Teachers working in school administrative offices will receive reduced bonuses—a new policy that the government says will help reform the education system by making it more attractive to go back to the classroom.
“We want to move teachers back into teaching. We have seen a speedy growth of office staff,” Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Secretary of State Pok Than said.
Educators who worked in administration were receiving teaching bonuses just like their colleagues in the classroom, but the government has put an end to that practice in an order signed Dec 1, Pok Than said.
The order takes effect today, Ministry of Education General Director of Administration and Finance Chhay Aun said.
High school teachers usually receive bonuses of 53,800 riel (about $13.47) per month, while junior high school teachers receive 53,300 riel (about $13.33) and primary school teachers receive 53,000 riel (about $13.25), Chhay Aun said.
Under the new system, administrators will now receive bonuses ranging from 20,000 to 45,000 riel (about $5 to $11.25) per month, while classroom teachers will receive monthly bonuses starting at 60,000 riel (about $15), Chhay Aun said.
The order is part of a larger reform effort to streamline Cambodia’s education system, Chhay Aun said. It is hoped that this order will get up to 2,000 teachers to return to the classroom, Pok Than said.
Some teachers have welcomed the new directive, saying it gives them a chance to increase their income.
“If I have to teach classes, I can make extra money from private teaching,” said one teacher on an administrative staff, who makes about 130,000 riel ($32.50) per month.
But the order has met with disapproval from some teachers, who say it it is not an incentive so much as it is a coercion. Other administrative staff say the cuts are unfair because the staff work at least four hours per day, while many teachers work less than six hours per week.
Critics also say the order will create more problems in those school districts with a surplus of teachers already.
“Schools in Phnom Penh have teacher inflation. Every year, we receive around 30 new teachers at our school,” Bak Touk High School Director Sok Sovann said.
Bak Touk has 8,800 students and a staff of 381, which translates to about 23 students per staff member. But due to a shortage of classrooms, some classes have up 70 students, Sok Sovann said.
That problem is also being addressed in the reforms, Pok Than said. In the year 2002, the government is using $18 million in loans and grants to build new schools throughout Cambodia, he said.
