The world is running out of water

02 September 2012 Issue No:237

Humans may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages of water, according to a report by the Stockholm International Water Institute.

''There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected nine billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in Western nations,'' the report says.

Prepared by Malin Falkenmark and colleagues at the institute, the report says there will be just enough water if the proportion of animal-based foods is limited to 5% of total calories. It says considerable regional water deficits could be met by a reliable system of food trade between countries with surpluses and deficits.

The report says adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in a climate-erratic world. Animal protein-rich food consumes five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet, yet a third of the world's arable land is used to grow crops to feed animals.

''Nine hundred million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of the fact that per capita food production continues to increase. With 70% of all available water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land.''

The report was released to coincide with the start of the annual world water conference in Stockholm, where 2,500 politicians, UN bodies, non-governmental organisations and researchers from 120 countries were meeting to tackle water supply problems.

Competition for water between food production and other uses will intensify pressure on essential resources, the institute report states. ''The UN predicts that we must increase food production by 70% by mid-century. This will place additional pressure on our already stressed water resources.''

The institute also notes that research into water is growing faster than the average 4% annual growth rate for all research disciplines. In a report, The Water and Food Nexus: Trends and development of the research landscape, institute staff analysed the major trends in water- and food-related article output at international, national and institutional levels.

Global publisher Elsevier and the institute collaborated in preparing the report, which is based on the analysis of Scopus citation data by Elsevier’s SciVal Analytics team. It says the growing discrepancy between supply and demand for water is becoming more challenging each year but developments in water research have the potential to help solve the issue.

The report examines the dynamics of global water research between 2007 and 2011, focusing on two strands of research: water resources research, referring to natural and social science studies on water use, and food and water research focusing on the study of water consumption and recycling to produce food.

Water research has expanded rapidly, with both strands growing above the 4% average for all other disciplines. Water resources research is growing at a rate of 9.2% per year while research into food and water is growing by 4.7% each year.

Research is also becoming more collaborative and interdisciplinary, with a dramatic rise in publications from the fields of computer science and mathematics in water resource research; research from fields within the social sciences have become the fastest growing fields in the food and water research strand, the report states.

Research output is the highest in the United States in both water resources and food and water research, but growth between 2007 and 2011 was low.

On the other hand, China is experiencing ongoing growth in water research output and, if its trajectory continues, it could be the leading producer of water research within the next few years. Other countries experiencing high growth rates in both water resources and food and water research include Malaysia and Iran.

Increasing internationalisation in PhD education

Jan Petter Myklebust and Jacquie Withers02 September 2012 Issue No:237

 

 A recent survey suggests that Norway boost its efforts to internationalise PhD education and includes the recommendation that for PhD dissertation evaluation, at least one member of the three-member committee should be drawn from outside Norway.

A June report, PhD Education in a Knowledge Society: An evaluation of PhD education in Norway, maintains that Norway’s PhD education system is of a high quality, being well funded and well organised and offering “very good working and learning conditions for PhD candidates, as well as good career prospects”.

The report was published by the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU) and commissioned by the Research Council of Norway on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Research.

It argues that since the previous similar evaluation in 2002, “Norway has taken a definitive step towards becoming a standardised PhD education system with a strong focus on monitoring quality and efficiency”.

Among the report’s key recommendations is “improving practices in international recruitment at the PhD level, and finding ways of reducing the administrative burden of international recruitment of PhD candidates”.

The report continues: “Norway needs to be thinking more broadly about how the internationalisation of PhD education is occurring and how it should be promoted – with a focus that goes beyond concerns for outward mobility and longer stays abroad.”

More foreign input into PhD evaluation

At the same time, the country is pushing to include more foreign academics on its PhD evaluation committees.

The NIFU report details how the researchers sent out a survey questionnaire to the members of PhD evaluation committees who are from outside Norway. The objective was to map how highly these ‘external members’ judge the quality of the country’s PhDs.

In the survey, which had a response rate of 79%, members were asked their opinion of the quality of PhD dissertations recently assessed.

Those surveyed were asked to rate quality in terms of a number of different factors: originality; depth and coverage; theoretical level; methodological level and skills in written presentation; contribution to the advancement of the field; and external (applied, societal, cultural or industrial) relevance. There were five response options, ranging from 'excellent' to 'poor'.

Overall, 20% of the respondents rated the survey elements ‘excellent’, with a further 40% rating them ‘very good’ and 25% to 60% evaluating them as ‘good’.

The quality aspect that was ranked highest was skills in written presentation, as either ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ by two-third of the evaluators, followed by depth and coverage listed by 65% and originality by 60% in the excellent-very good category.

When broken down according to PhD dissertation evaluators from different regions, interesting patterns emerged from the survey responses: North American evaluators gave the Norwegian PhD theses better ratings than their European colleagues, who in turn were more positive in their responses than members from the other Nordic countries.

On how the thesis evaluated contributed to the advancement of the field, 48% of the Nordic evaluators said ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, compared to 64% of those coming from the rest of Europe and 68% of those from North America.

When broken down according to academic field, PhD dissertations in the natural sciences and the humanities got the strongest ratings, while those in the social sciences, and agriculture or veterinary medicine, were ranked beyond average. Theses in engineering or technology and medicine or health received very high scores among the North American examiners.

The majority of the survey respondents said the assessment procedures were rigorous and fair to the candidate, but also more time-consuming than in other countries. In Norway a joint examiners’ evaluation report is required before the doctoral defence, which is not the case in most other countries.

Need for internationalisation in PhD education

In arguing the need for internationalisation in PhD education to be reconsidered, the NIFU report points out that “the world of science and academic labour markets are increasingly global”.

The report states that in Norway currently about 33% of PhD graduates are not Norwegian citizens, and in the areas of natural sciences and technology 73% of PhD programme units report having a majority of international PhD applicants, reflecting “increased opportunities for internationalisation in PhD education”.

The report concurs that the increasing international recruitment that is being seen in Norway at the PhD level is positive “but poses short and long term challenges for the higher education institutions”.

The report specifies: “Recruitment procedures and quality control of PhD applicants is important, as is the integration of international PhD candidates and finding efficient ways to promote international experiences for all Norwegian PhD candidates.”

One of the concerns raised by the NIFU report is the issue of “critical time” for the research training part of the PhD, and “the risk that too many and too diverse a set of demands are being placed on the PhD period, in a way that has negative long-term consequences for the development of science”.

The report concludes in this regard that: “Better integration between the master and PhD levels and further training in the post-doc period are international trends which might help to address such challenges in Norwegian PhD training.”

Higher education participation rate to rise to 40% by 2020 – PM (SINGAPORE)

Adele Yung28 August 2012 Issue No:237

 

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced that the proportion of young people attending higher education will rise to 40% by 2020 compared to 27% now, with two new publicly backed universities planned for the city-state.

Education is “Singapore’s most important long-term investment in its people and it is a key response to the changing world”, Lee said during his annual National Day Rally policy speech, delivered at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) on 26 August.

Lee said that SIT and the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM) would be upgraded to become Singapore’s fifth and sixth universities, offering applied as well as part-time degrees.

This would open up an additional 3,000 full-time university places, offering 16,000 university places by 2020 against the current 13,000.

The Ministry of Education, in a statement on 28 August, described the expansion as “carefully calibrated”.

The figures include planned increases in enrolment at Singapore’s main existing universities, including the National University of Singapore in collaboration with Yale University in the US; Nanyang Technological University; Singapore Management University; the new Singapore University of Technology and Design in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and two arts education institutions.

Panel review of university education

The prime minister’s announcement comes a year after he initiated a wide ranging review of university education, to investigate how to increase the number of university places available for Singaporeans.

Lee said the review panel led by Senior Minister of State for Education Lawrence Wong “concluded that we should create more university places”, but that “we should focus on applied practice-oriented degrees, for example, engineers, physiotherapists, social workers – skills that are in demand and which will help get graduates jobs, and we should not just churn out graduates regardless of the quality or employment opportunities”.

Pointing to some other countries, including Britain, the United States and China, with unemployment or underemployment of graduates, he added: "Singapore must avoid leading people up the wrong path, misleading them that if you spend three years of your life doing this, at the end you will have a happy outcome.”

"We must make sure that if we encourage people to go that way, that at the end the prospects are good."

UniSIM, a private college that is part of the Singapore Institute of Management, currently offers only part-time programmes but will add full-time programmes.

Meanwhile, part-time undergraduate students, including working adults at UniSIM, could become eligible for government grants and loans to enable them to “get the same support” as students at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, Lee said – although UniSIM would remain a private university.

Providing more details, the Ministry of Education said UniSIM had a strong track record in providing part-time degree programmes in close collaboration with industry, and provided “a good balance of theoretical and real-world education”.

The review panel noted in its final report published this month: “UniSIM remains the only private institution to date that the Ministry of Education has assessed as being of sufficient quality to be accorded university status and degree-awarding powers.”

SIT, a multi-campus institution designed to allow polytechnic students to upgrade their qualifications, would begin to award its own degrees, the ministry said.

Instructive experience of other countries

The decision to increase university enrolment without expanding Singapore’s research-intensive universities further, or opening new research universities, was based on an examination by the review panel of higher education in the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Canada and Finland.

The panel said problems with the UK university system had been “particularly instructive”.

In 1992 the UK government granted university status to polytechnics, which had been mainly teaching institutions

“This proved to be a double loss for the wider higher education sector – the vast majority of these post-1992 new universities still struggle with their new mission and are unable to rise in quality and standing; and the UK tertiary system is now devoid of a tier of institutions that was previously instrumental in producing a technically skilled workforce,” the panel said.

“Therefore, it would be prudent for us to avoid this path while there are other more viable options.”

Singapore also has around 70 registered private higher education institutions offering external degree programmes of overseas university partners. They enrolled some 47,500 Singaporean students full-time and part-time in 2011. 

Call for improved access to HE in the Commonwealth

Maina Waruru02 September 2012 Issue No:237

 

The 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers held in Mauritius last week saw the launch of a pan-Commonwealth student body and a call for governments to tackle lack of access to higher education, which is entrenching inequalities in society.

Students from around the 54-country Commonwealth formed the Pan-Commonwealth Students Association following a four-day Youth Forum alongside the ministers’ conference, or 18CCEM, which was held from 27-30 August on the Indian Ocean island.

The theme of the ministers’ gathering was “Education in the Commonwealth: Bridging the gap as we accelerate towards internationally agreed goals”.

Among four meetings held parallel to 18CCEM was the Post-secondary and Higher Education Leaders' Forum convened by the 500-member Association of Commonwealth Universities, or ACU, in partnership with the Mauritius government and the University of Mauritius.

It called on post-secondary education to “feature prominently in any international development objectives established to succeed the Millennium Development Goals”. Education ministers agreed to set up a working group to advise on new goals to follow the MDGs after 2015.

According to a statement, ACU Deputy Secretary General Dr John Kirkland told the ministers that including post-secondary education in post-MDG goals was a “natural step in the process that was started 15 years ago.

“It would be a tragedy if governments, after setting out to improve access for all at primary level, then decided that their aspirations for disadvantaged groups only extended to the ages of seven or 11.”

Noting that many Commonwealth countries had made huge strides in ensuring access to primary and secondary education, the ACU forum agreed that the translation rate to higher education remained low. Some countries cited lack of funds and facilities as major obstacles.

In some countries, post-secondary systems were stretched far beyond capacity despite efforts made by institutions to expand. Growing further would require governments to invest more in the sector.

Nigeria was cited as an example, where despite massive expansion of facilities, only one in five of some 1.5 million qualified applications secures a place in higher education each year.

What message would it convey to the generation of children who have entered formal education, that after school “we are happy to tolerate exclusion?” asked Dorothy Garland, director of professional networks at the the ACU.

The forum, attended by 130 delegates from 25 Commonwealth countries, asked member states to adopt targets for increased participation in post-secondary education and to table a progress report at the next ministers' meeting for debate.

“Member governments should actively identify priority groups, and publish strategies to increase participation, where necessary providing institutions with the appropriate resources – both financial and human – to enhance access,” said Garland.

One way to achieve increased participation, the forum pointed out, was to diversity from traditional learning methods and expand open and distance education as part of a “blended portfolio of opportunities, which students can match to their own skill and employment needs,” said the ACU statement.

At the same time, quality must not be compromised and career guidance and efforts to produce employable graduates must be enhanced.

The ACU also called for “designated funds to develop staff working in the sector, and more progress towards access for excluded groups.

“Recognising that governments alone cannot meet expanding demand for post-secondary education, delegates proposed a range of approaches, including working more collaboratively with the private sector,” said the ACU statement.

The Pan-Commonwealth Student Associations' aim is to enable student leaders from across the Commonwealth to shape post-secondary education thinking and decisions. Its launch was the culmination of years of consultation following a decision to form a student body taken at the previous Youth Forum in Malaysia in 2009.

Student participation in shaping higher education in member countries ranked high on the 18CCEM agenda.

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba said an organised youth voice would facilitate student access to deliberations and policy outcomes in education.

“We in the Commonwealth are taking bold steps to embrace the vast potential in our young people. We have sought to listen to them and are working together to implement the priorities they have emphasised.”

A steering committee of student representatives from all four Commonwealth regions was elected last week and will take forward a mandate to set the association agenda.

The chair is Stanley Njoroge from Kenya, who saluted his fellow students for their hard work in making the Pan-Commonwealth Students Association a reality. “You have made your flags proud,” he said.

Yale President Richard Levin to step down

Bloomberg02 September 2012 Issue No:237

 

Yale University President Richard C Levin, the longest-serving leader in the Ivy League, said he will retire at the end of the current academic year, writes Janet Lorin for Bloomberg.

An economist, Levin has been a member of Yale’s faculty since he received his PhD at the New Haven, Connecticut, university in 1974. Levin (65) became president in 1993. He helped make Yale’s endowment – valued at $19.4 billion in June 2011 – the second largest in higher education, behind Harvard University.

After completing a fundraising campaign, beginning construction on a new business school building, establishing a campus in Singapore and other endeavours, the timing was a “natural juncture”, Levin said in an interview last week. Decisions about the next slate of buildings, at a cost of about $1 billion, should be made by the next president, he said. 

Full report on the Bloomberg site 

Harvard University probes plagiarism outbreak involving 125 students

• guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 August 2012 00.59 BST

Half the students in Ivy League college's Introduction to Congress class may have copied each other's final exams

To be caught cheating at Harvard is bad enough. The august university prides itself on incubating America's elite in the world of law, business and politics.
But now it has been revealed that scores of Harvard students are suspected of cheating on a single class. And the course's title? An Introduction to Congress.

Though that will likely fail to surprise the many cynical observers of American politics, it has certainly stunned college officials. Harvard has immediately launched an investigation.
"These allegations, if proven represent totally unacceptable behaviour that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends," said Harvard president Drew Faust in a statement.
After the allegations first became public the college refused to reveal the exact nature of the course in question. But the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, broke the story of the politics link and immediately sent a ripple of shock, mixed with humour, around the blogosphere.
"That's funny on so many levels," tweeted Andreas Goeldi, who works for an online video marketing firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Harvard is located.

The Crimson said the politics course in question was taught during the spring by Professor Matthew Platt. After similarities were noticed in up to 20 student exam papers by an examiner the matter was brought to the attention of the administrative board and an investigation was launched.
That probe has now found some 125 of the course's final papers were suspicious and has begun contacting students involved.

Possible punishments range from being suspended for a year to an official warning. The class was taken by only 250 students meaning a staggering half are now suspected of cheating.
The newspaper quoted an email sent to students taking the exam that said it was "completely open book, open note, open internet, etc.." but warned them not to discuss it with each other and to treat it as an "in-class" exam.

The Associated Press reported that Harvard had now launched a committee on academic integrity to be headed by Jay Harris, the university's dean of undergraduate education. The panel may even consider bringing in an "honour code" for academic honesty.

"We believe in due process for students and fairness. Everyone wants it done yesterday, but we have to be patient. It's going to take as long as it takes," Harris told the news agency.

The rise of the internet, and the ubiquity of laptops among a student body, has led to many complaints that it is now too easy for students to take exam answers and course work from the world wide web.
However, the Boston Globe said that it appeared the Harvard students in question had not taken material from outside sources but appeared to have copied parts of the answers from each other. If the scandal is proved true it will doubtless be the largest cheating ring to have hit an elite Ivy League college in recent memory.

យុវជន​ដែល​ប្រឡងជាប់​បាក់ឌុប​ព្រួយបារម្ភ​អំពី​ការសិក្សា​នៅ​មហាវិទ្យាល័យ

លទ្ធផល​ប្រឡង​បាក់ឌុប​ដែល​ទើប​តែ​ត្រូវ​ បាន​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ​ប្រកាស​ថ្មីៗ​បាន​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​យុវជន​​ជា​ច្រើន​​ដែល​ប្រឡង​ ជាប់​សប្បាយ​ចិត្ត​។ ​​ប៉ុន្តែ​ក្នុង​ខណៈ​ដែល​ពួកគេ​ត្រៀម​ខ្លួន​ចូល​មហាវិទ្យាល័យ​​នៅ​ចុង​ឆ្នាំ ​នេះ​ សិស្ស​ដែល​ទើប​តែ​​ទទួល​បាន​សញ្ញាបត្រ​បាក់ឌុប​ថ្មីៗ​ មាន​ការ​ព្រួយ​​បារម្ភ​អំពី​ការ​ជ្រើសរើស​ជំនាញ​របស់ខ្លួន​ ពីព្រោះ​តែ​ពួក​គេ​មិន​ដឹង​ថា​ ខ្លួន​ឯង​ពូកែ​អ្វី​ ហើយ​ត្រួវ​​ជ្រើសរើស​មុខ​វិជ្ជា​អ្វី​យក​មក​សិក្សា​​បន្ត​នៅ​មហាវិទ្យាល័យ​ នោះ​ទេ​។

 សិស្ស​មួយ​ចំនួន​សម្រេច​ចិត្ត​ទៅ​តាម​ក្តី​ប្រាថ្នា​របស់​ឪពុក​ម្តាយ​ដែល​ មិន​ដឹង​ពី​សមត្ថភាព​របស់​កូន​នេះ​ ជា​ហេតុ​នាំ​ឲ្យ​ពួក​គេ​អាច​បោះបង់​ចោល​ការសិក្សា​។​ដោយឡែក​ សិស្ស​មួយចំនួន​​ទៀត​បាន​សម្រេចចិត្ត​ទៅ​តាម​តម្រូវការ​នៃ​ទីផ្សារ​ដោយ​មិន​ មើល​ពី​សមត្ថភាព​របស់​ខ្លួន​ទេ​ នេះ​ជា​ ​ហេតុ​ផល​​មួយ​ទៀត​​នាំ​អោយ​ពួក​គេ​មិន​បាន​ទទួល​ជោគជ័យ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ជីវិត​។​​ នេះ​ជា​អ្វី​ដែល​បាន​​និង​កំពុង​កើត​មាន​នៅ​កម្ពុជា​។

ការ​ជ្រើសរើស​បន្ត​ការ​សិក្សា​​នៅ​កម្រិតឧត្តម​សិក្សា​មុខវិជ្ជា​ដែល​សិស្ស​ រៀន​ ភាគ​ច្រើន​នោះ គឺ​ធនាគារ​ ហិរញ្ញវត្ថុ​ គណេនយ្យ​ ​ទីផ្សារ​ ​ភាសាអង់គ្លេស​ គ្រប់គ្រង​ និង​ច្បាប់​។​ ការ​កង្វះ​ខាត​នូវ​ពត៌មាន​​នៃការ​សិក្សា​នៅ​កម្រិត​ឧត្តមសិក្សា​របស់​សិស្ស​ ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ពួក​គាត់​ជ្រើសរើស​មុខ​វិជ្ជា​​ដែល​មិន​​សម​បំណង​របស់​ខ្លួន​។​ សិស្សខ្លះ​ ជ្រើសរើស​ទៅ​តាម​ការ​អូសទាញ​របស់​មិត្ត​ភ័ក្តិ​ ហើយ​ខ្លះ​ទៀត​​តាម​ឪពុកម្តាយ​របស់​ពួក​គេ​។

លោក​បណ្ឌិត​ សុខ​ ទូច​ សាកលវិទ្យាធិការ​នៃ​សាកលវិទ្យាល័យ​​ខេមរៈ​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា​ សិស្ស​ដែល​បញ្ចប់​បាក់ឌុប​មិន​បាន​ជ្រើសរើស​មុខ​វិជ្ជា​ដែល​ខ្លួន​ស្រឡាញ់​ និង​ពេញ​​ចិត្ត​​នោះ​ទេ​។ ភាគច្រើន​ ពួកគេ​ជ្រើសរើស​ទៅ​តាម​តែ​ទីផ្សារ​ការងារ​សព្វថៃ្ង​ តាម​អ្នក​ដែល​ផ្តល់​លុយ​អោយ​ និង​តាម​រយៈ​មិត្តភ័ក្តិ​។​ លោក​ថា​ ​ពួក​គេ​នឹង​ប្រឈម​មុខ​ជាមួយ​នឹង​កង្វះ​ការងារ​ធើ្វ​ និង​ធ្វើ​ការងារ​​មិន​ត្រូវ​តាម​មុខ​ជំនាញ​របស់​ខ្លួន​នា​ពេល​អនាគត​។​

ការ​ជ្រើសរើស​មុខវិជ្ជា​ខុស​ក្នុង​ការ​បន្ត​ការ​សិក្សា​នៅ​កម្រិត​ឧត្តម​ សិក្សា​ពិត​ជា​មាន​ផល​ប៉ះ​​ពាល់​ យ៉ាង​ខ្លាំង​ដល់​សង្គម​ដូចជា​ ភាព​គ្មាន​ការងារ​ធើ្វការ​ តាម​មិន​ទាន់​នៃ​បច្ចេកវិទ្យា​​នៅ​​ពេល​ ​បច្ចុប្បន្ន​ អនាគត​ ​និងការ​ប្រឈម​ចំពោះ​ទីផ្សារ​សេរី​នៃ​អាស៊ាន​ឆ្នាំ​២០១៥​ ។ យ៉ាង​ណា​​ក៏​ដោយ​  ក្រសួង​អប់រំ​ក៏​បាន​ចាប់​អារម្មណ៍​លើ​បញ្ហា​នេះ​ដែរ​។​

លោក​ សំ​ សេរី​រត្ន័​ អគ្គនាយក​ដ្ឋាន​​អប់រំ​​នៃ​​ក្រសួង​​អប់រំ​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា​ ​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ​បាន​ណែនាំ​ទៅ​ដល់​សិស្ស​ទាំងអស់​អំពី​មុខវិជ្ជា​នីមួយៗ​ដែល​ ពួក​គេ​ត្រូវ​ជ្រើសរើស​រួចហើយ ប៉ុន្តែ​ ​ការ​សម្រេចចិត្ត​​យ៉ាងណា​​នោះ​វា​អាស្រ័យ​ទៅ​លើ​សិស្ស​ទាំងអស់​នោះ​ ​ថា​តើ​មុខវិជ្ជា​មួយ​ណា​​ដែល​​ពួក​គេ​ពេញ​ចិត្ត​​។

ការ​សម្រេច​ចិត្ត​ដែល​ត្រឹមត្រូវ​ទាមទារ​ឲ្យ​សិស្ស​ទទួល​បាន​ព័ត៌មាន​ច្រើន​ ពី​មុខវិជ្ជា​ដែល​ខ្លួន​បម្រុង​នឹង​រៀន​តាម​រយៈ​សាកលវិទ្យាល័យ​នីមួយៗ​ដែល​ ខ្លួន​ចង់​ទៅ​រៀន​ និង​ការ​សាក​សួរ​​អ្នក​ដែល​ធ្លាប់​​មាន​បទពិសោធន៍​ពី​មុន​មក​។ ការ​ជ្រើសរើស​មុខវិជ្ជា​ដែល​ត្រូវ​នឹង​​សមត្ថភាព​ ​និង​ចំណង់​ចំណូល​ចិត្ត​របស់​ខ្លួន​គឺ​ជា​ការ​ត្រៀម​រៀបចំ​អនាគត​របស់​ខ្លួន ​សម្រាប់​ទីផ្សារ​ការងារ​​នា​ពេល​ខាង​មុខ​។​ នេះ​ជា​ដំបូន្មាន​របស់​ក្រុម​អ្នក​ជំនាញ​៕

វប្បធម៌​គាំទ្រ​សម្ដី​​អ្នកធំ​ឬ​មេដឹកនាំ​ប្រទេស​​ចាក់​ឫស​​ក្នុង​​សង្គម​ខ្មែរ

ដោយ សេក បណ្ឌិត

2012-09-02

វប្បធម៌​គាំទ្រ​សម្ដី​របស់​​អ្នកធំ ឬ​មេដឹកនាំ​ប្រទេស ទោះ​ចេញ​ពី​ដួង​ចិត្ត​ពិត ឬ​គ្រាន់​តែ​បំពង​សំឡេង​ហៃអើៗ​តាម​ក្រោយ ដើម្បី​លាភ​សក្ការៈ​ក្តី កំពុង​ចាក់​ឫស​​យ៉ាង​ជ្រៅ​ក្នុង​សង្គម​ខ្មែរ។

អ្នក​តាម​ដាន​ការ​វិវឌ្ឍន៍​នៃ​ស្ថានការណ៍​សង្គម​ មើល​ឃើញ​ថា វប្បធម៌​នេះ​កើត​ឡើង​ដោយ​ឥទ្ធិពល​អំណាច​ខ្លាំង​ក្លា​ពេក ហើយ​វា​បាន​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​ឲ្យ​ឃើញ​ថា ប្រទេស​មួយ​នេះ​មិន​ទាន់​ជឿន​លឿន​ខាង​​ការ​គោរព​សិទ្ធិ​មនុស្ស និង​លទ្ធិប្រជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ​នោះ​ទេ។

អ្នក​ជំនាញ​វិទ្យាសាស្ត្រ​សង្គម​បាន​បង្ហាញ​ថា វប្បធម៌​ហៃអើ​ដែល​មនុស្ស​មួយ​ក្រុម​គេ​តែង​តែ​កៀរគរ​គ្នា​គាំទ្រ​លើ​សម្ដី​ មេដឹកនាំ​ប្រទេស ឬ​តំបន់​ណា​មួយ​នោះ បាន​បង្ហាញ​ថា មេដឹកនាំ​នោះ​បាន​ប្រើប្រាស់​អំណាច​របស់​ខ្លួន​ដល់​កំពូល​ហើយ។

ការ​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​អំណាច ឬ​សមត្ថកិច្ច​គ្រប់​យ៉ាង​បែប​នេះ បាន​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ក្រុម​មនុស្ស​នៅ​ជុំវិញ​ខ្លួន​មិន​ហ៊ាន​ពិភាក្សា​ផ្លាស់​ប្ដូរ ​យោបល់ ឬ​ជំទាស់​នោះ​ទេ ផ្ទុយ​ទៅ​វិញ​មាន​តែ​ការ​ភ័យ​ខ្លាច ហើយ​មាន​តែ​វិធី​ម្យ៉ាង​គត់ គឺ​គាំទ្រ​គំនិត​របស់​មេធំ​ បើ​ទោះ​បី​ជា​ការ​គាំទ្រ​នោះ​ខុស​ក៏ដោយ​ត្រូវ​ក៏ដោយ។
អ្នក​វិភាគ និង​ស្រាវ​ជ្រាវ​លើ​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​សង្គម លោក​បណ្ឌិត កែម ឡី បាន​បង្ហាញ​ជុំវិញ​បរិបទ​ដែល​កំពុង​តែ​កើត​មាន​ក្នុង​សង្គម​សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​​ថា ទម្លាប់​បែប​នេះ​វា​ស្ទើរ​តែ​ជា​ប្រពៃណី​មួយ​ទៅ​ហើយ អោយ​តែ​អ្នក​ដឹក​នាំ​ជាន់​ខ្ពស់​សម្រេច​លើ​រឿង​អ្វី​មួយ គឺ​អ្នក​នៅ​ខាង​ក្រោម​ឱវាទ​ចាំ​បាច់​ត្រូវ​តែ​នាំ​គ្នា​គាំទ្រ​ ដោយ​មិន​បាន​គិត​ពី​ចំណុច​អវិជ្ជមាន ឬ​គុណវិបត្តិ​ទៅ​ថ្ងៃ​អនាគត​យ៉ាង​ណា​នោះ​ឡើយ។

លោក កែម ឡី៖ «ជា​វប្បធម៌ ឥឡូវ​នេះ​ទោះ​បី​ជា​អង្គការ​ក្រៅ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ក៏ដោយ ស្ថាប័ន​ក្នុង​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ក៏ដោយ ច្រើន​តែ​ចុះ​ហត្ថលេខា​នឹង​គេ​ដែរ ព្រម​នឹង​គេ​ដែរ ទោះ​បី​ក្នុង​ចិត្ត ក្នុង​បេះដូង​មិន​ពេញ​ចិត្ត​ក៏ដោយ។ ចំណុច​នេះ​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​នូវ​បរិយាកាស​នយោបាយ ដែល​ពុំ​ទាន់​មាន​លទ្ធិប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ​ សេរីភាព​ពេញ​លេញ​ក្នុង​ការ​បញ្ចេញ​មតិ ជា​ពិសេស​មតិ​ផ្ទុយ​នេះ​ឯង»។

កន្លង​មក​ថ្មី​នេះៗ ក្រោយ​ពី​លោក​នាយករដ្ឋមន្រ្តី ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​ទៅ​ធ្វើ​បទ​បង្ហាញ​មួយ​នៅ​រដ្ឋសភា​ពី​បញ្ហា​បោះ​បង្គោល​ព្រំដែន​ កម្ពុជា-​វៀតណាម ដោយ​មិន​ឲ្យ​បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​ដែល​ជា​ម្ចាស់​សំណួរ​ត​មាត់​កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១៣ សីហា នោះ គេ​ឃើញ​មាន​ស្ថាប័ន​រដ្ឋ និង​ឯកជន​មួយ​ចំនួន​បាន​សរសេរ​លិខិត ឬ​ញត្តិ​គាំទ្រ​ជា​ហូរហែ ក្នុង​នោះ​ក៏​មាន​បទ​អត្ថធិប្បាយ​គាំទ្រ​ផងដែរ។

បទអត្ថាធិប្បាយ​មួយ​ដែល​វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ីសេរី ទទួល​បាន​កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​​ ២២ ខែ​សីហា ​របស់​លោក អេង យេង ទីប្រឹក្សា​អម​ទីស្តីការ​គណៈរដ្ឋមន្រ្តី​បាន​សសេរ​លើក​តម្កើង​ថា "កម្លាំង​ចលករ​ដ៏​ខ្លាំងក្លា​នៃ​សម័យ​សម្ដេច​តេជោ សែន"។

អ្នក​សរសេរ​បទអត្ថាធិប្បាយ​នេះ​បាន​សម្ដែង​នូវ​ក្តី​រំភើប​ចំពោះ​ការ​ បកស្រាយ​បំភ្លឺ​របស់​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន អំពី​ការ​បោះ​បង្គោល​ខណ្ឌសីមា​កម្ពុជា-​វៀតណាម កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​០៩ សីហា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ នៅ​រដ្ឋ​សភា​ជាតិ។ បទអត្ថាធិប្បាយ​បាន​បង្ហាញ​ថា សំនួនវោហារ​ស្ដីពី​បញ្ហា​ព្រំដែន​ក្នុង​រយៈពេល​ជាង ៥​ម៉ោង​ដោយ​គ្មាន​ការ​ឈប់​សម្រាក​នោះ គឺ​ល្អ​ឥត​ខ្ចោះ និង​បាន​ចូល​ទៅ​អង្រួន​ដល់​ក្រអៅ​ដូង​ចិត្ត​ប្រជាជាតិ​ទាំង​មូល ដែល​មិន​ធ្លាប់​មាន​ពី​សម័យ​មុនៗ​មក។

គេ​ចាត់​ទុក​ព្រឹត្តិការណ៍​ជា​ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ​ខាង​លើ​នេះ​បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ យ៉ាង​ច្បាស់​ថា គ្មាន​អនុភាព​ណា​ខ្លាំង​ជាង​ការ​ដឹក​នាំ​ប្រកប​ដោយ​វីរភាព​ស្នេហា​ជាតិ​ដ៏​ ឧត្ដុង្គឧត្ដម​របស់​សម្ដេច​តេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​ឡើយ។

អត្ថបទ​អត្ថាធិប្បាយ​មួយ​ទៀត​បាន​សរសេរ​ដោយ​ឈ្មោះឧត្តម សក្តិ ដែល​វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ីសេរី ទទួល​បាន​នៅ​ក្នុង​ខែ​សីហា នេះ​ដែរ បាន​សរសេរ​បន្ទរ​បែប​ចំអក​ឲ្យ​បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​ផង និង​លើក​សរសើរ​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ផង​ថា "បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​អស់​លេស​សម្រាប់​បោក​រាស្ត្រ​ក្នុង​រឿង​ព្រំដែន"។

បទអត្ថាធិប្បាយ​ដដែល​នេះ​បាន​សរសេរ​ទៀត​ថា បទ​បង្ហាញ​ស្តី​ពី​បញ្ហា​ព្រំ​ដែន​កម្ពុជា-​វៀតណាម ដោយ​សម្ដេច​តេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន ប្រៀប​បាន​ទៅ​នឹង​បំណាក់​ផ្ទាំង​ថ្ម​ភ្នំ​ដ៏​ធំ​សង្កត់​លើ​ក្រុម​ប្រឆាំង​ ឱ្យ​ដួលផ្ងាក​ងើប​ខ្លួន​លែង​រួច​ ហើយ​អំនួត​របស់​ពួក​គេ​នៅ​ពេល​កន្លង​មក​ដែល​យក​បញ្ហា​ព្រំដែន​ក្នុង​ការ​កេង ​ចំណេញ​នយោបាយ​ក៏​ត្រូវ​បាន​បញ្ចប់។

នេះ​ជា​ការ​ឆ្លើយ​តប​ទៅ​គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង និង​អង្គការ​សង្គម​ស៊ីវិល​មួយ​ចំនួន​ក្នុង និង​ក្រៅ​ប្រទេស​ ​ដែល​តែងតែ​រិះគន់​ថា រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជា បាន​កាត់​ទឹក​ដី​ឲ្យ​ទៅ​ប្រទេស​ជិត​ខាង ហើយ​បាន​បណ្ដែតបណ្ដោយ​ឲ្យ​វៀតណាម រំកិល​បង្គោល​​ទ្បាក់​ចូល​ក្នុង​ដី​កម្ពុជា ជា​ច្រើន​រយ​គីឡូម៉ែត្រ​ក្រឡា​ទៀត​ផង។

ស្រប​ពេល​គ្នា​នេះ​ដែរ ប្រធាន​អង្គការ​សហព័ន្ធ​សិទ្ធិ​មនុស្ស និង​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​នៅ​កម្ពុជា លោក ថៅ វាសនា។ លោក​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​គាំទ្រ​ចំពោះ​ការ​អត្ថាធិប្បាយ​បែប​នេះ ហើយ​អង្គការ​លោក​ក៏​បាន​ចេញ​សេចក្ដី​ថ្លែងការណ៍​គាំទ្រ​នយោបាយ​ឈ្នះៗ​របស់​ លោក​នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ដែរ ដូច​ជា​បញ្ហា​ព្រំដែន ការ​កែទម្រង់​លើ​បញ្ហា​ដីធ្លី និង​បញ្ហា​ផ្សេងៗ​ទៀត។

លោក ថៅ វាសនា៖ «សម្ដេច​តេជោ​ដែល​យើង​គាំទ្រ​នោះ គឺ​គាំទ្រ​នយោបាយ​ដែល​មិន​ស៊ី​សាច់​គ្នា​នោះ គឺ​នយោបាយ​ឈ្នះៗ ហេតុនេះ​បាន​ជា​នាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ជា​វីរជន​មួយ​ដែល​មាន​តម្លៃ​លេចធ្លោ​ជា​សកល ដែល​យើង​មិន​អាច​នឹង​មិន​សរសើរ​មិន​បាន»។

លោក​បន្ត​ថា កន្លង​មក​លោក​សង្កេត​ឃើញ​ថា បក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​ក្ដី ឬ​សង្គម​ស៊ីវិល​មួយ​ចំនួន​ក្ដី​ហាក់​ខ្វះ​សេចក្ដី​ក្លាហាន​ក្នុង​ការ​លើក​ សរសើរ​ដល់​ប្រមុខ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ដែល​បាន​ខិតខំ​បំពេញ​កិច្ចការ​ជូន​ជាតិ​ ត្រឹមត្រូវ ​និង​ទទួល​បាន​ជោគជ័យ។

ចំពោះ​លោក​បណ្ឌិត កែម ឡី ​វិញ លោក​មើល​ឃើញ​ថា ការ​គាំទ្រ​ទាំង​ឡាយ​ហាក់​មើល​ឃើញ​តែ​មួយ​ជ្រុង​ ចំណែក​មួយ​ជ្រុង​ទៀត គឺ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​រស់​នៅ​តាម​ព្រំដែន​ដែល​ជា​អ្នក​ជួប​បញ្ហា​បាត់​បង់​ដីធ្លី​ ជា​កេរដំណែល​ពី​ដូន​តាន​នោះ គឺ​ពុំ​ទាន់​មាន​ការ​សិក្សា​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ច្បាស់​ថា ខាត​បង់​ប៉ុន្មាន ចំណេញ​ប៉ុន្មាន​នោះ​ទេ គឺ​បាន​ត្រឹមតែ​បង្ហាញ​ឲ្យ​ឃើញ​តែ​នៅ​លើ​ផែនទី​លើ​ក្រដាស​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ៖ «ពុំ​មាន​អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ព្រំដែន​ណា ស៊ាន ប៉េងសែ ឬ​ក៏ វ៉ា គឹមហុង ឬ​ក៏​គណៈកម្មការ​ទាំង​អស់​នឹង​មិន​ដឹង​ថា បាត់​នៅ​ត្រង់​ណា​ទេ អ្នក​ដែល​ដឹង​បាត់​ពិត គឺ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​នៅ​តាម​ព្រំដែន»។

លោក​បារម្ភ​ខ្លាច​សកម្មភាព​លើក​សរសើរ​ថ្នាក់​ដឹកនាំ​បែប​នេះ​ក្លាយ​ទៅ​ជា ​ទម្លាប់​ថ្មី​មួយ​ទៀត ដែល​មនុស្ស​បង្រៀន​គ្នា​ឲ្យ​ចេះ​និយាយ​កុហក មិន​ហ៊ាន​និយាយ​ត្រង់ និយាយ​អ្វី​ដែល​ចេញ​ពី​បេះដូង​ដែល​ខ្លួន​មើល​ឃើញ​ពិត​ប្រាកដ​នោះ​ទេ។ បញ្ហា​នេះ​អាច​បណ្ដាល​មក​ពី​ពួកគេ​ចង់​សន្សំ​សុខ ឬ​មិន​ចង់​នាំ​ទុក្ខ​ដល់​ខ្លួន​ អ្នក​ខ្លះ​ទៀត​ចង់​បាន​មុខ​មាត់ បុណ្យ​សក្ដិ និង​លាភ​សការៈ​ផ្សេងៗ​ជាដើម៖ «បើ​យើង​នៅ​តែ​អ៊ីចឹង​បាន​ន័យ​ថា អាជ័យ​ធ្លាក់​ទឹក​ហៃអើៗ ដោយ​អត់​នាំ​គ្នា​ជួយ​កែលំអ​នោះ​ទេ ខុស​ក៏​គាំទ្រ​ត្រូវ​ក៏​គាំទ្រ»។

ទន្ទឹម​គ្នា​នេះ​ចំពោះ​អ្នក​ណា​ដែល​ហ៊ាន​រិះគន់ ឬ​ជំទាស់​នឹង​គំនិត​របស់​អ្នក​ធំ​នោះ គេ​តែង​តែ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​ថា ជា​ក្រុម​ប្រឆាំង​នឹង​រដ្ឋាភិបាល ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ខូច​សណ្ដាប់​ធ្នាប់​សាធារណៈ បង្ក​អសន្តិសុខ​សង្គម​ជាដើម។ ជាក់ស្ដែង​ដូច​ជា​សកម្មជន​ព្រំដែន លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន លោក ម៉ម សូណង់ដូ ជាដើម សុទ្ធ​តែ​ធ្លាប់​បញ្ចេញ​មតិ​ពី​បញ្ហា​ព្រំដែន ហើយ​អ្នក​ទាំង​នោះ​ត្រូវ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់ និង​បាន​ចាប់​ដាក់​គុក ហើយ​មាន​ខ្លះ​ទៀត​ត្រូវ​រត់​ចោល​ស្រុក​រហូត​មក​ដល់​សព្វថ្ងៃ​នេះ។

អ្នក​វិភាគ​បញ្ហា​សង្គម​និយាយ​ថា បញ្ហា​នេះ​ជា​ការ​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​ឲ្យ​ឃើញ​ពី​ការ​ដឹកនាំ​សង្គម​មួយ​ជា​លក្ខណៈ ​បុគ្គល​និយម និង​បក្ស​ពួក​និយម ហើយ​ការ​ដឹក​នាំ​របៀប​នេះ​គេ​តែង​តែ​រក​លេស​ដើម្បី​បំបិទ​សំឡេង​អ្នក​ដែល​ មាន​ទស្សនៈ​ផ្ទុយ​ពី​បក្ស ឬ​ក្រុម​របស់​គេ​នោះ។

អ្នក​វិភាគ​យល់​ឃើញ​ទៀត​ថា បើ​សិន​ជា​បញ្ហា​នេះ​កាន់​តែ​រីក​ធំធាត់​ទៅ​នោះ វា​ជា​គ្រោះថ្នាក់​មួយ​ដល់​ការអភិវឌ្ឍន៍ និង​ការ​កសាង​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ប្រកប​ដោយ​នីតិរដ្ឋ និង​មាន​លទ្ធិប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ​ពិត​ប្រាកដ និង​មិន​មាន​តុល្យភាព​នៃ​អំណាច និង​ការ​រក​ទទួល​ទាន​នៅ​ក្នុង​សង្គម​នោះ​ឡើយ៕

សិស្ស​ប្រឡង​ជាប់បាក់ឌុប​ឆ្នាំ​នេះមាន​ចំនួន​ច្រើន​ជាង​ឆ្នាំមុន ប៉ុន្តែ​លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន មិន​សាទរ

ដោយ គី សុខលីម

នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​សិក្សា​២០១២​នេះ សិស្ស​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​បាក់ឌុប​មាន​ចំនួន​ជាង​៨៦%​​ ពោល​គឺ​កើន​ជាង​ឆ្នាំ​មុន​ចំនួន​៤​%។ ប៉ុន្តែ ​លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន ប្រធាន​សមាគម​គ្រូ​បង្រៀន​កម្ពុជា​ឯករាជ្យ​មិន​សាទរ​ចំពោះ​លទ្ធផល​ប្រឡង​នេះ ​ទេ​ ពីព្រោះ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នា​ពេល​កន្លង​មក​មាន​ភាព​មិន​ប្រក្រតី​ច្រើន។

លោក សម មុនីរ័ត្ន អគ្គនាយកដ្ឋាន​អប់រំ​នៃ​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ យុវជន​និង​កីឡា បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ប្រាប់​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​សៅរ៍​នេះ​ថា នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​២០១២​នេះ សិស្ស​ដែល​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​បាក់ឌុប​មាន​ចំនួន​ជាង​៨៦%​ពោល​គឺ​កើន​ជាង​ឆ្នាំ​មុន​ ចំនួន​៤%។ មន្ត្រី​ជាន់​ខ្ពស់​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ​រូបនេះ​បាន​ពន្យល់​ថា នៅឆ្នាំ​នេះ​សិស្ស​ធ្វើ​ត្រូវ​ច្រើន​ អ៊ីចឹង​ហើយ​ទើប​ពួកគេ​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​ច្រើន​ជាង​ឆ្នាំ​មុន។ មិន​ត្រឹមតែ​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ លោក​អគ្គនាយកដ្ឋាន​អប់រំ​នៃ​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ​​បាន​បន្ថែម​ទៀត​ថា សិស្ស​ដែល​ទទួល​បាន​និទេ្ទស A នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​នេះ​មាន​ចំនួន​១០៥​នាក់ ​រីឯ​កាល​ពី​ឆ្នាំ​មុន​មាន​ចំនួន​តែ​៥០​នាក់​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។

ទាក់ទង​ទៅ​នឹង​លទ្ធផល​ប្រឡង​បាក់ឌុប​នៅឆ្នាំ​នេះ លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន បាន​អត្ថាធិប្បាយ​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ​ថា លោក​មិន​សាទរ​ទេ​ពីព្រោះ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នាពេលកន្លងមក​ពោពេញ​ទៅ​ដោយ​ភាព​មិន​ ប្រក្រតី។ ភាព​មិនប្រក្រតី​ទាំងនោះ​ជារួម​មាន៖ អំពើ​សូកប៉ាន់និង​ការ​បើក​មើល​វិញ្ញាសារ​ព្រាង​ជា​ដើម។ លោក កែម ឡី អ្នកស្រាវជ្រាវឯករាជ្យ​នៅ​ក្នុងប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​​ដែល​បាន​ធ្វើ​ការ​ ស្រាវជ្រាវ​លើ​ការប្រឡង​បាក់ឌុប​នាពេល​កន្លងមក​បាន​ទទួល​ស្គាល់​ថា ការ​ប្រឡង​នាពេលកន្លងមក​មាន​ភាព​មិន​ប្រក្រតី​មែន​ប៉ុន្តែ​លោក​បានបញ្ជាក់​ តាមរយៈ​ការ​អង្កេត​របស់​លោក​ថា ​ការ​ប្រឡង​ឆ្នាំ​នេះ​មាន​ភាព​តឹងរឹង​ជាង​ឆ្នាំ​មុន។

លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន បាន​បន្ត​បញ្ជាក់​ទៀត​ថា លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នេះ​មិន​ឆ្លើយតប​ទៅ​នឹង​សមត្ថភាព​ជាក់ស្តែង​របស់​សិស្ស ​ទេ មានន័យថា ប្រសិនបើ​ការ​ប្រឡង​ប្រព្រឹត្តិ​ទៅ​ប្រកប​ដោយ​យុត្តិធម៌​និង​ត្រឹមត្រូវ​នោះ ​ចំនួន​អ្នក​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​ត្រូវ​ទាប​ជាង​នេះ។ លោក ឈុន បាន​បន្ត​ទៀត​ថា លោក​មាន​ការព្រួយបារម្ភ​ពី​គុណភាព​មនុស្ស​នា​ពេលអនាគត​។ គុណភាព​ធនធាន​មនុស្ស​ខ្មែរ​​មិន​ឆ្លើយ​តប​ទៅ​នឹង​តម្រូវ​ការ​ទីផ្សារឡើយ។ លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ខ្មែរ​ថា បណ្តុះបណ្តាល​ធនធាន​មនុស្ស​យក​តែ​បរិមាណ​ប៉ុន្តែ​មិន​គិត​ពី​គុណភាព។

ក្រៅ​ពី​បញ្ហា​គុណភាព លោក កែម ឡី អ្នក​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​ឯករាជ្យ​បាន​លើក​ឡើង​ថា នៅ​ក្នុង​ប្រទេស​សិង្ហបុរី យុវជន​២​នាក់​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​យុវជន​៣​នាក់​បាន​ចូល​រៀន​នៅ​មហាវិទ្យាល័យ​ រីឯ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា​វិញ យុវជន​ម្នាក់​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​២០​នាក់​បាន​ចូលរៀន​នៅ​មហាវិទ្យាល័យ៕

ក្រសួង​អប់រំ៖ លទ្ធផល​ប្រឡង​បាក់ឌុប​បង្ហាញ​ពី​ការ​រីក​ចម្រើន​នៃ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ

ដោយ វិជ័យ អានន្ទ

2012-09-01

ប្រធាន​អគ្គនាយកដ្ឋាន​នៃ​ក្រសួង​អប់រំ លោក សម សេរីរដ្ឋ ឲ្យ​ដឹង​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១ ខែ​កញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ ថា លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​បាក់​ឌុប​នេះ បង្ហាញ​ពី​ការ​ខិតខំ​ប្រឹងប្រែង​សិក្សា​របស់​សិស្ស និង​ការ​យក​ចិត្ត​ទុក​ដាក់​របស់​មាតា​បិតា​សិស្ស ក្នុង​ការ​ជំរុញ​កូន​ឲ្យ​ព្យាយាម​រៀន​សូត្រ។

លោក សម សេរីរដ្ឋ៖ «ឥឡូវ​នេះ ក្មួយៗ​គេ​ខំ​រៀន និង​ម៉ែ​ឳ​គេ​ជំរុញ​ទៅ គេ​ខំ​រៀន គេ​ធ្វើ​តាម​ទៅ គេ​ក៏​ទទួល​បាន​គុណភាព​តាម​ក្រោយ»។

លោក សម សេរីរដ្ឋ មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​បន្ត​ថា សិស្ស​ប្រឡង​ជាប់​បាក់​ឌុប​ទាំង​អស់​ជាង​៨៦% ក្នុង​នោះ​និទ្ទេស​ល្អ​ប្រសើរ (និទ្ទេស​A) មាន​ចំនួន​១០៥​នាក់ និង​និទ្ទេស​ល្អ​ណាស់ (និទ្ទេស​B) មាន​ចំនួន​៣.៥០៥​នាក់។

ទោះ​យ៉ាង​ណា ទាក់​ទង​នឹង​លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​បាក់​ឌុប ប្រធាន​សមាគម​គ្រូ​បង្រៀន​ឯករាជ្យ លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន បដិសេធ​ថា វា​មិន​មែន​ជា​លទ្ធផល​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​ពី​គុណភាព​នៃ​ការ​អប់រំ​នោះ​ឡើយ វា​ជា​ការ​បង្ហាញ​បរិមាណ ព្រោះ​លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នេះ កើត​ចេញ​ពី​ការ​ចម្លង​គ្នា​របស់​សិស្ស​នៅ​ពេល​ប្រឡង៖ «ថ្នាក់​ដឹកនាំ​ ក្រសួង​អប់រំ តែង​តែ​ប្រកាស​ថា ល្អៗ ហើយ​លទ្ធផល​យើង​ទទួល​ស្គាល់​ថា សិស្ស​មួយ​ចំនួន​តូច មាន​សមត្ថភាព​ពិត​ប្រាកដ។ ប៉ុន្តែ មួយ​ចំនួន​ធំ​អត់​មាន​សមត្ថភាព ហើយ​មិន​ឆ្លើយ​តប​ទៅ​នឹង​បរិយាកាស​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង ពីព្រោះ​ការ​ប្រព្រឹត្ត​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​មាន​បរិយាកាស​អាក្រក់ មាន​ភាព​មិន​ប្រក្រតី​កើត​ឡើង ដូច​ជា​ការ​ប្រមូល​លុយ ការ​បើក​ចម្លង ការ​ផ្ដល់​ចម្លើយ​តាម​រយៈ​តេឡេហ្វូន (ទូរស័ព្ទ) សព្វ​បែប​យ៉ាង»។

ប្រតិកម្ម​ទៅ​នឹង​ការ​លើក​ឡើង​របស់​ប្រធាន​សមាគម​គ្រូ​បង្រៀន​ឯករាជ្យ​ នេះ លោក សម សេរីរដ្ឋ អះអាង​ថា ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​លើ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ អាច​ធ្វើ​ទៅ​បាន គេ​ត្រូវ​ធ្វើ​កំណែ​ទម្រង់​បន្តិចៗ​ម្ដង៖ «យើង​ចង់​បាន​គុណភាព​ដូច​តែ​គ្នា​ហ្នឹង ប៉ុន្តែ​យើង​ធ្វើ​ម៉េច​ឲ្យ​បាន​ភ្លាម ត្រូវ​ការ​ចំណាយ​ពេល​វេលា​ណា»។

ភ្ជាប់​នឹង​លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នេះ​ដែរ អ្នក​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​សង្គម លោក កែម ឡី ថ្លែង​ថា បើ​សិន​លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នេះ មិន​មែន​កើត​ចេញ​ពី​ការ​ចម្លង​គ្នា វា​ជា​ការ​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​ថា វា​ជា​រឿង​ល្អ ព្រោះ​វា​បង្ហាញ​ពី​សមត្ថភាព​ពិត​របស់​សិស្ស ហើយ​យើង​ក៏​ទទួល​យក​លទ្ធផល​នេះ​ប្រកប​ដោយ​មោទនភាព​ខ្លាំង។ ផ្ទុយ​ទៅ​វិញ លោក​អះអាង​ថា លទ្ធផល​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង​នេះ កើត​ចេញ​ពី​ការ​ចម្លង​គ្នា​ទៅ​វិញ​ទៅ​មក​របស់​បេក្ខជន​ដែល​ចូល​ប្រឡង៖ «លទ្ធផល ​នៃ​ការ​ប្រឡង គឺ​បើ​យើង​ប្រឡង​ត្រឹមត្រូវ អត់​ចម្លង​គ្នា មាន​ភាព​យុត្តិធម៌ លទ្ធផល​ប្រឡង​ហ្នឹង​គឺ​អាច​បញ្ជាក់​អំពី​គុណភាព​នៃ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​មួយ​ដែរ ក្នុង​ចំណុច​ជាច្រើន​ដែល​ឆ្លុះ​បញ្ចាំង​អំពី​គុណភាព​នៃ​ការ​អប់រំ បាន​ន័យ​ថា ក្មេង​រៀន​ចេះ អាច​ធ្វើ​លំហាត់​ដោយ​ខ្លួន​ឯង​បាន ប្រឡង​ជាប់ ប៉ុន្តែ​ដោយ​សារ​តែ​យើង​ធ្វើ​ការ​សិក្សា​ទៅ​ឃើញ​ថា ក្មេងៗ​ភាគ​ច្រើន​ចម្លង​គ្នា​ដោយ​សេរី»។

លោក កែម ឡី បញ្ជាក់​ថា អង្គការ​របស់​លោក​បាន​សិក្សា​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​មណ្ឌល​ប្រឡង​នា​ទីក្រុង​ភ្នំពេញ​ ឃើញ​ថា មាន​សិស្ស​៦០​ទៅ​៧០% ដែល​ចម្លង​គ្នា និង​មើល​កំណែ​ចម្លើយ។ លោក​ថ្លែង​បន្ត​ថា តាម​ការ​សិក្សា​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​ឃើញ​ថា បេក្ខជន​ប្រឡង​មាន​មធ្យោបាយ​ជាច្រើន​ក្នុង​ការ​ចម្លង​គ្នា និង​ការ​ទទួល​បាន​កំណែ​ចម្លើយ ដូច​ជា​ការ​ប្រើ​ទូរស័ព្ទ​ដើម្បី​បញ្ជូន​កំណែ ការ​ប្រើ​លុយ​ដើម្បី​ទិញ​ទឹក​ចិត្ត​អនុរក្ស​នា​ពេល​ប្រឡង កុំ​ឲ្យ​ចាប់​ព្រុយយ៉ុង ការ​រៃលុយ​ឲ្យ​គ្រូ ដើម្បី​ធ្វើ​កំណែ​ឲ្យ​ជាដើម៕

Huge numbers of graduates are underemployed in China

The Wall Street Journal26 August 2012 Issue No:236

 

BEIJING—China's labor market has so far proved resilient despite a slowing economy, but that means little to recent college graduate Wu Xiuyan.

"My classmates and I want to find jobs in banks or foreign-trade companies, but the reality is that we can't find positions that match our education," said Ms. Wu, 24 years old, who graduated in June from Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics. She has spent the time since then living at home and trawling recruitment websites.

"I just want a stable, maybe administrative, job," she said, "but why is it so hard?"

China has shown little evidence of rising unemployment despite the slowest growth rate since the global financial crisis—and is nowhere near the jobless rates seen in some of the countries hardest hit by the euro-zone debt crisis. But slowing growth underscores a fundamental challenge to China's economic development: the underemployment of huge numbers of graduates that Chinese colleges are churning out.

Experts say that many of the graduates lack skills such as critical thinking, foreign languages and basic office communications that businesses are looking for. Even small private enterprises that offer humble salaries find many graduates unsatisfactory. "Those small sales companies that desperately need people also reject us graduates," said Ms. Wu. "They say we don't have social resources or work experience that they need."

At the same time, China has made only limited gains in remaking its economy so it relies more on services and innovation and less on construction and assembly-line manufacturing. That limits the markets for the lawyers, engineers and accountants that Chinese universities are producing.
As a result, many graduates find they can get only low-skill jobs that pay far less than they imagined they would make and see a future of limited prospects. A survey of more than 6,000 new graduates conducted last year by Tsinghua University in Beijing said that entry-level salaries of 69% of college graduates are lower than those of the migrant workers who come from the countryside to man Chinese factories, a figure that government statistics currently put at about 2,200 yuan ($345) a month. Graduates from lower-level universities make an average of only 1,903 yuan a month, it said.
Li Junjie graduated in June from Communication University of China, majoring in broadcast journalism. "It is getting even harder for us to get a job than the previous graduates of my major because fewer positions are left for me and my classmates," said the 23-year-old native of southern Guangdong province, who is staying with friends in Beijing as he looks for work.
"Media outlets here look for professionals or native English speakers, not fresh Chinese graduates with only a diploma."

While worker dissatisfaction hasn't manifested itself politically, such as in public protests, it is bound to be a worry for China's top leaders who regularly stress the need to avoid social instability, particularly ahead of this fall's leadership change. Economically, China's productivity gains could slow if it can't better match the demand of its current job market and the skills of its graduates.
China's universities have churned out more than 39 million graduates with undergraduate or specialized degrees over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Education. People with some college education now account for about 8.9% of China's population, according to 2010 government data. While that's a much smaller proportion than the 36.7% of the adult population in the U.S, it's a sharp rise from China's 3.6% in 2000.

The employment rate of China's college graduates last year was 90%, according to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and MyCOS Research Institute, a Beijing-based education consulting firm. But only 47% of the 256,000 Chinese graduates surveyed said they feel satisfied in their current job.

"To solve the underemployment problem, you need to adjust the economy for the workforce that China has now," said Chetan Ahya, an economist and managing director at Morgan Stanley. "A comprehensive approach is needed to create jobs with high value."

"High-end jobs that should have been produced by industrialization, including research, marketing and accounting etc., have been left in the West," said Chen Yuyu, associate professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. Referencing the trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., 2317.TW +0.69% the Taiwan-based company that makes gadgets for Apple Inc.
AAPL +0.09% and others in Chinese factories, he said, "We only have assembly lines in Foxconns."
Solving the problem is complex, involving a gradual overhaul of China's education system as well as efforts to add more service-sector jobs. China's Ministry of Education in 2010 unveiled new guidelines pressing universities to shift away from their traditional focus on increasing enrollment. It is also experimenting with giving faculty greater say over curriculum and school operations, though universities remain tightly controlled by the Communist Party.

A large population of college-educated workers with ambitions for better jobs could have long-term advantages, economists say. Educated labor could make China more appealing to both foreign and domestic companies hoping to add service-oriented jobs in China. The group so far also seems less likely to stir unrest than migrant workers, who in recent years have staged protests in some areas over low pay and other issues.

"The underemployment is more a short-term problem," says Albert Park, professor of Economics at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "The demand will be there for China's graduates."

—Lilian Lin

A version of this article appeared August 22, 2012, on page A12 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: China's Graduates Face Glut.

 

Job market has changed but universities pump out graduates

Vangelis Tsiligiris 26 August 2012 Issue No:236

 

With the rise in fees in the UK and elsewhere, higher education institutions have started exploring ways of responding to anticipated increased expectations of students. Investment in sport and IT facilities and additional teaching are some of the ways in which institutions are trying to respond to the ‘value for money’ conundrum.

However, I think that we are missing a really important trick.

Presumably, for a change, we can all agree that if we were to ask current and future students what they would consider to be the most rewarding outcome of their time and money investment in higher education, they would answer “a job”. Sadly, not many institutions can guarantee students that they will be able to find a job any time soon after graduation.

In the recent past, employability has been one of the most popular catchphrases in higher education. However, employability does not mean employment; it means the propensity or the readiness of students to fulfil employment market requirements.

So perhaps the main question that should be asked today is: to what extent is the global economy able to create new jobs at the same pace that higher education institutions produce graduates?

Rise of derivatives has changed employment

In my opinion, the rise of markets for financial derivatives that are primarily traded outside the main stock exchanges – the so-called over-the-counter (OTC) markets – has altered the essence of wealth creation and consequently employment under the capitalism system as we knew it.

The main advantages of these financial products are low taxes and the direct negotiation between seller and buyers with or without minimum interference by the authorities.

To conceptualise the size of this market, consider the latest report by the Bank of International Settlements, published in May 2012. It states that the total notional value of OTC derivatives reached US$648 trillion at the end of 2011. This is almost nine times the gross world product which, according to the CIA Factbook, was estimated at US$70.16 trillion in 2011.

Thus, today an investor can choose to invest in an extensive selection of financial by-products that can generate profits even in cases where the markets concerned are in decline. Moreover, investors are not required to have capital to invest in these financial derivatives; they can simply borrow to invest. This means that almost any individual is able to make money out of money and, most importantly, by investing money they do not have.

Where are the jobs?

But what has all of this got to do with higher education?

For years now, higher education has been considered as the means to social mobility and better employment prospects. Whatever the view you take about the role of globalisation, human capital is considered the cornerstone of the modern economy.

This is according to the Marxist view of the capitalist system as being based on the production of goods and services for the creation of wealth. It is also assumed that this production process, whatever its nature and scale, involves some employment, even if that is at a reduced scale as a result of technological advancements.

Nevertheless, modern financial products have made this traditional ‘investment-production-wealth’ process less attractive to investors. Today, an investor is much less likely to invest in a factory, a plant or any other form of production of goods or services, when the same investment can generate a higher return in the short to medium term without the risks involved in managing people, inventories and production operations.

So the question that arises is: where are the jobs going to come from?

That is something very few in higher education, not least in economic policy, have thought about. There has been an over-concentration on ‘producing’ employable graduates, but no one seems to recognise that the economy has been slower and slower at creating jobs.

Higher education authorities have been busy projecting a booming future for graduates while there is very little evidence to reassure graduates that they will land a job.

A recent report published by the International Labour Organisation states that youth unemployment is rising in all parts of the world and the global rate is projected to reach 12.7% by the end of 2012, with a further negative projection up until 2016.

The same report states that education tends to act as a shield against unemployment; however, education does not guarantee employment. Another report, published by the Office of National Statistics in the UK, reveals that the percentage of graduates employed in lower skilled jobs increased from 26.7% in 2001 to 36% in 2011.

In specific parts of the world, graduate employment prospects are clearly worse than they used to be. For example, in the US, according to a publication by Associated Press, “the job prospects for bachelor degree holders fell last year [2011] to the lowest level in more than a decade”.

Economic change and tuition fees

At the same time, within this changing global economic environment, governments tend to receive no income from tax-free financial transactions while the income from corporate taxes is constantly in decline, primarily because of modern tax avoidance practices adopted by corporations.

This affects the ability of governments to contribute financially to higher education and consequently increases the need for direct financial contributions by students and their families.

In turn, this creates a vicious cycle of students becoming more demanding about ‘value for money’ with a strong emphasis on finding employment after graduation so they can get a return on their investment. Higher education institutions end up with less financial support to meet higher student expectations.

Furthermore, the booming derivatives market has changed the mechanism of money creation in the economy. As a consequence, macro-economic policy is becoming ineffective, making economic recovery a painful and unrealisable task while worsening the prospects for boosting employment.

In a depressed economic environment there is a danger of having too many highly employable graduates but too few jobs, something that is in line with the findings of the recent reports discussed earlier.

This graduate surplus affects the type of jobs accepted by graduates, devalues undergraduate degrees and puts the emphasis on vocational qualifications.

Higher education policy has failed to respond

At an economic policy level, we have failed to recognise the dramatic change that has occurred in the global economic system over the past 20 years or so; while at a higher education policy level we continue focusing on widening access and achieving recruitment targets without considering the consequences of the oversupply of graduates.

So, there seems to be a forthcoming challenge for higher education, both at a policy and operational level, as we enter a period of high student expectations and high graduate unemployment.

* Vangelis Tsiligiris is college principal of MBS College in Crete, Greece, and a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University. 

Writer quits Yale board after plagiarism scandal in the United States

Press Trust of India26 August 2012 Issue No:236

 

After a long association with Yale University, noted Indian American writer and journalist Fareed Zakaria has resigned from its governing body to focus on his journalistic career, reports the Press Trust of India.

Zakaria, who received his bachelor degree from the university, has been associated with the Yale Corporation for the past six years. The decision of Zakaria to shed some of his non-journalistic responsibilities has come close on the heels of accusations of plagiarism against him. However, CNN and Time magazine have completed their probe into the matter and revoked their month-long suspension slapped on the writer.

“With great regret, I have decided that I will not be able to serve a second term as a successor fellow of Yale Corporation. I am re-examining my professional life and I have recognised that, in order to focus on the core of my work, I will have to shed some of my other responsibilities,” Zakaria informed Yale in his resignation letter, according to a university statement last Monday.

Full report on the Hindustan Times site 

 

Plagiarism scandal continues after forgery verdict in Thailand

Yojana Sharma and Suluck Lamubol26 August 2012 Issue No:236

 

Thailand’s National Innovation Agency Director Supachai Lorlowhakarn was found guilty of criminal forgery on 8 August, just weeks after the council of Chulalongkorn University revoked his PhD in science because of plagiarism.

The South Bangkok District Court, whose written verdict was only made available last week, ruled that Supachai fabricated and made use of a falsified employment contract of his litigant Wyn Ellis, a Thailand-based British agriculture researcher and a former consultant to NIA.

The court accepted “beyond any doubt that the defendant [Supachai] was the principal party in committing document forgery”, and added that Supachai “cannot avoid responsibility by claiming this was an action of his subordinate and he did not know about it”.

The court levied a 6,000 baht (US$190) fine and imposed a six-month suspended prison sentence on Supachai.

The verdict has significance in an ongoing plagiarism case involving Supachai and Ellis that has shocked academics and the public.

Ellis claims he is the main author and was project manager of the research, “Strengthening the Export Capacity of Thailand’s Organic Agriculture”, commissioned by the Geneva-based UN International Trade Centre in 2007.

Supachai insists that he possesses the rights to the same research, which he used in his PhD thesis. On 21 June this year, Chulalongkorn University declared that Supachai was guilty of plagiarising 80% of his thesis, and revoked the PhD.

Employment contract tampered with

According to the court’s full verdict on the forgery case, the attempt to falsely reduce Ellis’ employment contract term was aimed at using it as supporting evidence for Supachai’s own claim that Ellis did not have a main role in producing the disputed research, but was merely a translator and copyrighter of the work.

Ellis filed complaints against Supachai for alleged document forgery in 2008, stating that Supachai illegally amended his employment contract as consultant for the NIA from six months (originally from January to June 2007) to three months (January to March 2007).

According to the court, “the reason for altering the employment contract to show only three months was because the plaintiff’s [Ellis’] position according to the contract was an important one; the defendant needed to minimise the plaintiff’s role; reducing the duration to only three months made the appointment seem temporary, showing that the plaintiff had no role in writing the disputed article.”

The court accepted that Supachai was the principal party in committing document forgery and found him guilty according to Articles 264 (criminal forgery) and 268(1) (making use of or citing from a forged document), “because the defendant was the person who forged the documents, and used the forged documents”.

Forged document used to undermine claim

The possibility of the document forgery came to light when in August 2008 Ellis filed petitions to Chulalongkorn University’s rector and the Ministry of Science and Technology against Supachai’s alleged plagiarism.

This prompted Supachai to lodge counter claims against Ellis and subsequently against Bangkok Post journalist Erika Fry, who had investigated the case for the newspaper, for defamation. Although the case was later dismissed, Ellis noticed that his employment contract, used as supporting evidence, was forged, leading to a further lawsuit.

Ellis told University World News: “The court has ruled that my contract was altered to undermine my claim to lead authorship of a technical article, found to have been plagiarised in the defendant’s PhD thesis. Also, most of the article’s entire introduction is reproduced in a paper published in the Thai Journal of Agricultural Science.

“I hope that this verdict will now persuade the TJAS to retract the paper without further delay,” he said.

“It’s also significant that the court also held the defendant responsible for an official NIA memo submitted in evidence by the defendant, which the court ruled was dated retrospectively and was not true to the facts. The court’s verdict, though subject to appeal, shows the extent to which some will go to hide their tracks.”

Ellis has several times called on the TJAS to retract Supachai’s article.

Retraction debate continues

TJAS Editor-in-chief Irb Kheoruenromne said he was ready and willing to retract the article but had to wait for a court ruling on Supachai’s complaint against Chulalongkorn University.

In response to the decision to revoke his PhD, Supachai declared he would file a complaint against the university for "misuse of power".

During a 25 June press conference, Supachai said the investigation led by the university’s committee was “unusually rapid” and “against good governance and rule of law”.

“This has been a complicated matter…we are willing to retract the paper if the court decides that Supachai is really guilty [of plagiarism], but we can’t retract just like that because there was agreement in our publishing [his article] in which he said that he owned the rights of the work,” Irb told University World News.

As Supachai is also likely to appeal the forgery ruling, Irb said: “I am not so sure what is going to happen now, I have to say. But the chances are high that this paper will be withdrawn from the journal.”

Lieke Boersma of Wageningen Academic Publishers in The Netherlands, which holds the copyright to the Wyn Ellis material, said the disputed paper “is still there in the Thai journal this week. We also heard about the 8 August verdict and thought they will withdraw it now.” She said Wageningen was disappointed that the paper had not been withdrawn earlier.

Wageningen asked the TJAS to retract the paper over a year ago, but the journal would only do so with a court ruling “which would have been complicated from The Netherlands, so we did not go further with this”, Boersma said. “We will contact them now.”

Supachai’s NIA role

Science and Technology Minister Plodprasob Surasawadi, who oversees the NIA, has said the withdrawal of Supachai’s PhD would not affect his position or work at the NIA, since Supachai used his masters degree to apply for the job, the online agency Thaipublica reported on 8 July.

The chair of the NIA board, Pornchai Rujiprapa, who is also permanent secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology, was reported by the Bangkok Post on 26 June as saying that the withdrawal of the PhD was a personal matter for Supachai.

Ellis told University World News: “It is incumbent upon the ministry and NIA board to exercise their powers immediately to limit the continuing damage to the global reputation and good standing of both agencies.”
 

Students condemn increased cost of living, registration fees and charges in France

Jane Marshall24 August 2012 Issue No:236

In the run-up to the new academic year, France’s two biggest student organisations have condemned rises in students’ living costs and demanded that the government reverse increases in university registration fees and other compulsory charges.

Minister for Higher Education and Research Geneviève Fioraso sympathised with students whose purchasing power was declining, but denied she had raised fees unreasonably and said she was giving priority to making higher education more accessible to young people from poorer families.

Both the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF) and the Fédération des Associations Générales d’Étudiants (FAGE) last week published their annual inquiries into students’ living expenses.

UNEF claimed that these would rise by 3.7% in 2012-13 compared to last year – nearly twice the rate of inflation – while FAGE calculated that a student would have to pay €2,434.33 (US$3,060) at the start of the university year, 2.6% more than in 2011-12.

A major cause of the increased costs was an explosion in rents, which had risen 10.8% in Paris and 2.3% in the rest of the country according to UNEF, which warned of the ‘pauperisation’ of students. FAGE said housing represented more than 45% of students’ budgets.

Other items that had risen sharply in terms of costs were clothes, up 4%, and food, up 3.2%, UNEF said.

FAGE criticized in particular the rise in compulsory charges such as university registration fees, which are fixed annually by government decree. This year they are €181 for a licence (bachelor equivalent) course, up by 2.26%; €250 for a masters, up 2%; and €380 for a doctorate, up 2.15%.

University restaurant meals and compulsory social security contributions had also increased.

FAGE, which has been carrying out its inquiries for 10 years, calculated that student costs had risen by 50% over the past decade – “33 points more than inflation, while social benefits rose by only 23%”. During that time enrolment fees had risen by 28%, 11 points above inflation, it said.

UNEF described students as “the least protected population”. It said the economic crisis had made it impossible for many parents to fund their children’s higher education and, with only two students in 10 in receipt of grants, 80% had no financial support.

As a result student wages had become the chief means for financing studies, with 73% of students now taking paid employment compared with only 48% in 2006. Students who took paid jobs were twice as likely to fail their exams as those who could study full time, said UNEF.

Both organisations demanded reform of student financial benefits, which they proposed could be paid for by reorganisation of a tax concession made to families with responsibility for a student, which generally favoured the better-off.

UNEF called for a doubling of the grants budget and introduction of an ‘autonomy allowance’ – a grant for living expenses for all students not dependent on their families, as promised by the socialist President François Hollande during his election campaign earlier this year.

FAGE proposed a means-tested allowance for which twice the number of students currently receiving a grant would be eligible.

In response to the two organisations, Minister Fioraso said that students, like all French people, had seen their purchasing power diminish in the past few years; policies of the previous right-wing government had aggravated their difficulties, she said.

Her major priority was to widen access to higher education, and she was introducing an ambitious policy to support students from modest backgrounds.

Fioraso denied raising university charges substantially, pointing out that “while several countries have chosen to increase very significantly that part of the costs of education financed by the students”, French registration fees had risen only by the inflation rate of 2.1%. This year’s increases were only €4 for a licence course, €5 for a masters and €8 for a doctorate, she said.

Apart from Scandinavian countries, where higher education was free, France’s fees were among the lowest in the world, she added. Student grants had been raised by 2.1%.

A major new initiative was the government’s decision to control rents, which would favour very many students.

Fioraso said the president had expressed his intention to review existing benefits, and create a means-tested higher education allowance. Consultations would begin soon, she said.
 

Karaoke girls’ sad song

Friday, 24 August 2012

Princess Soma Norodom

 

Karaoke is one of Asia’s favourite pastimes. The creator of the karaoke machine is Japanese, but a Filipino businessman, Robert del Rosario, takes credit for the invention because he was smart enough to patent it.

From Taipei, Jakarta and Manila to Hanoi and Hong Kong, karaoke (KTV) is very popular, and Phnom Penh is no exception.

There are so many karaoke bars throughout our city, but it was difficult to find one that was appropriate for my friends, their parents and me to go to.

Eventually, I found a family-style KTV bar, and it was what karaoke should be about: singing along to the lyrics of your favourite songs.

In many KTV bars in Cambodia, customers enjoy singing, dancing, drinking and having a great time. In most KTV bars, men enjoy other perks with young women.

Many karaoke girls augment their income by moonlighting as prostitutes. Young women from rural areas earn the respect of their villages by sending money home, despite the fact they work in karaoke bars, massage parlours and brothels.

Customers of KTV bars range from tourists, expats and foreigners to local Khmers, and sexual exploit-ation of girls in Cambodia has increased as a result of the financial crisis.

Many women have entered the sex industry because of declining working conditions in the garment sector, where they endured long hours and low pay.

They can easily earn more money, and enjoy good working conditions, by becoming prostitutes in KTV bars.

Some karaoke-bar owners run a clean operation, but many of them hire girls to perform sexual acts with the customers.

Clients negotiate a price, pay a bar fine to take girls off the premises, and enjoy a few hours, or a night, with them. Asian customers like Vietnamese women, who dominate Phnom Penh’s sex scene, because of their preference for pale skin and fine features.

Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, and the government has banned songs that encourage infidelity from being played in KTV bars.

But with thousands of go-go girls and karaoke hostesses, this country is famous for sex tourism.

That image must change, and it will take more than the government to correct it. It takes the community, and the people, to reduce supply and demand in this trade.

I recommend more vocational-training programs education that focuses on skills related to a specific career or trade.

After that training, these women can be placed in a job-assistance program and earn money without having to sell their bodies.

Vocational training tends to be less expensive than academic educational programs, but it should be affordable, or free, to anyone who wants to escape the sex industry.

NGO Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP) provides skills training in fields that include sewing, housekeeping, hairdressing, weaving, handicrafts, small-business management and social work.

The program enables participants to attain self-sufficiency and financial independence, with the opportunity to find employment or run their own business.

At the family-style KTV, we sang the song She Works Hard for the Money, about a waitress who won’t do anything sexual to make money.

There is hope. And if you have hope, you have a chance to make money the respectful way.

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The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom
The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The

Cambodian students fear losing jobs to ASEAN neighbours

Monday, 27 August 2012

Justine Drennan

 

The vision regional leaders have for an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 may become clearer after this week’s Economic Ministers meeting in Siem Reap, but not everyone has a rose-coloured view of what such integration might mean for Cambodia.

“My peers are really concerned that other countries have many more skills and higher study levels,” National Institute of Business student Chan Kakada, 22, said yesterday, ahead of Prime Minister Hun Sen officially opening the meeting today.

Students who have not mastered the English language also fear employment opportunities will fade into the face of stiffer competition for English skills, Kakada, who hopes to one day open her own travel agency, said.

“If Cambodian students can’t compete with other ASEAN countries, maybe in the future [Cambodians] will be jobless after ‘ASEAN-alisation’,” she said, using a term coined by one of her professors, who urges students to study hard and choose their subjects carefully so they can compete in a regional labour market when the AEC’s free movement of skilled labour agreement comes into effect.

The AEC’s proposed labour agreement – to facilitate work permits and relax foreign worker quotas – being discussed at the economic minister’s meeting only includes certain skilled sectors: architecture, engineering, accounting, surveying, medicine and tourism.

University students may have reason to fear, experts say. But, ultimately, few Cambodians have technical skills that will be impacted under the AEC labour agreement, Kang Chandararot, head of the economics unit at independent analyst group Cambodia Institute of Development Study, said.

“The issue is how many skilled labourers we can produce when 80 per cent of labour in the economy is in rural areas,” he said.

“Because of seasonal unemployment and the dependence on a subsistence economy of Cambodian rural households, it is very difficult to promote the benefits of acquiring more skills,” Chandararot said, emphasising that for Cambodians to upskill into technical fields like surveying or medicine, there needed to be a tangible incentive to do so. Without such an incentive, the Cambodian labour market will “not be able to absorb benefits from integration”, he said.

In a country where 50 per cent of the workforce has not finished primary school, AEC integration will be a challenge for Cambodia, but also a chance to catch up, according to Sok Siphanna, adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

But Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at Cambodian NGO Community Legal Education Center, said, “What I can see at the moment is Cambodia has not done anything yet in terms of improvement of human resource quality, in terms of skilled workers and knowledgeable people, in order to pick up good jobs.”

Under current conditions, as ASEAN economies integrate, Cambodia may get stuck supplying other countries with unskilled labour, which current agreements don’t regulate or protect, while foreign workers take skilled jobs, Tola said.

“2015 is a little bit early for Cambodia [to integrate] if you look at the situation,” he said.

Even professionals from sectors included in the labour integration agreement said they were unaware of the pending changes.

“Especially private businesses, they just think of themselves, not with respect to ASEAN or 2015,” Koam Sinoun, who is a dentist in private practice and also a Ministry of Health official, said.

“[Private practices] are working to improve, not with respect to the ASEAN plan, but just separately, for the needs of the country,” Sinoun said. However, this two-steam approach is ultimately counterproductive in the face of regional integration and the Asian Development Bank and labour and education ministries are trying to encourage private businesses to implement regional standardised certification toward an AEC “common framework for quality assurance”, said Mar Sophea, ADB senior social sector officer.

A Labour Ministry and ADB initiative, for example, offers technical and vocational education and training certification to secondary level students at 38 sites across the country.

This program, which focuses on construction, car repair and internet technology with business applications, faces a tough task, since even aspiring professionals tend to pursue administrative rather than technical skills, according to ADB and ministry materials.

ASEAN programs like the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) also are encouraging skills acquisition in Cambodia, said director of ASEAN’s integration monitoring office Aladdin Rillo. The IAI’s investment and development programs broadly seek to close the “development gap” between the original “ASEAN-6” and the less-developed member states of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.

“But these are actually national issues,” Rillo said. “If countries are not able to implement these changes, they will still have the same problems.” For this reason, he said, “I think realistically there will be some short-term adverse effects of the economic integration.”

អ្នក​វិភាគ៖ វិស័យ​អប់រំ​កម្ពុជា គុណភាព​នៅ​មាន​កម្រិត

ដោយ ទីន ហ្សាការីយ៉ា

2012-08-22

នៅ​សង្គម​កម្ពុជា អ្នក​ដែល​មាន​ចំណេះ​ដឹង​ខ្ពង់ៗ ពួក​គាត់​មាន​ឱកាស​តិចតួច ដែល​អាច​ចូល​បម្រើ​ការងារ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ជួរ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បាន ដូច្នេះ​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​ប្រទេស​ក៏​មិន​អាច​វិវឌ្ឍន៍​ទៅ​បាន​លឿន​ដែរ។ ម្យ៉ាង​ទៀត វិស័យ​អប់រំ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា គុណភាព​នៅ​មាន​កម្រិត​នៅ​ឡើយ​នោះ។

ថ្វី​ត្បិត​តែ​នៅ​សង្គម​កម្ពុជា នៅ​ក្នុង​រយៈពេល​ប៉ុន្មាន​ឆ្នាំ​ចុង​ក្រោយ​នេះ សន្ទុះ​សិស្ស​និស្សិត​បាន​ហក់​ចូល​ក្នុង​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ច្រើន​ក្ដី ប៉ុន្តែ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ស្ថានភាព​បច្ចុប្បន្ន​នៅ​កម្ពុជា ស្ថិត​នៅ​ក្នុង​ស្ថានភាព​មួយ​គួរ​ឲ្យ​ព្រួយ​បារម្ភ ដោយ​សារ​តែ​បញ្ហា​គុណភាព។

ក្រុម​អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ខាង​អប់រំ និង​អ្នក​វិភាគ​បាន​លើក​ឡើង​ថា វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ជា​កត្តា​មួយ​ដ៏​សំខាន់ សម្រាប់​ឲ្យ​ពលរដ្ឋ​កម្ពុជា​គ្រប់​រូប ចាប់​អារម្មណ៍​នឹង​វិស័យ​អប់រំ និង​ទទួល​បាន​ការ​អប់រំ​ឲ្យ​បាន​គ្រប់ៗ​គ្នា ដើម្បី​ឲ្យ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​មាន​ការ​យល់​ដឹង​ខ្ពស់ មាន​ការ​ផ្លាស់​ប្ដូរ​ផ្នត់​គំនិត ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​មនុស្ស​មាន​ក្រម​សីលធម៌ សេចក្ដី​ថ្លៃថ្នូរ និង​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​មាន​ទំនាក់​ទំនង​ល្អ​ក្នុង​សង្គម​ជាដើម។

ប្រធាន​គ្រប់គ្រង​ផ្នែក​អប់រំ នៃ​អង្គការ​សង្គ្រោះ​កុមារ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា (Save The Children) លោក កែវ សារ៉ាត់ មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា ការ​រក​ចំណូល​សម្រាប់​ផ្គត់ផ្គង់​គ្រួសារ ឬ​សង្គម​ជាតិ អាស្រ័យ​លើ​សង្គម​នោះ​មាន​ធនធាន​មនុស្ស​ច្រើន ការ​អប់រំ​បាន​ស្មើ​ភាព​គ្នា និង​លទ្ធផល​អប់រំ​មាន​គុណភាព។ លោក​បញ្ជាក់​ថា ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​សង្គម ចាំ​បាច់​ណាស់​ត្រូវ​ការ​មនុស្ស​មាន​សមត្ថភាព ដើម្បី​ទំនាក់​ទំនង​នៅ​ក្នុង​សង្គម។

ទោះ​បី​ជា​សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​ចំនួន​កុមារ​បាន​ចូល​រៀន​ជាង​៩០%​ហើយ​ក្ដី ពីព្រោះ​ថា វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ដែល​មាន​គុណភាព​នោះ ជា​កត្តា​ចាំ​បាច់​សម្រាប់​ជំរុញ​ឲ្យ​មាន​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​ប្រទេស​មាន​ការ​រីក​ ចម្រើន​ឆាប់​រហ័ស តាម​រយៈ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ប្រទេស​មាន​ជំនាញ​ច្បាស់​លាស់ និង​មាន​ចំណេះ​ដឹង​គ្រប់​គ្នា។ ផ្ទុយ​ទៅ​វិញ មាន​ករណី​មួយ​ចំនួន​ដែល​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា គ្មាន​គុណភាព ទោះ​បី​ជា​មនុស្ស​គ្រប់​រូប​យល់​ថា វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ជា​ផ្នែក​មួយ​ដ៏​សំខាន់​ក្នុង​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​ជាតិ​ក្ដី តែ​ភាព​ធូរ​រលុង នៃ​ប្រព័ន្ធ​អប់រំ ពិសេស​នៅ​ពេល​ប្រឡង។

របាយការណ៍​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​របស់​អ្នក​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​ផ្នែក​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​សង្គម បាន​រក​ឃើញ​ថា សិស្ស​ប្រឡង​មធ្យម​សិក្សា​ទុតិយភូមិ ឬ​បាក់ឌុប សិស្ស​ចំនួន​៧៨%​បាន​ឆ្លើយ​ថា ពួក​គេ​ចម្លង​គ្នា​ទៅ​វិញ​ទៅ​មក​ក្នុង​ពេល​ប្រឡង។ កូន​សិស្ស​៦៧%​បាន​ឆ្លើយ​ថា ពួក​គេ​បាន​ចំណាយ​ប្រាក់​សម្រាប់​ការ​ប្រឡង គិត​ជា​មធ្យម​ក្នុង​ម្នាក់​ចំណាយ​លុយ​ប្រមាណ​៣០​ដុល្លារ សម្រាប់​រាយ​ឲ្យ​គ្រូ​ពេល​ប្រឡង។ ចំនួន​សិស្ស​៩២%​ឆ្លើយ​ថា ពួក​គេ​ប្រមូល​លុយ​ក្នុង​ថ្នាក់ សម្រាប់​គ្រូ​អនុរក្ស​ពេល​ប្រឡង ដើម្បី​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​លួច​ចម្លង​គ្នា និង​បើក​មើល​កំណែ​បាន​ជាដើម។

អ្នក​ស្រាវជ្រាវ​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​សង្គម លោក កែម ឡី បាន​សម្ដែង​ការ​ព្រួយ​បារម្ភ​អំពី​កត្តា​គុណភាព​អប់រំ នៅ​មាន​កម្រិត​នៅ​ឡើយ​នេះ ដែល​ជា​ហេតុ​នាំ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ពិបាក​នឹង​ប្រកួត​ប្រជែង​ជាមួយ​ប្រទេស​ជិត​ ខាង នៅ​ពេល​អនាគត ពិសេស​នៅ​ឆ្នាំ​២០១៥ នៅ​ពេល​ប្រទេស​ជា​សមាជិក​អាស៊ាន នឹង​ធ្វើ​សមាហរណកម្ម​សេដ្ឋកិច្ច​ក្នុង​តំបន់។

ក្រុម​អ្នក​វិភាគ​បាន​លើក​ឡើង​ថា ដើម្បី​ឲ្យ​ការ​សិក្សា​មាន​គុណភាព​ទៅ​បាន​នោះ មាន​កត្តា​ជាច្រើន ដូច​ជា ត្រូវ​កែ​ប្រែ​កម្មវិធី​សិក្សា ចាប់​ពី​មត្តេយ្យ​សិក្សា​ដល់​ឧត្តម​សិក្សា រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ត្រូវ​រៀបចំ និង​មាន​វិធានការ​ច្បាស់​លាស់ គុណភាព​គ្រូ និង​សិស្ស បរិស្ថាន​នៃ​ការ​សិក្សា តួនាទី​របស់​រដ្ឋាភិបាល និង​ការ​ចូល​រួម​ពី​សង្គម​គ្រួសារ តាម​រយៈ​ការ​ចំណាយ​ថវិកា​ទៅ​លើ​កូន​ឲ្យ​ចំ​ទិសដៅ។

គុណភាព​អប់រំ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា នៅ​មាន​កម្រិត ជា​កត្តា​រាំងស្ទះ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​សង្គម​ជាតិ ពីព្រោះ​ថា ការ​អប់រំ​មាន​តួនាទី​សំខាន់​ណាស់ ការ​អប់រំ​ឲ្យ​មនុស្ស​មាន​ក្រម​សីលធម៌​វិជ្ជាជីវៈ បណ្ដុះ​ឲ្យ​មនុស្ស​ស្រឡាញ់​ជាតិ បណ្ដុះ​ឲ្យ​មនុស្ស​ជា​ឆ្អឹង​ខ្នង​ទ្រទ្រង់​សង្គម បណ្ដុះ​មនុស្ស​ឲ្យ​ស្គាល់​សីលធម៌ និង​សច្ចធម៌ នៃ​សង្គម បណ្ដុះ​មនុស្ស​ឲ្យ​ស្គាល់​នូវ​វប្បធម៌​របស់​ខ្លួន បណ្ដុះ​ឲ្យ​មាន​ការ​ផ្លាស់​ប្ដូរ​ផ្នត់​គំនិត និង​ផ្សេងៗ​ទៀត។

អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ផ្នែក​វិទ្យាសាស្ត្រ​នយោបាយ និង​ជា​អ្នក​វិភាគ​ឯករាជ្យ លោក​បណ្ឌិត សុខ ទូច មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា គ្រប់​ប្រទេស​ទាំង​អស់​នៅ​លើ​សកលលោក ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​ប្រទេស គេ​ពឹង​ផ្អែក​លើ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ ជា​បញ្ហា​ចម្បង ពោល​គឺ​ប្រទេស​នោះ គេ​ទាម​ទារ​អ្នក​មាន​ចំណេះ​ដឹង។ លោក​អះអាង​ថា ដើម្បី​រំដោះ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​កម្ពុជា​រួច​ផុត​ពី​ភាព​ក្រីក្រ ក៏​ត្រូវ​តែ​ទាម​ទារ​នូវ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ដែរ។

លោក​បណ្ឌិត សុខ ទូច បាន​ពន្យល់​ថា ការ​ដឹកនាំ​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ឲ្យ​មាន​និរន្តរភាព​នោះ រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ត្រូវ​ទាម​ទារ​ឲ្យ​មាន​អ្នក​ជំនាញ​តាម​ផ្នែក​នីមួយៗ ជា​អ្នក​ផ្ដល់​មតិ​យោបល់ ដើម្បី​បង្ហាញ​ផ្លូវ និង​មាន​ចក្ខុវិស័យ​វែង​ឆ្ងាយ។ លោក​បណ្ឌិត សុខ ទូច បាន​ហៅ​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​បែប​ជំហាន​គីង្គក់​របស់​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បច្ចុប្បន្ន មិន​មែន​ជា​ការ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​ដោយ​បែប​អប់រំ​នោះ​ទេ។

ទាក់​ទង​ទៅ​នឹង​បញ្ហា​នេះ អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ផ្នែក​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​សង្គម លោក​បណ្ឌិត កែម ឡី បាន​លើក​ឡើង​ថា ទោះ​បី​ជា​អ្នក​មាន​ជំនាញ និង​ចំណេះ​ដឹង​មួយ​ចំនួន មាន​ឱកាស​ចូល​បម្រើ​ការងារ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ស្ថាប័ន​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ក្ដី ប៉ុន្តែ​ពួក​គេ​ទាំង​នោះ​មិន​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​ក្នុង​ការ​ផ្ដល់​យោបល់ និង​សិទ្ធិ​ក្នុង​ធ្វើ​ការ​សម្រេច​ចិត្ត​ពេញ​លេញ​នោះ​ទេ ដោយ​សារ​តែ​ហេតុផល​នយោបាយ។

ទោះ​បី​ជា​យ៉ាង​ណា​ក៏​ដោយ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​កម្ពុជា​នៅ​ក្នុង​រយៈពេល​ប៉ុន្មាន​ឆ្នាំ​ចុង​ក្រោយ​នេះ បាន​បញ្ជូន​កូន​ចៅ​ទៅ​សាលា​រៀន​មាន​សន្ទុះ​កើន​ឡើង ទោះ​បី​ជា​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា គុណភាព​នៅ​មាន​កម្រិត​ក្ដី។ លោក កែម ឡី បាន​បង្ហាញ​របាយការណ៍​ថា ក្នុង​ឆ្នាំ​២០១២ សិស្ស​ចាប់​ពី​បឋម​សិក្សា​ដល់​ថ្នាក់​វិទ្យាល័យ​មាន​ជាង​៣លាន​នាក់។ និស្សិត​នៅ​ថ្នាក់​ឧត្តម​សិក្សា មាន​ជាង​១០ម៉ឺន​នាក់។

ក្រុម​អ្នក​ជំនាញ​ខាង​អប់រំ បាន​ព្យាករណ៍​ថា ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​នឹង​មិន​មាន​សន្ទុះ​អភិវឌ្ឍ​គ្រប់​វិស័យ ពិសេស​វិស័យ​សេដ្ឋកិច្ច​បាន​លឿន​ទេ ប្រសិន​បើ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​មិន​យក​ចិត្ត​ទុក​ដាក់ និង​ធ្វើ​កំណែ​ទម្រង់​លើ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ​ទេ​នោះ ពីព្រោះ​ថា សង្គម​មួយ​ត្រូវ​ការ​អ្នក​ប្រាជ្ញ អ្នក​មាន​មុខ​ជំនាញ​វិជ្ជាជីវៈ​ច្បាស់​លាស់ និង​អ្នក​ដែល​បង្កើត​គំនិត​ថ្មីៗ​ច្រើន នៅ​ក្នុង​សង្គម៕

Priest tried to warn of Cambodia's insanity

By Erika Colin
CNN


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- Francois Ponchaud was a newly ordained Catholic priest when he arrived in Cambodia in 1965 from a small village in France.
He was sent to do missionary work. But within a decade he would become a crusader against the worst genocide since the Holocaust.

"I was staying by the Cambodian people's side," Ponchaud said, "through the good and the sadness and the suffering."

When he arrived at age 26, Cambodia was a peaceful place: a bucolic land of villages, peasants, rice paddies and Buddhist monks. Ponchaud studied Cambodian history and Buddhism, became fluent in Khmer, made friends and immersed himself in the culture -- falling in love with the country and its people.

But the peacefulness was short-lived. By 1970, Cambodia was descending into chaos as the Vietnam War spilled across its borders. In the countryside, the Americans were carpet-bombing Vietcong outposts. In the capital, Phnom Penh, Washington was propping up a corrupt government.
From the jungles, a sinister and brutal communist rebel group called the Khmer Rouge was fighting to overthrow Cambodia's U.S.-backed regime.

On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. They began to reinvent Cambodia according to an insane blueprint. They emptied the cities, including some 3 million in the capital, forcing all the residents into the countryside -- and toward a dark future.
"As of noon, all the people started leaving," Ponchaud said. "Then I saw all my friends who were leaving. ... There were hundreds of thousands of people who were trudging along a few kilometers an hour. It was truly a staggering sight. Incredible." Watch Ponchaud describe the exodus from Phnom Penh »

Ponchaud was told to stay at the French Embassy, where thousands fleeing Phnom Penh desperately sought asylum. One of the few foreigners able to communicate with the Khmer Rouge, he spent days at the embassy gate, trying to negotiate. Watch Ponchaud discuss the significance of the embassy gate »

In the weeks that followed, the Khmer Rouge let him leave the embassy twice. Both times he searched for clues about what was happening in the country. But Phnom Penh was empty. Read a reporter's notebook of his journey through Cambodia's killing fields »
Ponchaud was expelled from the city in the last evacuating convoy, as the Khmer Rouge forced all foreigners onto trucks and out of the country. At the border, Ponchaud broke down, weeping.
"It was as though we had gone mad," he said. "We were getting out of a country of the living dead."
With the country sealed, the Khmer Rouge went about creating their new Cambodia -- and the killing began in earnest.

The Khmer Rouge envisioned a return to Cambodia's medieval greatness -- a "pure" nation full of noble peasant farmers.

For that, though, they had to purge everyone else: the rich, the religious, the educated, anyone from a different ethnic group.

"All those who were opposed to the government were killed," Ponchaud said. "And all those who didn't work quite hard enough were killed."
Hundreds of thousands were worked -- or starved -- to death. "Perhaps a good chunk -- a solid half -- died from sickness and lack of health care," he said.

By September 1975, Ponchaud was back in France and ready to resume his work. His missionary society in Paris asked him to keep track of events in Cambodia. He quickly became the "go-to" person for Cambodian refugees arriving from Thailand, and he began documenting their stories.
At first, Ponchaud had a hard time believing the accounts of execution, torture, deportation, forced labor and starvation. Read how a Khmer Rouge survivor is documenting the genocide
"They were burning villages ... sending people into the forest without giving them anything to eat," Ponchaud said. "It went beyond my wildest imagination."

Horrified, Ponchaud devised a plan to gather more information: A friend living on the Cambodian border would record and send him broadcasts from Radio Phnom Penh -- the official voice of the Khmer Rouge -- in which the government described its transformation of the country. Read a former Khmer Rouge member's account of the killings

Ponchaud found that the broadcasts substantiated the refugees' claims. As unbelievable as those claims were, the broadcasts told of the same policies. What the refugees were saying was true.
"I decoded the radio -- the official declarations. And then the refugees would give me the 'experienced' side. It matched up," he said. "On one hand, the ideology, and on the other, the lived experience." Watch Ponchaud describe how he was able to decode the Khmer Rouge ideology »
For months, Ponchaud gathered and documented information, repeatedly denouncing the Khmer Rouge. His testimonials appeared in the French press as early as October 1975.
He also wrote to the president of France and Amnesty International, and appeared before the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. Watch Ponchaud discuss his efforts to alert people to the genocide »

In 1976, angered by inaccuracies in Le Monde's reporting on the Khmer Rouge, Ponchaud fired off a letter to the newspaper's editor -- along with a dossier of refugee accounts and radio transmissions. He was contacted immediately and asked to write for the newspaper. His articles were published in February 1976. Watch Ponchaud tell the Le Monde story »
Though few accounts of Cambodia's nightmare were appearing in the press, the U.S. government was receiving frequent briefings about what was happening there. In a meeting in November 1975, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger acknowledged the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. But he also knew that they shared an enemy with the U.S. -- Vietnam.

"Tell the Cambodians that we will be friends with them," Kissinger told an official in the region, according to a declassified State Department account. The Khmer Rouge "are murderous thugs," he said, "but we won't let that stand in our way." Read Kissinger's words in the declassified State Department document (pdf)

By 1977, the Khmer Rouge had been in power for two years, and much of the world remained unaware or uninterested. Many who did hear accounts of Khmer Rouge brutality found them hard to believe. Even prominent liberals and intellectuals doubted that a supposedly egalitarian peasant movement would perpetrate such horrors on their own people.

Ponchaud then published a startling book called "Year Zero." It was one of the first to expose the brutal totalitarian regime of the Khmer Rouge to the world. Still, no help came for Cambodia.
"I was pretty frustrated," he said. "The governments did not react. You know, countries don't defend human rights. They are always subservient to politics."

In January 1977, the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter promised a change. Carter vowed to put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. But it would take 15 months for him to publicly condemn the Khmer Rouge as the world's "worst violator of human rights."
Even then he took no action to stop the slaughter. Invasion, he said, was not an option for a country still recovering from the Vietnam War.

Instead, in December 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia after years of cross-border skirmishes. The Vietnamese quickly overthrew the Khmer Rouge, who fled back into the jungle.
The world would finally start to see that all Ponchaud had said was true. More than 2 million Cambodians were dead. The scope of the catastrophe quickly became clear. In the fall of 1979, Carter responded, raising $32 million to help the refugees.

Today, Ponchaud is back in Cambodia, continuing his efforts for the Cambodian people, building schools, holding Mass and working on local projects. Often referred to as "the friend of the Cambodians," he is considered an expert on the country. But this time he has no illusions.
"No one defends human rights," he said. "Governments are cold beasts looking out for their own interests."