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Radio Free Asia:
Youth Program
Click on the link
below and enjoy listening the coverage
Lycée
Sisowath's Computer Lab
or
http://www.rfa.org/service/audio.html?service=khm
Nov. 23, 2003 at
19:30.
It starts at 0:28:50.
School goes high tech
By Sam Rith
A prominent high school in Phnom Penh, attended by many children of the
capital's elite, will be among the first to incorporate high technology features
such as computers into its curriculum, school administrators said.
The school received 24 computers from former students living in the United
States in November. It is the first of several schools expected to receive
computers donated from overseas in the next year.
"Computer skills are very important for this generation of students,"
said Seng Lime, director of Preah Sisowath high school. "If they don't have
computer skills, it will be difficult for them to find jobs after
graduation."
One student at Preah Sisowath high school, Hong Maoinna, 16, said the new
computers were the first he had ever used, though he had seen some on TV.
"I feel so excited and want to study computers from now on because I want
to be a doctor after graduation," he said.
About 20 computers will also be given to Boeng Trabek High School on December 8
by a group of Singaporean students, said Hieng Sin Hort, deputy director of the
school. He added that other donated computers might be placed in high schools
throughout Cambodia by next year.
Lime wants the Ministry of Education to offer all students computer courses.
"Only 24 computers are not enough, but it's better than nothing," said
Lime. "We are proud because we are the first school to start teaching
computer skills to high school students." Other schools offer computer
courses in partnerships with NGOs.
But given the impoverished nature of most schools, lacking even the most basic
supplies, that is unlikely to happen. In the provinces, schools often do not
have electricity, textbooks or reliable teaching staffs. Salaries for teachers
still hover around $25 per month.
Bun Sok, under secretary of state with the Ministry of Education, said that a
technology education program is both a priority and financial obligation of the
Ministry. He said that the Ministry has already purchased computers for the
administrative staff of several schools, but not yet for the students themselves
"[The funds] depend on the government," he said. "If the
government has a budget to support education, we plan to have computers in high
schools."
One mathematics teacher at Preah Sisowath, Chea Som Orn, 48, said he would teach
computer skills even if he did not receive a salary hike.
"I have to help to make [the program] operate," he said. "We have
only computers. How can it work if there is no teacher?"
Phnom Penh Post,
Issue 12/25, December 5 - 18, 2003
© Michael Hayes, 2003. All rights revert to authors and artists on
publication.
For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael
Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.PhnomPenhPost.com - Any
comments on the website to Webmaster
Computer Literacy
Campaign in picture
