Selected transcripts of dialogue and recommendations of Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet at the inspection of the implementation of key measures in the education sector with/to teachers, parents and students of Trapeang Ka Ek Primary School in Trapeang Ka Ek Village, Sangkat Veal Pong, Udong city, Kompong Speu
[ Unofficial Translations ]
The following is the unofficial translation of the excerpted transcripts from the dialogue and recommendations of Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet during the inspection of the implementation of key measures in the education sector at the Trapeang Ka Ek Primary School, Trapeang Ka Ek Village, Sangkat Veal Pong, Udong city, Kompong Speu:
[a]
Now is the time of peace. We are now defending our nation (by) training our children to have strong knowledge to be able to defend the nation. Nowadays, people defend their country by knowledge rather than fighting with weapons. That is why we must have strong knowledge […] I thank you all very much – teachers, trainers, principals, as well as uncles and aunts, parents, especially nephews and nieces – whom I am meeting here today. I wanted to listen and to hear what we have achieved in this field of education. At this time, we can see that there is progress, especially the change of attitude of the children and the teachers. We also see the important factor in achieving this is the support from parents and the community […]
According to the report, I see the data of this participation is as high as 95% or 96%. In the school of Tropeang Ka Ek, the participation rate has been recorded at 95%. The rate is very high […] I want to listen with my own ears and see with my own eyes because the data looks good. I have to come and ask questions regarding how those of you who are the actual implementors feel, and whether you think there need to be adjustments. Initially, this program was drafted to bring together experiences for the sake of sharing. It was in this regard that we have drawn upon (the good experiences from) both (the school at) Wat Bo (in Siem Reap) and some other schools to share with other teachers and schools. But when it comes to implementation, it is necessary to respond to the actual situation and the current situation. We cannot be rigid and inflexible […]
[b]
I thank all the teachers who participated in this (key measures in education) program. The teachers are playing the roles as model and it not easy. The student does not follow what the teachers say or write on the board, but they took after the teachers. That the teachers said that at first they feel shy in sampeah (joining both palms together in front of the chest and then bowing) each other and now they salute each other and no longer feel ashamed of their students is in fact a very important foundation […] nowadays, the modern science era, […] the children and grandchildren all have mobile phones. In the past, when there was only TV, the grandparents could control what channel to watch. As of present, that the grandchildren have got their phones and can watch anything requires training and instilling in them their self-esteem and value […]
This three-month evolution, though initial, it has been approaching the sustainability […] this school is an example of how the project implementation can be done. Let us not wait until we have the ability to implement it in all 7,000 (schools). I hope that what has been achieved in this school will offer principals of other schools the experience on how to change their attitudes […] and regarding the addition teaching hours, I would ask the Ministry of Education, the provincial Office of Education, to look into adding them in their schools. Of course, the size of the national budget cannot cover implementation in all 7,000 schools at a time, but we can expand to many among them. Some of the things/attitude changes would not need to spend more money. The important point here is being creative […]
Just among the five pilot model schools, we noticed that some of them are lacking buildings. However, our teachers and principals have not waited for the buildings to get the program implemented. They are implementing the program creatively because the children have to study regularly. Should they do nothing but wait for the buildings, the children grew up from year to year and they would not have the hance to study. I thank all the schools, not just the 42 schools (selected for the pilot project), for the creativity (according to their resource and times). The Ministry of Education, (Youth and Sports), the Royal Government will continue to build more schools and school buildings. Each year we allocate budget for more schools and buildings, but the number of students grows faster than we can afford to build schools […] I want all 7,000 public schools across the country are as successful as the Wat Bo school […]
[c]
The important point in this term is that we strengthen the state health centers, the district referral hospitals – all of them must be strengthened. Education also needs to be strengthened (because they are) public schools, especially efforts must be made to accomplish the effective promotion of primary schools, and I hope that the past three-month experience will gradually be growing. One of our teachers here made a point that this school has not yet scored achieved as noticeable as the Wat Bo school. I am sure, you will go forward, you will not back down, and not just this school. I hope that this model school module will be replicating to other schools. The Wat Bo school is just a symbol of a successful school […]
I thank the National Committee (for Promoting the Implementation of Key Measures in Education) for its efforts to promote this work and monitor it regularly. This is what I have always said before I became the Prime Minister. When I was with the army, I had always taken time to visit the frontline […] all over the country, except only at the time of Covid-19. Being with the soldiers at their stations, I listen to soldier hardships, challenges and jokes […] So, tell a joke, know the story at once, how tight your chest is. Today also came out and (excellent) regret not calling aunt to sit and listen. But no, I can see it on the phone. Do not dare to talk at home, afraid of his wife not cooking […]
I convey my support to the school and the teachers for making such a cooperation because in education this can only be done by two parties – parents, grandparents, and guardians at home, and the teachers. Once the two work together to educate them (they no longer have) the waste time playing. If parents and teachers, however, leave them a lot of free time, firstly, they have much time to hang out, and secondly, in some cases that parents take their children’s side, teachers would not dare to train, to educate them. Once they do not communicate, they do understand each other […]
[d]
We may think that adding two more hours to the class and educating soft skills such as behavior program is a very small issue, comparing to general education program. However, this small thing helps in increasing the achievement of good-attitude human resources. Together, we work to solve these small problems that I often compare it to one or two fallen leaves that can clog the drain. If we remove these small problems, the water flows faster. It is because we are concerned about the attitude of the grownup students when they go to secondary school, high school, that we are solving such small problems from primary school […]
I do not want to see Cambodian children who are living in Cambodia […] call their parents with bad words. We cannot allow our children to call their parents with bad words. We have to educate them, no matter how the country develops, we have to have the Cambodian identity. Having lived in the United States and in the United Kingdom for sometimes, I had seen some Cambodian children who were born there and study the host cultures, dare blame their parents to be fools […] sometimes, parents adhere to the Cambodian way of life, but the children (are adhering to) different attitudes. The Cambodian children, I urge, must adhere to the Cambodian behavioral identity. No matter how much development we made, this identity must continue. This is something that needs to be trained and educated […]
I am calling on parents and all schools – not just the more than 1,000 schools selected by the Ministry of Education, or the new generation schools – whether primary schools, elementary schools, or high schools, to support and practice (this model school efforts) autonomously […] not necessarily taking everything from the bible […] all of this – such as sampeah (raising both hands, placing palms together in the lotus-like fashion while bowing slightly) is in the Khmer blood […] there is no need for anyone to guide us, it is just that we could be shy because it is not been in practice lately and we have now to reinstate this habits […]
[e]
Some schools have creatively worked for arts and some do not have extra tutoring to add extra time. However, let us not forget that the biggest subjects that we wanted our children to be good at are mathematics and Khmer language. About 80% of the extra tutoring hours are to strengthen their knowledge of Khmer and mathematics – and we would add computing and English language, thereafter. Do you want your children to know Khmer and math clearly? That the Cambodian children are unable to write Khmer properly is a disappointing development, is it not? […]./.
