Cambodias 'No Cheating in Exams' Policy

is Working
PHNOM PENH
Cambodias education minister says this years effort to prevent final-year students from
cheating on their exams worked well, and he is confident results will be better than they
were for the class of 2014. Many pupils will be hoping the same, given that 60 percent
of last years class failed after the government introduced the no-cheating policy.
Cambodias 88,000 final-year high-school students took their exams this week, with
many nervous that the governments no-cheating policy would sink their chances of
securing a university place.
Some prayed for success at pagodas over the weekend, with one despondent student
telling the Phnom Penh Post newspaper she hoped exam monitors would allow the
students to cheat in a small way, like reading each others answers.
In this event her hopes were dashed: the policy was strictly enforced.
Some cheaters caught
Inevitably some students tried their luck: a few were caught sneaking in cheat sheets,
and a Grade 11 student who tried to pass himself off as his less-clever older brother
was arrested.
For the most part, it seems, the cheating that has long characterized exam-taking here
was eliminated.
Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron is the person behind the policy, a key plank in
his efforts to reform education and ensure that the previous system which rewarded
cheats is replaced by a culture of merit that benefits those who work hard.
Minister Naron, who was appointed two years ago, is optimistic the pass rate will be
higher this year. In part, he says, that is because pupils have studied more; but other
changes have helped too, including improved teacher training.

We have seen the change in students attitudes especially we got reports from the
schools that they worked harder, [and] they attended the additional classes on Saturday
and Sunday that [were] offered by the teachers, he said.
Starting point
The minister hopes that eliminating cheating in exams will be the starting point in
remedying the skills mismatch that emanates from Cambodias education system, which
has long generated a large pool of graduates who lack the skills that employers need.
Indeed, you know, we still have insufficiencies because for one year working is not
enough, because for some subject matters it takes a few years at least you know, two
or three years. But we will see more progress this year compared to last year, and I
believe that it is a change of mentality from the students. And it sets new habits, he
said.
Other changes include paying teachers higher salaries, and making sure schools have
improved facilities and are better managed.
Fixing the shortcomings in Cambodias education system wont be easy but, says
Minister Naron, it made sense to start by preventing cheating in exams because that not
only shows up deficiencies in the system, it also forces students to learn.
All that spending like spending on textbooks, spending on more resources, even
higher salaries of teachers if the students dont learn then you cannot have [success
with] that, he said.
As for the Class of 2015, anecdotal evidence suggests most took the new no-cheating
policy seriously and spent extra hours at their books. They will soon find out whether
those efforts paid off.
Results are due out mid-September.