Nearly 50 percent of high school students passed their baccalaureate exams this year, an increase of almost 10 percent from last year, education officials said Tuesday.
But some of the more than 38,500 students who took the nationwide exam in June said the improved grades came amid rampant cheating and bribery.
According to Va Savoeun, head of the education ministry’s examination office, 18,883 grade 12 students, or 48.98 percent, passed this year’s exam with a score of 330 or higher, compared with 14,360 students, or 40.58 percent, last year.
Of those who passed, only three people throughout the country received an “excellent” grade of A, or a score of between 590 and the maximum of 700, he said. Two people received A’s last year.
The bulk of students ended up with a “limited achievement” grade of E, or a score between 330 to 389, Va Savoeun said. About 10,460 received E’s, on par with the number who received that grade last year.
Baccalaureate exams, which have been marred by cheating in the past, are still hampered by “irregularities,” said Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association. “Most of the students are not smart and clever enough to pass the examination. But they could pass by copying answer sheets and bribing corrupt education officials,” he said.
Chhoun Dara, 19, of Phnom Penh’s Santhor Mok high school, said he and 24 other students in his class pooled $1 each to bribe the three proctors overseeing their exam. “We bribed them in order to turn a blind eye when we copied from answer sheets,” he said, adding that the bribes paid off. “I’m very excited to see that I could pass the examination. I called my sisters and relatives to let them know.”
Education officials, however, denied any widespread cheating and instead attributed the passing grades to students’ hard work.
“Students this year tried studying hard, which is why this number of students could pass the examination,” said Ke Naileang, the Ministry of Education’s education department director-general.
Sihanoukville ranked first in the country for the number of students who passed the exam, which is required for a high school graduation certificate, Va Savoeun said. Second was Phnom Penh, followed by Koh Kong province, Pailin municipality and Stung Treng province, he added.
