Khmer News in Cambodia

Meas Sokhunthea, a shy 8th grade student at Preah An Kosa secondary school in Siem Reap town, has wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. “With the scholarship that I’ve been given and my mom’s strong support for my studies, I believe I will reach my goal,” she said.

Sokhunthea is one of 36,000 lower secondary and primary students who received scholarships through a component of the Cambodia Education Sector Support Project (CESSP), which is financed by the World Bank in Cambodia. Read the rest of this entry »

In a classroom of seventh-grade students divided equally between girls and boys, Tim Sophanny, a 30-yearold teacher at Sre Preah Secondary School in Keo Seima district of Mondulkiri, is writing the lesson on a dark-green board with one hand while covering her nose with the other to avoid inhaling chalk dust.

She turns to her students and asks: “Who knows what a Cambodian house is usually made of?” Several students raise their hands. Her question relates to one of the subjects she is now teaching at grade 7 since being promoted to working at a secondary school in the middle of last year after four tough years as a kindergarten teacher.

“It was an important day for me,” she recalls of her first day teaching at secondary school. “I felt a little afraid, but I was committed to rise to the challenge.”

Sophanny finished high school in Battambang provincial town, about 720 km from where she lives now. She passed the entry exam for teacher training in 2001 and became a teacher in 2003. After teaching a kindergarten class for four years, she felt frustrated and began looking for an opportunity to find a job that matched her education.

“I wanted to upgrade my knowledge and my skills to teach at a higher level,” she says. “I wanted to get a better salary for living,” she adds, laughing. Read the rest of this entry »

H.E. Prof. Eng Huot: “HSSP helps the RGC to implement its Health Sector Strategic Plan, and strengthen the sector’s capacity to manage resources efficiently.”

The Health Sector Support Project (HSSP), which is supported financially by the World Bank, has been implemented by the Ministry of Health for seven years. The HSSP was scaled up to HSSP II in the context of better harmonization among development partners and alignment to government policies, strategies and system. The World Bank Cambodia monthly Newsletter interviewed H.E. prof. Eng Huot, HSSP Project Director, on the project’s achievements and the challenges it faces.

Please could you let us know what the goal of HSSP is?

HSSP1 was the flagship Project of the Ministry of Health from 2003 through 2009, with some civil works activities continuing into 2010. It was the principal vehicle through which the MOH implemented its sector wide management approach as a prelude to a full scale sector wide approach. Four of the MOH’s key health development partners – Asian Development Bank (ADB),World Bank, UK Department for International Development (DFID), and United Nations for Population Fund (UNFPA) — joined together with the MOH under the HSSP1 umbrella to launch a range of strategies and interventions in line with the first Health Sector Strategic Plan, 2003-07. HSSP1 has three components: (i) improved delivery of health services, (ii) support to priority public health programs, and (iii) strengthening of institutional capacity. Read the rest of this entry »