More than 40 Phnom Penh municipal high-school teachers participated in a discussion organized by the Khmer Youth Association Thursday in hopes of clarifying exam procedures.
Their hopes of dialogue were dashed, however, when Ministry of Education officials did not appear as promised.
Many teachers were irked to learn that they had been issued a red card for allegedly allowing cheating and barred from proctoring future exams, said Chhoeng Sineang, president of the Professors’ Alliance. Other teaches were given yellow cards to warn them they were being watched.
Besides the card system, which they say they didn’t know about until afterwards, red-carded teachers bemoaned the loss of income that comes with proctoring.
The Professors’ Alliance showed a letter that was sent from Minister of Education Tol Lah to Department of General Knowledge Chief Chroeng Limsry requesting Ministry of Education officials to attend the forum.
Chroeng Limsry said Thursday that he had no knowledge of the letter and was out of town when the request was made. Each teacher had prepared at least one question to ask the absent officials.
The ministry’s measure is unfair, said Chhoeng Sineang, because it never told teachers that they made mistakes or confronted them with evidence.
“The teachers want the ministry to clearly define the measure because they don’t understand it,” Chhoeng Sineang said.
Bak Touk High School teacher Chreng Meng Hong, who received a red card, lamented the loss of his usual 180,000 riel (about $45) proctoring income. “If the ministry gives cards to teachers, the ministry should find evidence to prove what the teachers have done wrong.”
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, said the cards were futile. “The only way to decrease corruption is for the ministry to offer teachers a reasonable salary,” he said.