Rebuilding the education sector

Education specialists from more than 30 countries gathered at the International Topic Network Conference on Quality Education in Phnom Penh last week.

Organised by the Cambodian chapter of Save the Children Norway, the conference aimed to review Cambodia’s achievements in education since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime.

It specifically set out to develop an understanding of the importance of quality education among participants, and how quality education could be achieved through practical and theoretical means, said Markus Aksland, country director of Save the Children Norway in Cambodia.

“We have gathered here to discuss ways to boost our achievements in education. How we ensure that children not only get access to school, but that they actually learn once they are there,” he said.

The Ministry of Education was making a concerted effort to build more schools in rural areas, he said. However, a major quality gap existed between schools in the capital and those in the most remote areas, such as Ratanakkiri province.

“I think the quality of education in some parts of Cambodia is good, but some parts outside of the capital still have problems,” Aksland said.

The conference was also used as a vehicle to present recommendations from Save the Children Norway’s Quality Education Project to educators and government officials in Cambodia and around the world.

With more than 100 delegates from 34 countries in attendance, Aksland said it was a “unique opportunity to make a difference”.
Save the Children Norway has pledged to donate US$6 million every year to Cambodia between 2006 and 2010.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has developed an action plan to ensure all Cambodian children have access to quality education at all levels regardless of their gender or class by 2015.

Education Minister Im Sethy said the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and Education Sector Support Programme (ESSP) were timely and appropriate measures to support the government’s policy on talent and skills development.

The ministry has emphasised the development of intellectual capital and human resources as critical to the Kingdom’s development, he said.

They were also key indicators for “ensuring Cambodia’s competitiveness in reconstructing the nation’s economy and integrating itself into the region and the world”, Im Sethy said.

“We are hopeful of young students coming to schools when they reach the age eligible for entering school.”

He acknowledged that the country still had a long way to go, but said he was encouraged by the number of donor and development partners coming forward to lend a hand.

“We may have achieved considerable success with some aspects of quality education, but we have not attained 100 percent perfection,” he said.

“We are encouraged by the fact that many countries are coming to help us find ways to improve the quality of education because we lost nearly everything during the Khmer Rouge regime.”

He said that less than 20 percent of the Kingdom’s teachers survived Pol Pot’s bloody reign.

The Ministry of Education seeks to recruit an additional 500 teachers per year because the number of schools has increased rapidly.

There are now nearly 8,000 school buildings across the country, but even that is not enough to meet the demand of new and existing students.

The ministry also plans to build some 800 to 900 additional school buildings in remote rural areas, Im Sethy said.

The government is also formulating strategies and initiatives to boost the quality of education.

One method of sustaining quality education was by widening knowledge of the teachers, so they are able to pass on their knowledge to students.
“Along with our own efforts, I want to add that some of the success we have achieved is because we have good support from donor agencies such as Save the Children Norway,” Im Sethy said. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)

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World leaders discuss food security

TYPHOON Ketsana’s aftermath has shown Cambodia must redouble efforts to bolster food security, observers warned Monday, as senior officials met in Rome to tackle the issue of how to feed the world’s hungry.

Ketsana’s devastation shows just how vulnerable the country’s food production is, said Francis Perez, the country head for Oxfam in Cambodia.

Beyond the loss of life and property damage, however, the effects of flooding on the country’s key rice crop could have been devastating. It is estimated that up to 50,000 hectares of rice paddy was damaged, said Perez...

“If typhoons like this land in Cambodia … there is no way we can predict when or where or how big they will be,” Perez said. “So there is the urgent need to look at the implications of how to prepare.”

The Cambodian government’s record on bolstering its food supply is mixed, said Yang Saing Koma, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC).

Though at the national level, producers are on target to harvest 7 million tonnes of rice this year, at the community level “there are still a lot of people who cannot produce enough rice”, Yang Saing Koma said.

However, merely expanding the number of rice fields in the Kingdom may not be the answer. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation warns that 80 percent of increased food production in developing countries will have to come from boosting crop yields – not from increasing precious arable land. That will demand significant government and donor investments in technology and knowledge, Yang Saing Koma said.

In the meantime, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has joined delegates in Rome for the UN’s World Summit on Food Security – a three-day event ending tomorrow that some have dubbed a global “hunger summit”.

It comes as the number of undernourished people in the world has reached 1 billion, triggered by a financial crisis that sent 100 million people into hunger this year, according to the UN.

Still, critics have questioned what is likely to come out of the summit, with leaders from the world’s richest nations largely absent and a draft declaration posted on the summit Web site stripped of dollar signs.

“It says hunger will be halved by 2015 but fails to commit any new resources to achieve this,” Francisco Sarmento, food rights coordinator for the NGO ActionAid, said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the world cannot eat promises.” (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)

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MURDER: Swedish man killed

Police in Kandal province have launched a murder investigation after the body of a Swedish national was found Saturday in Kandal Stung district. Officials have identified the man as Janola Jordansson, 45. Police are saying little about how he died, except that his body showed obvious signs of trauma to the head when it was discovered by local residents.

Provincial police Deputy Chief Roeun Nara said the man was probably killed at a different location before his body was deposited on the side of a road in Kandal Stung’s Preak Kampoeus commune.

“The man was killed somewhere else before his body was dropped off,” Roeun Nara said. Kol Sophat, police chief in Chamkarmon district’s Boeung Keng Kang I commune in Phnom Penh, confirmed that Jordansson had been staying at a local hotel before he was killed. “We don’t know the exact reasons for [Jordansson’s] killing,” Roeun Nara said. “We have some clues to identify perpetrators in this case, but we cannot elaborate more.” The victim’s family has been notified by officials at the Swedish embassy, Roeun Nara said.

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Cambodia triumphs in final

Kuoch Sokumpheak grabs a last-gasp winner to gain instant hero status in Saturday night’s BIDC Cup final against Vietnamese club Hoang Anh Gia Lai

THIRTY thousand Cambodian football fans rose as one Saturday night at Olympic Stadium as Cambodia’s talismanic striker Kuoch Sokumpheak sent his downward header into the net and restored the Cambodian U23’s lead with just three minutes of the BIDC Cup final remaining. It was nail-biting stuff as anxious spectators saw out those last few minutes, and a few more added on, before they could rise again to celebrate their country’s success in a euphoric conclusion to the weeklong tournament.

Cambodia head coach Scott O’Donell fielded a second-string lineup against V-League new boys Vissai Ninh Binh in their final BIDC Cup group match Thursday, which the Vietnamese ...

outfit won 1-0. However, the Australian tactician selected his strongest squad to face Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) – who are expected to challenge for the V-League’s top honours next season – and the match kicked off under floodlights in front of a massive crowd eager with anticipation.

They didn’t have to wait long before Cambodia registered their intent. With 12 minutes on the clock, Kuoch Sokumpheak split the HAGL defence with a perfect through ball to his striking partner Chan Chhaya. Taking the pass in his stride, Chhaya unleashed a fierce drive inside the near post, and Cambodia were in front.

Sokumpheak himself went close a couple of times before Cambodia forged further ahead. Khim Borey, playing in a deeper midfield role than normal, sent over an inch-perfect corner kick, and Chan Chhaya rose unchallenged in the 6-yard box to head home his second goal in the 36th minute. The home crowd was enthralled, and Mexican waves began in earnest.

HAGL came back strongly, and made it clear they weren’t ready to give up when their Brazilian hitman Rodrigo Toledo evaded two tackles to blast his shot against the underside of the cross bar. Toledo claimed the ball had crossed the line, but the referee waved away his appeals and blew for halftime.

With the introduction of Doan Van Sakda after the interval, HAGL upped the tempo and pressed from the restart. It was Sakda’s corner nine minutes later that fell to Le Van Truong on the edge of the area, and his unstoppable drive gave Samrith Seiha in the Cambodian goal no chance as it arrowed into the net.

Just four minutes later, Cambodia’s lead had disappeared. Defender Pheak Rady dwelt too long on the ball close to his goal and lost possession to Tran Minh Thien, who made him pay a heavy price with a neat finish inside the near post.

The match swung from end to end, with Samrith Seiha’s handling an important factor in keeping Cambodia in the hunt, as was a last-ditch redemption tackle from Pheak Rady. Sokumpheak and substitute Prak Monyoudom had chances at the other end, and with the final whistle looming, extra time looked a certainty. That was until Sokumpheak’s late intervention.

Lay Raksmey had replaced Pheak Rady in the 80th minute, and the substitute delivered a sublime cross to the far post, where Sokumpheak was all alone to direct a header into the corner of the net to cue wild celebrations on and off the pitch. It was a memorable finish to an exciting game that earned the Cambodian team US$20,000 in prize money from sponsors Bank for Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC), and also a new motorbike for each team member.

For coach O’Donell it was a fitting result. “I am very happy to win the tournament,” he remarked. “It’s great. Look at the crowd. Everyone is very happy, and it’s great for the Cambodian team to get some success on home soil. The fans have been excellent in the way they’ve supported the boys tonight and throughout the competition.

“This has been a very important part of our preparations for the SEA Games. The whole tournament was aimed at that. Four games in six days is what we’ll be up against in the SEA Games.

“We made a couple of changes.... We got a good cross in and a good finish from Sokumpheak. I was very happy for Chhaya scoring his two goals. He works his backside off, and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves.... He’s a good boy, he works hard, and he deserved it.”

Cambodia’s Samrith Seiha was voted the tournament’s best goalkeeper, Laos captain Kitsada was named the cup’s most valuable player and Evaldo Goncaves of HAGL collected the top scorer award. Each received $1,000 in prize money from the sponsors. In the third-place playoff earlier Saturday, Vissai Ninh Binh beat the Laos U23 side with a solitary goal from Dinh Hoang Max to collect the $5,000 reward. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)

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Progress against HIV at risk

CAMBODIA is considered one of the few success stories in the global fight against AIDS. HIV is on the decline: More than 2 percent of adults were affected in 1997; a decade later, HIV prevalence is 0.8 percent.

According to UNAIDS, “Cambodia provides evidence that well-focused and sustained prevention efforts can help reverse an HIV epidemic.”
Antiretroviral therapy is currently provided to around two-thirds of those who need it, up from 14 percent in 2004. Cambodia is also praised – and rightly so – for its progressive AIDS law protecting people living with HIV from discrimination. Those are impressive accomplishments.

Yet, human rights abuses against populations particularly vulnerable to HIV infection threaten the government’s success. The positive achievements of government health...

authorities and their partners have been outmatched in the past year by the negative actions of the police, Ministry of Social Affairs and municipal authorities; so far, health is losing. The real casualties have been among the most marginalised of Cambodians: those caught up in street sweeps, detained or forcibly evicted from Phnom Penh.

People considered “undesirable” – the homeless, sex workers, drug users, street children – are regularly arrested and detained by police and Social Affairs staff in advance of national holidays or visits by foreign dignitaries. Many people living with HIV are caught up in these campaigns. In May, Human Rights Watch talked to one homeless woman who was detained by Daun Penh district police during the ASEAN-EU foreign
ministers meeting. When she asked a police officer to return her confiscated HIV medicine, he replied: “You complain a lot! Jump into the truck!”

In the leadup to Phnom Penh’s annual water festival earlier this month, similar detentions took place. The deputy governor of Daun Penh district claimed that sex workers were arrested for HIV-prevention purposes, explaining: “We don’t want to see the boat racers bringing diseases such as HIV/AIDS back to their wives.”

People who use drugs, and particularly those who inject, are another group at risk – both for HIV infection and police abuse. The number of people who use drugs in Cambodia is hard to determine, but it is thought to be between 10,000 and 20,000; at least one in four people who inject drugs are estimated to be HIV-positive. Instead of addressing either the issue of drug use or HIV with evidence-based measures, however, the mainstay of the government’s strategy has been detention.

Cambodia has established 11 drug detention “rehabilitation” centres around the country. The “treatment” they provide? Forced physical exercises, military drills and hard labour. People in detention are recognised by UNAIDS as being at a heightened risk of HIV infection, but in addition to failing to provide effective drug dependency treatment, the centres provide neither HIV prevention nor treatment. These centres should be shut down and voluntary, in-community drug-dependency treatment developed in their place.

Another example of government policies undermining health goals and violating the HIV law was the forced eviction of some 40 families from Borei Keila in June to a de facto AIDS colony on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Protests by Cambodian and international HIV and human rights groups generated scrambled visits by UNAIDS and the national AIDS authority, but the basic situation is unchanged: Those who were forced to move remain far from jobs and isolated from medical facilities and support services. Although local nongovernmental organisations have a long-term plan to improve housing conditions and begin income-generating activities, the situation for these families remains precarious.

In June 2006, the Cambodian government committed itself to achieving ambitious national targets for providing universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. Now, three years later, a UN delegation has come to Phnom Penh to review what progress has been made. The delegation should pay close attention to the Cambodian government’s failure to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of those at highest risk of HIV. The actions of the police, Ministry of Social Affairs and municipal authorities should be particularly scrutinised. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)

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Miss Cambodia Landmine 2009 to boost self esteem

Cambodian community in Norway will organize a beauty contest for landmine victims on Saturday after failing to organize it in Cambodia.

The event, organized in collaboration with the Association of Cambodians in Norway and the Khmer Buddhist Council in Norway, will also feature Khmer traditional dance and food display.

There are 20 landmine victims taking part in the contest, but since no contestant is able to travel to Norway, organizers will ask volunteers there to dress up as beauty queens and carry photos of the contestants. A winner will then be selected by potentially more than 300 participants.

“We want to show [people of the world] that our society doesn’t need a war and landmines to kill more people. We want to live in peace,” said Men Nath, one of...

the main organizers. “Another positive point that our program wishes to show is that every individual has equal value and once a person is disabled, how would he/she live if we don’t value them”.

Contestants, aged between 18 and 48, are from many of Cambodia’s provinces like Siem Reap, Kampong Speu, Battambang, Kampong Thom, Kampot, Svay Rieng, and Sihanoukville.

“The reason why I take part in the contest is to seek an equal right and call for an end to discrimination [against disabled people],” Song Kosal, 25-year-old contestant from Battambang province, told VOA Khmer by phone.

“Though we are disabled women, we have our beauty to compete and to show people around the world. We have the rights to tell our own story to all people; and the beauty is not the physical appearance, but our pure heart,” she said.

Song Kosal, who lost her right leg to a landmine 20 years ago, hopes that country that has not yet taken action to ban landmine will change their mind after they see the disabled women.

The contest was initially planned for August in Cambodia, but was not allowed on the grounds that it will be a “mockery” at the victims.

But, the organizers disagree.

“This project is very beneficial for the self esteem of the people taking part since they are being looked upon as beautiful and they are allowed or they should be allowed to present themselves as the beauty queens that they all are each in their own way,” said Morten Traavik, program leader of Miss Landmine Cambodia. “As for Cambodia and Cambodian government as a whole it would be given a signal that the government really cares about its own disabled citizens and let them present themselves as they themselves see fit”.

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Joining APEC seen as likely for Cambodia

CAMBODIA will be well-placed to gain Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) membership if a moratorium on new members is allowed to lapse as expected at the ongoing APEC summit in Singapore, sources in Singapore said Thursday.

Among the dozen nations applying to join the trade and investment forum, India and Cambodia are in the strongest position, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. India is in line for acceptance due to the sheer size of its economy, and Cambodia because it already supports open trade and is a member of the World Trade Organisation and ASEAN...

Cambodia also has a coastline open to the Pacific, which other aspiring members such as Mongolia and Laos do not.

APEC, which seeks to liberalise trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, currently has 21 members.

After it was formed in 1989, APEC expanded rapidly before placing a moratorium on new members in 1993. The moratorium, which was originally set to expire in 1996 but has been extended several times, is now set to expire in 2010. It is expected that it will not be renewed in Singapore.

US officials said Cambodia would be a welcome addition because Phnom Penh’s foreign policy supports a more liberal trading system.

Singapore’s senior minister, Goh Chok Tong, will visit Cambodia at the end of this month.

APEC agreed the “Bogor Declaration” in 1994 to create free trade among its developed economies by 2010 and emerging economies by 2020.

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