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By
: Pech Saory, Pictures NFE Department.
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Education
is very important in human resource training. To
encourage only Formal Education essentially means
not being able to achieve the goal of education
for all.
The Council of Ministers has, in the middle of August,
strongly supported non-formal education. It is seen
as equally important as formal education. The depth
of this conviction was apparent when they pledged
$500,000 towards such activities, for this year
alone. With one of the lowest literacy rates in
the world - over 4 million people are unable to
read, the vast majority, some 70%, are women; it
is no surprise there are plans to improve.
In support of this view, the whole world has approved
8 September as a day for celebration of International
Literacy Day. This shows that attention is being
paid to non- formal education (NFE) and the challenges
faced within this field.
Cambodia started the first literacy activities in
1964, |
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under the royal
duties of Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, His Majesty
the King of Cambodia.
This work was conducted actively throughout the country.
The National Literacy Campaign, from 1964 - 1966, succeeded
notably. At the time the Conference of UNESCO in Tehran,
Iran, the Kingdom of Cambodia was awarded the Mohamed
Raza Paleni Medal : worth approximately 5,000 US dollars.
From 1970 to 1978, Cambodia fell into the flame of civil
war; during that time nearly all of the education system
was destroyed. At the beginning of 1979, the new government:
the State of Cambodia, was established. From the local
to the centralized levels, national institutions were
prepared, of which the educational field was one.
The Department of Adult Education was also established
on May 15th, 1979. Their aim was to actively encourage
adult education and achieve the results required by the
National Committee of Combating Illiteracy and Complementary
Education, which Samdech Heng Samrin was the chairman.
The organizing of the network of adult education was to
incorporate both the central and the local levels. It
is in charge of two main duties: illiteracy eradication
and complementary education, for all kinds of people,
personnel and workers. This was according to the emergency
needs of the Nation. Thus it was approved that June 19th
would be National Literacy Day. There have been two National
Literacy Campaigns, the first started in 1980 and ran
until 1983 and the second, from 1983 to 1986. These lowered
the illiteracy rate considerably, dropping below the one
million mark. The National Conference of Literacy, at
the beginning of 1988, claimed that Cambodia had physically
passed illiteracy. Complementary Education has also made
strong progress. There are many kinds of learning: there
are 18 complementary schools, 32 semi-complementary schools,
and 108 part-time complementary schools. For the learning
grades, there are levels from primary to upper secondary
education. Actually, from 1979 to 1999, there were 17,390
students who got primary certificates, 39,015 students
who got lower secondary diplomas, and 19,702 students
who got upper secondary diplomas. |
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Since 1988,
adult education, especially literacy, has dropped.
Illiteracy has increased rapidly and neo - literacy
has become the relapse. All school age children
do not necessarily have access to schools. With
children out of primary school the rate is at a
high level.
Overall, the literacy movement during this period
had nearly no activities. The work was carried out
through non-governmental organizations and women's
associations. However, the Complementary Education
sector still had many good activities, but it too
showed the points of decrease: step by step.
Through the Chum Tian Conference on Education for
All, Thailand in 1990, and National Conference on
Education for All, in Phnom Penh, in 1991, adult
education has effected the Cambodian people strongly.
This was especially true of a great number of educational
officials who usually pretended to be deaf-mute
and to not know this work. The vision of education
for all has indicated that, in order for the whole
education system to be successful, it is necessary
that we do both tasks: Formal and Non-Formal Education
at the same time. To illustrate this it can be said
that, these two forms are like both the wings of
bird that support the whole bird body. Through the
education for all vision and at the same time as
the Open National Policy, some leaders and officials
of the Adult Education Department were sent to participate
in training courses and workshops on Non-Formal
Education abroad, especially in Asia-Pacific Region.
Armed with this knowledge, in 1992 the government
initiated to change the Adult Education Department
into Non-Formal Education Department (NFED), and
carried out work regarding curriculum and management
structures. The Non-Formal Education Department
has two main duties: to eliminate illiteracy through
Professional Literacy and Continuing Education.
Through non-formal education reform, UNESCO and
UNICEF have closely cooperated on financial and
material support to this Department. National workshops
were conducted continuously, in order to train the
human resources serving this task. Another advancement
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A Phnom Penh class for children
who have dropped out of school
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Complimentary class of the SCADP
Organization, in Phnom Penh.
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was the establishment
of contracted literacy teacher training, which started
its first course in 1997. On the other hand, UNESCO ACCU,
ILO/IPEC, and other NGOs cooperated closely with Non-Formal
Education Department by providing non-formal education
experience to encourage the growth of non-formal education.
As a result of non-formal education expansion through
the Community Learning Centers (CLCs), today there are
four Community Learning Centers: all are achieving good
results. To ensure that non-formal education was effective,
the National Literacy Survey Committee was established
on July 15th, 1999. This committee finished successfully
by identifying exactly the net illiteracy rates in Cambodia.
The National Workshop on Non-Formal Education Management
Information System (NFE-MIS) was held at the end of 2001.
These showed these necessary tasks and the advancement
of non-formal education in Cambodia.
Overall, from 1979 until 2002, the non-formal education
has progressed regularly in accord with true situation
in Cambodian society. From year to year we have reformed
many tasks such as curricula, all legal papers and documents,
and other sections.
The system has come a long way over the years. The shift
from literacy and innumeracy towards professional literacy
has been a great leap forward. In this way the people
have been more able to realize their problems and express
their ideas for solutions to the issues they face.
The bright results of non-formal education are lighting
everywhere, and making both people, local authorities
and concerned institutions, participate actively. As a
result of this effort, more than 30,000 people each year
pass out of the veil of illiteracy.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), which
has NFE Department as their expert Department, will expand
NFE coverage through their Priority Action Plan (PAP),
2002. This NFE coverage expansion is to eliminate illiteracy
in Cambodia, in accord with the Dakar International Conference
Declaration on Education for All that stated that each
Member Countries should alleviate illiteracy by 50% by
2015.
While this may seem a tough job, with the success of the
past to inspire, it is an optimistic outlook regarding
Non Formal Education and the ongoing quest to stamp out
illiteracy from the kingdom.
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B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
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