Education in Cambodia
by Sambath Touch
I grew up and was educated in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia: a country that faced the gruesome and heart-wrenching history of the mass-murder of nearly two million people by the Khmer Rouge, mostly out of the educated elite. However, today, people are being sent to school again. This is the story of my education and life:
At the age of 5, I was sent to pre-school so that it could help me develop a good character and emotional support before starting primary school (Grades 1-6) at the age of 6. My school had two shifts: the morning shift from 7-11 and the evening shift from 1-5, and all classes were required to switch shift every month. Students are required to attend school every day from Monday to Saturday, but not Sundays and other national holidays that are considered as a day off. Each day is 4 hours long with a 15 minute break each hour.
I was required to wear a white shirt and tuck it inside blue or black trousers as a school uniform, with a very short hair-cut like in the military, and everything else had to be natural (for example, no dyed hair or makeup). These remained the rules up to and including high school.
My house was very close to the school which allowed me to run in and out of my house easily, especially when I was hungry or thirsty, which was why my mum didn’t want to give me money at all.
I was not a bad student in school. I got fairly good grades. There were around 40 students including two class monitors. I studied 4 subjects in my primary school which were Khmer, Maths, Social Studies and Science, with only one teacher for a whole year. There were two semesters per year: semester one runs from October to the end of March, and is followed by a short school vacation when I could relax and wait for the upcoming Khmer New Year on 14th-16th April; after that semester two starts from right after Khmer New year has finished in late April to the end of July, and then it is time for a full school vacation.
After I finished primary school, I was sent to high school where I had to cycle around 10 minutes from my house. High school was similar to primary school in terms of the school curriculum and school policies. It ran from Grades 7-12. However, the subjects were increased from 4 to 10: Khmer; Maths; Social Studies were divided into Geography and History; Morality; and Science was also divided into Physics, Chemistry, Biology and general Science; and English. There were also some additional classes such as vocational skills (fixing skills for boys and sewing for girls). Moreover, I also took some private lessons in Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Khmer.
When I came to Grade 9, my family moved to live in a suburban area but I didn’t change my high school because I didn’t want to leave my friends. It took me half an hour to arrive at school from my new house. I had to get ready for school every day at 5:30am since I had a private Physics lesson at 6am. After school, I had to go to another private school for English, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. My day started at 5:30am each day, and I would arrive home at 9pm. My high school life was very tough and busy but I loved it.
In Grade 9, I was required to take the state exam, also known as BAC1. After I passed the exam, I had to choose either Science or Social Science to continue studying from Grade 10 until Grade 12. I chose Science, which was focused more on Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
When Grade 12 came, I didn’t study hard and I didn’t do well on the exam. I really regretted it after I finished the state exam and was waiting to hear the result. As a result, I passed Grade 12 with a D (A, B, C, D, and E are the pass grades, and F means fail). I was so happy and all my regret was changed to feeling motivated and awake. I started to work hard on myself when I went to university.
But strangely enough, when I went to university I decided to go to the college of Social Science, majoring in International Relations, because I realised I wanted to involve myself with the government and NGOs. I was 18 years old when I went to university. One thing I realised in my life was that life in high school was a lot different from university. I was not a good student at high school since I messed around a lot and didn’t think about what it would be like when I came to university. Of course the first day at university really shocked and scared me because there were a lot of responsibilities, both in terms of the course work and my career. I needed to be independent for myself with everything, including the financial. I was studying while working full time so that I could afford my school fees, since I am from a poor family. My parents could support me only to high school. I started to work in a private company the same time I went to college. I worked every day from 8am to 5pm and then headed to study from around 8:30pm, heading home after that.
I believe in the butterfly effect, which means to me that we all have the power to change lives just like what I have overcome, managing to provide myself with an education on my own. Only strength, hope, and support keep me moving forward and always looking for the positive aspects of life.
