“Barcamp Phnom Penh helps make the many dreams of geeks and tech addicts come true through the freedom of sharing and participation,” said Pongsametrey Sok, projects manager in software development at Nokor Group, a Phnom Penh-based software developer.
"How can I communicate with my colleagues and managers more clearly? How can I get the information I need from other people? What can I do to resolve conflict in communication? What techniques should I use to persuade other people to follow my suggestions?
How do I prepare to negotiate with someone? What steps should I follow to be successful in the negotiation process? How can I close the deal?"
Things You'll Need:
- Professional temperament
- Professional Work Attitude
- Professional Spirit
Treat others with respect. 
Do not shy away from personal responsibility for the outcome of your decisions or actions. Learn from mistakes and don't repeat them.
| Written by Khoun Leakhana | |
| Thursday, 02 October 2008 | |
| Girls easily out performed boys in August's high school exams, prompting a Ministry of Education plan to re-engage a generation of disinterested male students ALMOST 40 percent of males failed their high school exams compared with just over 30 percent of girls, according to the Kingdom's latest set of exam results. The growing gender gap is leading officials to develop a plan of action, but they remain unclear on how best to tackle the disturbing trend. "We need to investigate why more male students are failing their exams than female," said Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport Secretary of State Pith Chamnan. "One of the simple explanations is that male students do not study as hard, and we need to work with the parents of male students on this problem." He said that the results were not caused by government policy. Just 65.92 percent of male students passed the high school exam this year, compared with 77.26 percent of females. The ministry says it is preparing an action plan to encourage male high school students to pay more attention to studies. Similar findings have long been identified in Western countries, including the US, Australia and parts of Europe. One American study says that girls have a better understanding of social cues and are more disciplined. Superior female achievement in high school continues into university, with more females enrolling and completing their degrees. In the United States in 2004, 58 percent of all bachelor degrees were earned by women. Im Sithe, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Women's Affairs, said that she is happy with the success of female students in Cambodia. "We [and the ministry] try very hard to make sure girls are comfortable in their studies by ... championing the importance of female education and encouraging parents to send their daughters to school," she said. Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said the results worry his organisation. "We have many examples that prove boys are more likely than girls to act up and skip class if their parents are not strictly observing their study," he said. En Vannak, 42, a mother and business woman from Oddar Meanchey province, agrees with his assessment. "In previous times I have not paid attention to my son's studies because I have been busy," she said. "But now I frequently contact his teachers to ask about his progress. I don't believe teachers have enough time to look after my son, so I have to take the time to follow him." Source: Phnom Penh Post |
| Written by Chun Sophal and Hor Hab | |
| Wednesday, 01 October 2008 | |
| NEARLY 96 percent of Cambodian employers require some form of higher education when hiring professional staff, with 72 percent requiring a bachelor's or master's degree, according to a new survey by the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (CAMFEBA). But more than half of the 220 employers surveyed said it was difficult to find professional staff with good analytical and decision-making skills. "Only 13 percent of employers believe that graduates have all or most of the skills they need for work," CAMFEBA said in a statement. Var Sim Samrith, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Labor, said the ministry needs time to improve educational and job training sectors. "It is very important for the ministry and other institutions, as well as related personnel, to balance the supply of skilled workers in Cambodia's labor market," said Var Sim Samrith. Yim Meng Chhorn, a human resource analyst with HR Inc Cambodia, said the lack of skilled workers has less to do with specific degrees than that the skills they do possess do not correspond to market demands. "More and more students are studying finance, but they ignore technical and agricultural skills," said Yim Meng Chhorn. "New employees normally need to adapt to their workplace because the quality of exams is low, students are lazy at school and the curriculum needs to be updated," he said. About 33 percent of university and vocational training students make their own decision on their field of study, based on perceptions of those skills in the Cambodian labour market, the survey noted. Chan Sok Khieng, rector of Norton University in Phnom Penh, said between 1,200 and 1,500 students each year earn bachelor's and master's degrees at his university. "More than 90 percent of new graduates from Norton University can find a job because we are providing them with the skills that match market needs," he said. Chan Sok Khieng said graduates must possess more than the sufficient skill to do the jobs they are hired to perform. They also need to have a proper perspective on the workplace itself. "Many young people don't understand what it means to be a part of a working team in an office environment," he said. Source: Phnom Penh Post |
| Written by Chhay Channyda | |
| Friday, 05 September 2008 | |
| The only two grade-A students in Cambodia say that the government needs to do more to curb cheating and bribery to ensure that exam results really reflect students' abilities  VANDY RATTANA Heng Kothai from Siem Reap province obtained 100 percent in his exams, as well as A’s in five subjects. Chhay Sopanhana, 17, from Hun Sen Sereypheap High School in Kandal province's Takhmao town, said she was delighted when she received news of her 99.99 percent exam result. "I did my best to receive this grade. It makes me happy and proud of myself and my whole family is also proud of me," she said. As the youngest daughter of a health official in Kandal province, Chhay Sopanhana is now on holiday and is preparing for university. "I am interested in studying medicine because my father is a doctor and my older sister is also approaching this field," she said, adding that she thought her outstanding grades might owe something to the fact she was "lucky to be born in a family that is encouraging me to pursue higher education". Despite obtaining the highest possible grades in all subjects at school, Chhay Sopanhana feels that her foreign-languages skills still need some work. "I stopped learning languages for one year because I was focusing on my school exams," she explained. "I need to learn more English and French to compete with other students when I enter university," she said, adding that English would be essential in the future were she to apply for overseas scholarships to pursue her education still further. Pech Lang, who was Chhay Sopanhana's math professor, told the Post that the A student had only used her own knowledge during the exam and did not cheat. "Sopanhana has been an outstanding student in Kandal province," she said. Heng Kothai, the only other student in the country to obtain grade-A marks, also cited a perceived weakness in foreign languages as a factor of concern. Despite admitting to a slight obsession with perfection, Heng Kothai says that what really got him his grades was his work ethic. He said he is confident this will stand him in good stead when he tackles improving his language skills. "My English is not as good as my general subjects at school, but if I study hard like I studied for my exam results, I will achieve success." The Siem Reap native received an overall exam score of 100 percent, and said he got an A in five subjects: maths, philosophy, biology, physics and chemistry. "I only got one C for English," he added ruefully. "I must study hard to improve my English results," he said, adding that he admires Phnom Penh students' access to finances and education. "I am not rich enough to pay for a part-time tutor," he said. Widespread cheating  PHOTO SUPPLIED Kandal province’s Chhay Sopanhana says she will study medicine. The news of widespread bribery and cheating during the exams comes as no surprise to Heng Kothai. "Students are cheating all over the country," he said. "It is normal in Cambodia that students collect money for proctors. Government measures to crack down on such bad habits seem ineffective," he said. According to Heng Kothai, even noncheating students have to cough up cash for teachers. "It is a must to get all 25 students in the examination room to pay," he said. "I did not cheat so I did not pay, but proctors demanded all students to pay, so my friend spent money for me. Everyone knows I did not cheat." The student is now in Phnom Penh searching for an appropriate university to continue his education. "I want to pursue my degree in civil engineering [as] it is easy to find a good job in this field." Nhoek Sakun, deputy head of the Department of High Schools at the Siem Reap Provincial Education Department, said that he was happy to see a student in his province receive one of the only two perfect scores in the country. "The good result shows his true capacity: He is an outstanding student in Siem Reap," he said. However, Nhoek Sakun admitted that outstanding students with a sense of ethics were a rarity. "We cannot prevent all cheating. Cheating still exists." Chroeng Lim Sry, of the Ministry of Education, said he was pleased to see that the two students who received A's used only their knowledge to pass the exam. Source: Phnom Penh Post |
| Written by Chhay Channyda | |
| Monday, 01 September 2008 | |
| Despite rampant cheating, most students only manage the lowest possible passing score on their high school finals. Bribery allegations call into question whether grades reflect capacity FEWER students passed their high school exams this year compared with 2007, according to results released throughout the country Friday - despite widespread cheating. Some 70.7 percent of the 55,178 students who participated received passing marks, compared with 72.7 percent of students who passed last year. However, with allegations of widespread bribery in the classroom, many question whether the results reflect students' real capacity.  VANDY RATTANA Students in Phnom Penh wait to get their results Friday. According to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports statistics signed by Ke Nay Leang, general director of education, Phnom Penh students had the highest pass rate in the country at 84.9 percent, while Stung Treng students had the lowest at just 39.6 percent. Only two students in the country succeeded in getting grade A, the highest mark. Some 432 students got grade B, 3,289 got grade C, 14,769 got grade D and 36,706 students got grade E, according to statistics. Chroeng Lim Sry, director of the Department of High Schools at Ministry of Education, told the Post Sunday that the lowest scores received this year were in the subject of Khmer literature. "While not many students received good scores for Khmer writing, they usually did OK in other subjects." Chroeng Lim Sry acknowledged that cheating presented a problem during this year's exams. "We had over 79,000 students taking exams but only about 10,000 proctors to supervise," he said. "We couldn't prevent cheating entirely, but we will punish those teachers who allowed for irregularities by suspending them from being proctors again." Cheating, bribery rampant Rong Chhun, president of Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said that the fact that the majority of students passed shows a lack of strict measures to curb bribery. "There were many irregularities during the exam period," he said. "The exam results sometimes do not reflect students' real capacity." Even though there is no concrete evidence of corruption, the fee for passing an exam can range anywhere from 7,000 riels in the provinces to 12,000 riels in Phnom Penh, Rong Chhun added. Chroeng Lim Sry said that while some students have paid bribes, he could guarantee that no formal cheat fees exist. He added that during exam day, two teachers were fired for taking money in exchange for test answers. Source: Phnom Penh Post |
| Written by May Titthara | |
| Thursday, 14 August 2008 | |
| Rampant cheating at high school exams this year has forced the government to investigate the widespread practice of students paying their teachers for test answers, education officials said Wednesday. "After the examination results are announced we will conduct a meeting with the chief of the education department and school directors around the country to find a way to stop teachers from taking money from their students and students from giving money to their teachers," said Chroeng Lim Sry, director of the high school department at the Ministry of Education. Two teachers were fired this year for taking money in exchange for test answers, but most students interviewed during this year's exams said it was almost expected that they would pay for better scores. Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association, said that a large number of students would only pass their exams because they had cheated. "The Ministry of Education should not allow students to cheat during exams. If teachers' salaries are not increased and they continue to take money from the students to let them cheat, Cambodia will have no strong human resources to develop this country," Rong Chhun said. Sek Borisoth, director of the Anti-Corruption Program for Pact, agreed that widespread corruption in the examination room has interfered with the test scores and in the long-run is bound to lead to a lack of qualified graduates. "This will cause a serious problem in the society because students who have certificates will be unable to find jobs because the certificates will not be valued by employers," he said. "We want to increase teachers' wages to discourage them from taking bribes from the students in return for turning a blind eye to their cheating," Sek Borisoth said. "Some teachers...are forced to take money from their students because their wages are so low." Source: Phnom Penh Post |