Singaporean Ambassador Michael Tan speaks at the launch of the School Leadership Programme on Tuesday. SINGAPORE EMBASSY IN PHNOM PENH
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, in collaboration with the National Institute of Education of Singapore and Temasek Foundation, on Tuesday launched a three-year School Leadership Programme to develop leadership and management capacities of school principals and deputy principals.
A press release from the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport on Tuesday said the three-year programme, spanning from this year to 2021, will consist of a series of six workshops. Five of the workshops will be held in Cambodia and one in Singapore.
The workshops will be attended by 128 trainees, including 20 specialists with experience in school management.
Also joining are 108 school principals and deputy principals of the management boards of educational establishments in Phnom Penh and in Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces.
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“During the partnership collaboration, Cambodia and Singapore will have the opportunity to understand each country’s educational situation and exchange work experiences between one another,” a press release said.
Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron said the ministry had been trying to come up with methods to urge progressive changes on school campuses in response to the rapid changes in regional and global educational contexts.
Cambodian youths who have adapted to the 21st-century skills, he said, remained limited. “In solving these issues, the education sector has the role of helping youths obtain 21st-century skills, and achieving the sustainable development goals,” he said.
“The programme is crucial to making contributions with the Ministry of Education in bringing about progressive changes in the Cambodian school levels.
“Through the programme, school principals can gain the knowledge and skills necessary in school leadership. [School principals] have a mission to develop the resources of Cambodian youths so that they can have 21st-century skills,” he stressed.
Chuon Naron said the programme aimed to instil skills in critical thinking, communications and interpersonal relations, creative problem-solving and collaboration.
Temasek Foundation senior programme director Stanley Lee said at the programme’s launch that he was glad to have collaborated with the Ministry of Education to organise the School Leadership Programme.
He will take part in sharing his experience as a teacher in Singapore to school principals in Cambodia.
“As a person living in a small country, we want to share what we do and the good experiences we’ve fostered. We also want to take this opportunity to share the challenges we have encountered and gone through in our education system,” he said.
He said that through collaboration in the programme, both sides would be able to work together and learn from one another.
Singaporean Ambassador Michael Tan hailed the collaboration between the education sectors of Cambodia and Singapore, saying that education institutions in Singapore had always communicated with the Cambodian Ministry of Education about strengthening school leadership.
“[Both sides] met for a series of talks about strengthening leadership capacities at schools to encourage better school management and align the mindset of schools to the standards of 21st-century education,” he said.
