The Ministry of Education on Friday announced that 12th grade students in Phnom Penh and Kandal province had outperformed students from the previous year in their national exams.
“This year, 81.9 percent of the students passed, which is higher than last year’s results, where 77.79 percent passed,” said Ou Eng, director general of the education department at the ministry.
Results for the rest of the country will be released Saturday.
Mr Eng said that by analyzing the exam papers, students had answered more questions on the exam than the previous year.
Students in Phnom Penh were the most successful with a pass rate of 95.75 percent, he said.
Mr Eng said that accusations of answer sheets being leaked to students prior to their examinations, which came to an end on July 28, were untrue, as the ministry had conducted an investigation.
“After the examination, we did an investigation,” he said. “We invited the chief and deputy chiefs of the examination centers and the exam proctors to meetings and asked them about this issue but we did not find anything.”
But Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, said he was not satisfied with the results or the investigation into cheating.
“[The results] don’t mean that the quality of the exam has improved because the exams were leaked during the testing,” he said, adding, “The proctors cheat and take money from the students to let them see the answer sheet.”
Mr Chhun said specifically the math exam answers were leaked and he would like the Ministry of Education to investigate who leaked the answers and punish them.
Students on Friday who had heard their results said they were proud of their achievements.
“I am very happy since I heard the announcement that I passed the exam,” said Teng Pisith, a 19-year-old student from Preah Sisowath High school in the capital. He added that every student who had taken the exam with him passed.
According to an announcement issued on Friday by the Ministry of Education, 108,433 students participated in the national examinations.
