China News Agency, Phnom Penh, December 25th: Why did Cambodia include Chinese in the national education system?
——Interview with Subina, Dean of the International Chinese Education Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia
China News Agency reporter Ouyang Kaiyu
With the in-depth development of friendly relations between China and Cambodia and the continuous advancement of the construction of a community of shared future, the exchanges between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges have become increasingly frequent.
Not long ago, the "Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Cambodia on Cooperative Development of Chinese Language Education Cooperation Projects in Cambodian Secondary Schools" was signed, marking the formal inclusion of Chinese in the Cambodian national education system.
China News Agency "West Questions" interviewed Subina, Dean of the International Chinese Education Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, to share the story of the development of Chinese education in Cambodia.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: What role does language education play in the cultural integration of various countries?
Su Bina:
Language is the most direct tool for communication and a bridge to communicate with countries around the world.
Vigorously developing language education is conducive to mutual understanding between countries in the world, enhancing mutual trust, and promoting the integration of world cultures.
Take Chinese and Khmer as an example. Both languages are treasures of the forest of nations in the world. Cambodia has extensively developed Chinese education, and China is also committed to cultivating its own Khmer-speaking talents. Mutual understanding between the people of the two countries has played the most direct role in enhancing the friendship between the two peoples and promoting people-to-people exchanges.
Employees of Chinese-funded enterprises in Cambodia in Phnom Penh participated in the Chinese song contest.
Photo by Huang Yaohui
China News Agency reporter: What is the current situation of Chinese language education in Cambodia and what are its characteristics?
Subina:
Chinese language education in Cambodia started early. Although it has experienced setbacks, it has recovered quickly. At present, it still has a very good foundation and maintains a relatively large scale.
At present, there are more than 100 various Chinese education institutions in Cambodia, with more than 100,000 Chinese learners, and this number is still increasing.
Not only local Chinese schools are booming, but Chinese education institutions jointly established by China and Cambodia are also increasing. At the same time, various non-governmental Chinese education institutions are developing rapidly.
There are three main types of Chinese education institutions in Cambodia.
The first category is Chinese education institutions represented by various Chinese schools; the second category is Chinese education institutions established by the CCP in Cambodia; the third category is private Chinese education institutions.
These three types of Chinese education institutions constitute the main body of Chinese education in Cambodia.
With the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Cambodia and China, I believe that public schools, especially public primary and secondary schools, will become the fourth type of Chinese education institution in the future, especially the nature of their public institutions and the size of their students, which determine that they will become Cambodian Chinese education institutions in the future. The main force of development.
Incorporating Chinese into the national education system is an important recognition of the importance of Chinese by the Cambodian government, and it also reflects the actual demand for Chinese education in Cambodia at the current historical stage.
Cambodian students at the handover ceremony of the two schools of the China-Cambodia friendship "Friends of the Silk Road".
Photo by Ouyang Kaiyu
China News Agency reporter: In recent years, there has been a "Chinese fever" in Cambodia. How do you understand it?
Subina: In
my opinion, China and Cambodia are "good brothers, good neighbors, good partners, and good friends". The two sides have maintained friendly diplomatic relations for a long time, and China has maintained its status as the largest investor in Cambodia all year round.
China's large investment in Cambodia, as well as the increasingly frequent exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields such as economy and trade, have brought a large number of business and employment opportunities to Cambodia.
To enjoy the fruits of friendly cooperation between Cambodia and China, learning Chinese has become the only way.
Therefore, I think learning Chinese has become a "rigid demand" for the survival and development of the Cambodian people.
In other words, the exchanges and cooperation between Cambodia and China have stimulated the "Chinese fever" to continue to heat up in Cambodia, which reflects the increasing awareness of the importance of the Chinese language among the Cambodian people. Learning Chinese can increase the employment of the people and improve their living standards. bring real help.
China News Agency reporter: The exchanges between China and Cambodia are becoming more and more frequent, involving economy, education, culture and other fields. How can Chinese education promote the development of bilateral relations?
Subina:
Cambodia and China have increasingly frequent exchanges in various fields, which requires Chinese talents and human resources as support. As Chinese experts said, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" requires language to pave the way.
Under the background of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the continuous implementation of cooperation projects between Cambodia and China has also led to an increasing demand for Chinese talents from all walks of life, especially for high-quality, compound Chinese talents.
Therefore, vigorously developing Chinese education, taking into account the development of "Chinese + vocational education", and cultivating diversified Chinese talents not only meet the needs of Cambodian society, but also promote the actual implementation and development of projects in various exchange and cooperation fields between the two sides, and enhance mutual trust between the two countries , It is of practical significance to deepen the friendly relationship between the two countries.
In September 2021, China and Cambodia will cooperate to train a new generation of Cambodian civil aviation professionals.
Photo by Ouyang Kaiyu
China News Agency reporter: What difficulties and problems do Chinese education in Cambodia face?
Subina:
Although a certain foundation has been laid, Chinese language education in Cambodia still faces some difficulties and problems, which are prominently manifested as "three more and three less".
That is to say, there are more Chinese education in private education, but less in public systems; more non-degree Chinese education, less academic Chinese education; more general Chinese education, and less "Chinese + vocational education".
This is mainly due to the fact that the overall level of Chinese education in Cambodia is still relatively low, the construction of the Chinese education system is still incomplete, there is a lack of uniform and standardized level standards, there is a lack of scientific and reasonable evaluation mechanism, and the construction of teaching staff is still insufficient.
In 2021, the "Chinese Children's World of Books" picture book tour will be held in various schools in Cambodia, and Chinese picture books will enter Cambodian campuses.
Photo by Ouyang Kaiyu
China News Agency reporter: Looking forward to the future, what is the prospect of Chinese education in Cambodia?
Subina:
I think that with the increasingly close relationship between Cambodia and China and extensive exchanges and cooperation in various fields, the future development of Chinese education in Cambodia will be very bright.
After the signing of the memorandum, Chinese education in Cambodia will enter a stage of rapid development.
To develop high-quality, standardized, and standardized Chinese education at this stage, we still need to cooperate closely with the Chinese side, especially the Chinese side to assist us in the development of Chinese language education, because if it is fully integrated into the national education system in the future, a unified syllabus will be formulated and scientific and reasonable Curriculum, the compilation of highly targeted local teaching materials, and the cultivation of high-quality local teachers are all very necessary.
If these problems can be properly resolved, the foundation of Chinese education in Cambodia will be further consolidated, the overall level will be further improved, the number of people learning Chinese will increase substantially, and Chinese education will usher in a "golden period" of development.
I believe that the development of Chinese education can contribute to many areas of Cambodian society and promote the development of economy, education, and culture. At the same time, social progress and economic development will also provide better conditions and environment for Chinese education. The two complement each other.
Therefore, I am very optimistic about the development prospects of Chinese education in Cambodia.
(use up)
Respondent profile:
VUTH SOPHAKNA, Ph.D. in International Relations, Dean of the International Chinese Education Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, masters Cambodian, English, Chinese, and French, and her main research directions include long-term international education and teacher education research, ASEAN-Russia relations, ASEAN- China relations, Cambodia-China political, economic and cultural relations, Cambodian local Chinese teacher training, etc.