After
decades of punishing civil war, Cambodia has developed slowly but
steadily on a wave of political stability and economic growth. The loss
of human and infrastructure resources during wartime, however, have left
the Kingdom with a number of issues that still need to be resolved, not
least of which are the high rates of unemployment and poverty. With
these issues in mind, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training’s
National Training Board has adopted a project with the impressive title
of Strengthening Technical and Vocational Education Training (STVET).
This
project aims to ensure the productivity of the workforce so it can meet
market demand and improve Cambodians’ quality of life. The difficulty
lies in young people’s perception of technical jobs.
Most view
vocational jobs as low paid and not very prestigious. Few high-school
students will choose hands-on jobs, such as becoming a mechanic or an
engineer, over continuing their education. Despite a significant
increase in the number of public and private universities in Cambodia,
very few offer technical-skills majors, let alone formal vocational
training programs in those areas.
Many
technical skills are largely ignored, taught by only a limited number
of local and international organizations to the rural poor.
Suy
Sokha, the recruitment manager at HR Inc., a leading human resources
and business-solutions company operating in Cambodia, has found a lack
of technical expertise in all industries in his attempts to find staff
for his clients. Suy Sokha says people are needed in all kinds of
positions, from supporting roles to technical experts and managers, in
the agricultural, chemical, garment, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and
construction industries. But even with this high demand, few
universities make the effort to attract students to these majors, or
even to offer them.
Moreover,
there is no proper examination system for filtering students who
receive certain types of higher education. This may be why many holders
of bachelor’s degrees find it difficult to land well-paying jobs, as
they are competing with many classmates who studied similar things.
Most
Cambodian universities require no placement exams or entrance tests;
they simply accept any students who show up to register. This is not the
case in other countries, where many leading universities require a
certain score in standardized admittance tests. And Cambodian
universities offer students any major they want, without any concern for
market demand.
If
you happen to drive past a high school during the national High School
Examination, you will notice crowds of people waiting to hand students
piles of university brochures and booklets. Every students receives a
stack of paper about possible majors, almost all of which are concerned
with service jobs. If students were classified on their interests and
academic performance in high school, they might consider careers in
technical and vocational fields. In my opinion, students need to be made
aware of vocational training education before they register at a
university.
Institutions
of higher education are not established for profit. They are a social
mainstay charged with creating the next generation of productive human
resources.
So,
along with trying to offer more technical training courses in
universities, students should have a consultant who helps them decide on
the major that will provide them with the best job prospects.
Furthermore, students should be made more aware of scholarships that
offer a chance to study technical skills abroad, such as the Endeavour
Vocational Education and Training Award provided by the Australian
government.
There
are also some awards that offer study in the US. The important point is
that students serious about their education and their career should
change their stereotyped view of vocational training education.
LIFT
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