(Video) Selected Comments of Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet, at the inauguration ceremony of the National Institute of Education (NIE) reform achievements and the graduation ceremony for teacher trainees [Unofficial Translations]

CMF: 21/05/2025

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(1) Support from community and parents are essential, but the quality of education depends on teachers and students

In the report, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, highlighted the ministry’s commitment to transforming all 25 pedagogical schools/institutes into centers for teachers training and retraining at all levels to ensure quality, excellence, and responsiveness to education in the new context […] (In the field of) education, support from the community and parents is essential, but the quality of education depends on teachers and students. Physical infrastructure, curricula, equipment, and materials can all be used effectively only if teachers are competent […] Therefore, teaching and ensuring the quality of teachers is a key task. During this period, we see that there is a rapid population growth. we are in urgent need of more schools. In some places, the growing number of students is faster than the construction of schools or school buildings. We have upgraded from the school facility from primary into secondary, and to high school, and there are still shortages. Two main shortages are the buildings, and the teachers […]

(2) No matter how urgently we need to meet the demand for teachers, we cannot sacrifice quality

Finding a solution to the problem must consider sustainability, which takes into consideration – the quantity and quality. No matter how much we solve the quantity, we cannot sacrifice the quality of teachers. We are willing to face the challenge of expanding teachers at a slow pace rather than filling schools with numbers, and teaching will not work […] For fulfilling the demand for teachers in number, we have allowed the selection of contract teachers, previously. Please implement this work well. Some places are in very remote areas. We recognize that. In some places, for primary and kindergarten, we allow recruitment of teachers […] By including them in the framework, we must consider the level of training […] Teachers must have pedagogical training for four years. Some contract teachers have a baccalaureate degree or even a bachelor’s degree and have been teaching for four or 10 years. In this case, they only need training for a short period of time, such as one and a half years or two years, rather than four full years […]

(3) Recruiting qualified people for technical contract framework in education (and health)

We are preparing a new system, which will be opening more channels, recruiting qualified people for technical contract framework, where we consider the salary and the benefit more or less similar to the framework officials, only they are not officially in the statutes, and can be over 30 or 40 years old, if they have the qualifications. We are testing this formula in two sectors – education and health. With education, we are doing this from kindergarten to grade 12, and in health, from health posts to district referral hospitals […] thus, in the future, we hope that the framework of civil servants will not be too large […]

This means that only the core officials have a framework, so there will be only technical contract officials and framework officials. Let say, the workplace only has a capacity for 10 people, but the job sometimes surged in demand to need five more – making it 15 people. Instead of hiring 15 people all at once and keeping them for 30 or 40 years, we hire (technical contract officers) only one time […] If we rely on teachers trained and graduated from the pedagogical training school every year, they might nearly be insufficient to replace even the teachers who are retiring, let alone preparing to respond to new needs. Unless we use flexible additional recruitment method […]

(4) Using subsidies to attract human resources to academic institutions

However, to fulfill the quantity demand, one should not ignore the demand for quality […] The technical contract framework has slightly different salaries and benefits from regular administrative contracts, and it is competitive, especially with the private sector, not just private schools but also the private sector in fields other than education […] I have discussed with (the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance,) Dr. Aun Pornmoniroth about increasing (stipends for pedagogical students). The report of (the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports,) HE Hang Chuon Naron also determined using subsidies as a basis (to attract human resources to serve in the academic institutions) by (providing subsidies as a basis to) help alleviate (difficulties) for teaching trainees. You are sacrificing and trying because you love your profession. We are trying together to help build teacher resources, attract well-qualified resources, gather learning forces, and become teachers to build human resources. This is the reason why the previous government mandates have made continuous reforms in the education sector […]

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(5) Theses written at home or abroad need to be kept in the library or documentation centers for future generations to learn about and work on

I am rendering support to HE Dr. Hang Chuon Naron in promoting the establishment of libraries in line with reading and research. I am happy that the Cambodian children (are) trained (to have the habit of reading books) from a young age […] Reading books will give value to writing. Reading a lot gives value (and ideas) to thinking, discussing, and discussing in a lively way […] When studying abroad […] the Cambodian themselves go to the library to research the economic history of their own country only to find foreign authors. They compile it. So, creating a habit of researching, compiling, and sharing this should be encouraged a lot. The various theses that the Cambodians have written at home or abroad need to be shared and kept the (library or documentation centers) for future generations to work on. Though they are not as large as research documents, these are a collection of ideas that researchers can take on or use as additional components for further research. I am grateful for accepting my (PhD) thesis to be included in this library […] and also master’s theses […]

(6) MEYS and MCFA should consider doing training and compilation of Cambodian history

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS), and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA – must consider doing) training and compilation of Cambodian history because the history factor is important. (Historical) documents, if not properly written and/or compiled, would be copied from one person to another. For example, we want to research the Cambodian history, for which most of them (researched and compiled by) David P. Chandler […] One may pose a question whether it is comprehensive or not? Without knowing if it is comprehensive or not, people just copy after him and continue to refer to it without any other sources to confirm. Over time, it becomes distantly (far from the original story) […] Please encourage students, both inside and outside of this place, if they have researched (good) works, they can consider sharing with and/or donating them to the library to store them as a basis for further study. Even after thousands of years of changing technology, people still go to read documents […]

(7) No matter how technology advances, keep reading, writing, researching, and compiling

There will be no time that we are going to use ChatGPT or DeepSeek without having to read. I see an app advertisement on TV the other day. For meetings every now and then, there is no need to take notes. Just record the voice and these apps transcribe and summarize for us. Over time, people stop reading. They are too busy using smart devices. One day, the device breaks, they don’t know how to write, they don’t know how to summarize (as the users will not be able to do anything without it) […] don’t forget to write (by hand) […] If we are students, no matter how technology advances, don’t forget to read, write, research, and compile. Only by doing so can we have real knowledge in ourselves […]

(8) “Teachers know 101 or 110 percent and students can know up to 99 percent”

After graduating from the school of pedagogy, you are going out to be teachers […] Now there are many modern tools, but teachers should not stop doing homework for students on the board (and let them go and) copy from YouTube or take it from this website and study for themselves […] At the WestPoint Academy, they bring in the Thayer System from France, (giving) documents to students to study. When entering the class, the teacher leads the discussion. This way, if the teacher doesn’t do the homework, he can’t lead the discussion. To be a teacher, you have to know 101 or 110 percent. To be a student, you have to know 99 percent […] Teachers can’t rely on Chat GPT or any new teacher-replacement program 100% […]

(9) Teaching technology and teaching methods must be constantly modernized to ensures teaching efficiency and effectiveness

Professors and teachers must also do more research themselves. It does not mean that while finishing their pedagogy studies, teachers are done with study and research. The education system is always moving. Educational methods are always moving. New knowledge is always moving. That is why the Ministry of Education (Youth and Sports) has set a policy and encouraged more researches. Teachers have had their teaching hours and research hours, but in some place, we have not implemented them due to various shortcomings, such as materials, budgets, or working hours […] Teaching technology and teaching methods must be constantly modernized. This is what ensures efficiency and effectiveness of our work. I would like to encourage research and document preservation, and thank you for organizing this important event […]

សាស្រ្តាចារ្យគ្រូបង្រៀន ក៏ត្រូវស្រាវជ្រាវបន្ថែមខ្លួនឯងដែរ។ គ្រូមិនមែនរៀនចប់គរុកោសល្យហើយចប់នោះទេ។ ប្រព័ន្ធអប់រំដើររហូត។ វិធីសាស្រ្តអប់រំដើររហូត។ ចំណេះថ្មីក៏ដើររហូត។ ហេតុនេះហើយបានជាក្រសួងអប់រំដាក់គោលការណ៍ និងជំរុញការស្រាវជ្រាវបន្ថែម។ គ្រូមានម៉ោងបង្រៀន និងម៉ោងស្រាវជ្រាវ គ្រាន់តែកន្លងទៅ កន្លែងខ្លះ យើងមិនទាន់បានអនុវត្តដោយសារកត្តាកង្វះខាតផ្សេងៗ ជាសម្ភារៈ ថវិកា ឬម៉ោង … បច្ចេកវិទ្យាក្នុងការបង្រៀន វិធីសាស្រ្តក្នុងការបង្រៀន គឺត្រូវធ្វើទំនើបកម្មជាប្រចាំ។ នេះជាអ្វីដែលធា​នានូវប្រសិទ្ធភាព ដើម្បីធានាប្រសិទ្ធផលស្នាដៃរបស់យើង។ អញ្ចឹងខ្ញុំសូមលើកទឹកចិត្តដល់ការស្រាវជ្រាវ និងតម្កល់ទុកឯកសារ និងសូមអរគុណឮចំពោះការរៀបចំ …។