Remarks
By
H.E. Dr. SOK An
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers and
Chairman of the National Training Board
At “Launch of the 2012 Education-for-All Global Monitoring
Report”
Raffles Hotel Le Royal: 28 March 2013
œœœ
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H.E. IM Sethy,
Minister of Education, Youth and Sports;
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H.E Pich Sophoan,
Secretary of State of Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, and Vice
Chairman of National Training Board;
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Excellency
Mrs. Anne Lemaistre, UNESCO Representative in Cambodia;
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Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;
I have the pleasure to be
here with you this morning for the Launch of the 2012 Education-For-All Global
Monitoring Report, under the theme of “Youth and Skills: Putting Education to Work.” Taking this opportunity, I wish thank UNESCO
for producing this report. My sincere appreciations also go to the UNESCO
office in Phnom Penh for organizing this important event.
I am very pleased with the Cambodia’s progress,
including education and vocational training, over last 20 years. Through the
joint, constant efforts made by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and
the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, Cambodia managed to build our
education system, as well as technical and vocational training centers from the
very scratch to ensure that all Cambodian children have the access to schooling
and skills training.
Presently, we have more than a hundred higher
educational institutions, providing higher education opportunities to Cambodian
youth. Technical and vocational institutions have also played an important role
in providing skills training to the Cambodian labor force, which contributes significantly
to attracting both foreign and domestic investments and for the country’s
development. In this respect, we are committed to improving the education and
vocational training quality and to achieving
the Education-For-All (EFA) goals. This also will undoubtedly contribute to
arriving at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Education in the coming
two years.
The launch of the
2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report today is significant as it will help encourage
all stakeholders and countries concerned to realize all the goals spelled out
in the report.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
After the Liberation Day
on 7 January 1979, we tried our best to build human resources through
mobilizing teachers who had survived from the genocidal regime. The teachers
were given training courses on teaching methodology in the capital city of Phnom
Penh, and, upon their graduation, were assigned to schools across the country.
With the trained
teachers, schools were re-opened and classes resumed. At the same time, we have
gradually reconstructed and improved classrooms, study materials and courses as
well as developed teaching pedagogy by focusing on meeting basic requirements
of the education sector, including enhancing education quality through making books
and teaching materials available, expanding training of teachers and lifting up
various examination requirements.
As a result, the quality
of education and the system as a whole has gradually improved. Since then the
education sector, building schools and training centers is one priority of the
Royal Government’s ambitions to transform the Cambodian society towards a rapid
progress in development, highly educated population, and prosperity.
Cambodia has now entered
a mature phase in the development of the education sector and vocational
training by attaching the importance to the strengthening of the basic
education and the quality of schooling. We have linked the education with
poverty reduction strategies as investment in education is considered to be a
long-term vision for the country’s development and for strengthening
competitiveness of Cambodia, in particular in the era of increased globalization.
To this end, the Royal
Government of Cambodia continues its important task of updating the Rectangular
Strategy, aimed at further strengthening of four major pillars of economic and
social development, including agriculture, infrastructure, private sector and
employment, and human resources. As each pillar requires knowledgeable,
competent and skilled labour force, it is important to improve quality and expand
quantity of education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
I also wish to recall
that Cambodia hosted the 21st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in
November 2012. Speaking at the Summits, as the then Chair of ASEAN, Samdech Techo
Prime Minister HUN SEN, encouraged
all the ASEAN members to formulate
necessary policy measures to be implemented before 2015 in key areas including mutual
recognition arrangements on professional services and labour mobility. This
demonstrates Cambodia’s commitments to enhancing its human capital to reap benefits
from the ASEAN integration and also to enhancing our presence in the regional
and international forums.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen
I have noted in the
2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report that, due to gloomy outlook caused the global
financial and economic slowdowns, the progress towards the EFA goals had been
made slowly, and that most EFA goals unfortunately do not seem to be met in
many countries.
To contribute to today’s
event, I wish to offer my thoughts, which can be used as an input for
stimulating discussion, as follows:
First, as
highlighted in the 2012 EFA Global
Monitoring Report we need to pay closer attention to the development of
youth and employment. Globally, there
are 200 million young people leaving school without the skills they need. In
Cambodia, we estimated that over 300,000 entered the labor market annually.
However, it is often mentioned that there is skill shortage, which results from
mismatch in the labor market. Hence, I strongly encourage a consideration in flexible
learning pathways and possibilities for learners to acquire their respective knowledge
and skills. The implementation and monitoring of the Technical and Vocational
Orientation Guidelines by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports as well
as elaboration and implementation of the Cambodian Qualifications Framework
approved by the National Training Board is a concrete step that will help ensure
flexibilities in order to reduce the mismatch.
Second,
overall improvements in quality of learning and system efficiency, particularly
a significant reduction in repetition and drop-outs at both primary and
secondary school level will be important. We have to ensure that all learners
acquire the critical reading and analytical competencies from very early grades.
I am particularly pleased to take note of the successful implementation of the Early
Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), initiated by the Ministry of Education, Youth
and Sports.
Third,
we need to double our efforts in improving literacy. As highlighted by the
Samdech Prime Minister during the Education Congress on 20 March 2013, the
Royal Government attaches great importance to literacy and continues to be fully
committed to ensuring that the Cambodian people are able to exercise their
right to literacy and learning opportunities.
Fourth,
the overall improvement of primary and secondary education as well as higher
education has enabled the youth to well prepare for employment opportunities in
a competitive labour market. In this regard, it is important that they be provided
with adequate skills and knowledge, which enable them to absorb technology
transfers and knowledge spillovers. This is critical for us as we are steadily moving
towards lower middle-income country.
Fifth, I
wish to congratulate upon the progress of TVET reform and development. Since
its establishment in 1996, the National Training Board has coordinated the TVET
initiatives among government ministries concerned. The successful
implementation of Strengthening Technical, Vocational Education and Training
(STVET) Project, initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training has
contributed to the promotion of vocational and skills training to ensure a
continued improvement in labour productivity and employment creation. TVET
networks should play an important part in assisting the youth, especially the disadvantaged,
to be better informed of the labour market. In this connection, I wish to highly
appreciate the Ministry’s leadership for the progress and encourage the continued
efforts in ensuring good quality in technical and vocational education and
training for the Cambodian youth.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen
Once
again, on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I wish to once again express
my sincere thanks to UNESCO office in Cambodia, in collaboration with Ministry
of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Laour and Vocational
Training, for organizing this important event. I wish to encourage all participants
and presenters to exchange ideas and experiences in order to find ways to
address the remaining challenges, aimed at achieving the EFA goals by 2015. I wish you all fruitful discussions.
Finally,
I wish Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen and all participants good health,
great success and happiness.
Thank
you very much!