Poor quality drives Cambodian students abroad
Corruption, funding shortages and an obsession with profit are plaguing the quality of university education in Cambodia, students say, driving them overseas in search of masters and PhD programmes, write Shane Worrell and Chhay Channyda for The Phnom Penh Post.
If the government hopes to keep its best and brightest at home, it must resolve these issues and build a world-class university system from within, said Sim Socheata, one of three Cambodians on scholarship at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who spoke to the Post about their frustrations with Cambodian education. “It is time for Cambodians to start researching, analysing, drawing conclusions and suggesting what needs to be done,” said the 29-year-old, who is studying for her masters in public health.
Obstacles hindering Cambodia’s higher education system include low salaries for teachers – which force them into second jobs – lack of materials and equipment and a “mushrooming” of the private system, which has encouraged a focus on profit over quality and flooded the labour market with graduates who can’t find work in their field, she said.
Full report on The Phnom Penh Post site
