronounce the opening of the 2012 Asia-Pacific Quality Network Conference and the Annual General Meeting.
