Students from a Modern Learning Center during a field trip to the National Museum of Cambodia. MLC
Parents with children enrolled in Modern Learning Centers (MLC) in 12 Phnom Penh state schools were left reeling today, as Prime Minister Hun Manet announced that the trial programme would not be renewed when the current academic year comes to an end.
Academic experts and education officials offered their views on the closures of the centres, some of which have been running for more than a year.
The prime minister explained that the impending closures were necessary as the programme had led to “two standards within one school” and that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport had lost full control over its own education base.
He also noted that the system had only produced partial results. While there are currently 18 of the centres in operation, he only ordered the suspension of the 12 most recently opened. The remaining six centres will negotiate their futures with the relevant institutions.
“Two standards cannot be created within one school. This must be made clear,” said the prime minister, adding that the public-private partnership formula cannot work if the state loses control and that the suspensions aimed to strengthen the education sector.
Education ministry spokesperson Khuon Vicheka explained that the MLCs were part of an extracurricular programme implemented in some state primary schools.
They are not part of the government’s “New Generation Schools” but offered similar programmes.
“Modern Learning Centers are part of an extracurricular programme designed to enhance student’s 21st-century skills, such as foreign languages, IT, coding and other subjects. They are supported by the parents at the schools that offer them,” she told The Post.
“This programme differs from the New Generation Schools (NGS) which the ministry has rolled out. Currently, there are 13 NGS, from primary to secondary education. They provide autonomy in curricula to foster 21st-century skills such as IT usage and STEM education,” she added.
Phnom Penh Thmey Primary School is one of the twelve schools which offers MLCs – to students from kindergarten to grade four – in the current school year, but will no longer do so.
Parents and guardians registered their children for the programme directly with the principal, at a cost of $450 per year, excluding registration fees and study materials.
Students who attend an MLC study the standard state curriculum, taught by state teachers, as well as a supplementary programme which includes robotics, English mathematics and science, computer classes, Chinese and physical education.
Pa Chanroeun, president of the Cambodian Institute for Democracy, said that as he understood it, the modern centres were in a trial phase, and aimed to enable students to study for a full day.
Based on his enquiries, he believed that most parents were pleased to have their children attend full-day classes, because the centres teach languages, soft skills and computer literacy. He suggested that the closures will deprive some students of learning opportunities.
He noted that the tuition fees and additional programmes may have led to inequality between the parents who could afford it and those who could not, creating a two-tier system in public schools. This could lead to complaints from parents without means.
As a solution, he suggested extending school hours to allow students to attend full-time classes from primary through high school, which would benefit both students and teachers with additional subjects.
“I support the idea of adding extra study hours to allow children to learn soft skills, develop self-directed learning, take additional courses without having to go to extra lessons outside and learn computer skills. However, this would require additional government resources to be injected into education,” he said.
“This is something the government needs to examine. If it could be done, it would improve the quality of education,” he added.
Chhort Bunthang, an education specialist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, noted that at present, private schools fill the gaps in public schools left by several challenges, including shortages of staff and facilities and limited government funding for training.
He added that some private schools operate independently and some are linked to the government, particularly at the university level.
He also observed that the NGS programmes, which sometimes have disparities among parents, seem to be working well.
“It is normal for the prime minister or education ministry to decide on such matters. However, decisions should not be made on a case-by-case basis but as a general decision. There should be research on how this affects children whose parents are unable to pay, or whether it may cause some resistance or negative feedback that may reach the leadership who made the decision,” he continued.
He concluded that while Cambodia has private schools at all levels, including international schools, it is unclear how the ministry manages all of them.
Closing some schools while leaving others creates disparity, he suggested. Therefore, Bunthang recommended that there should be a nationwide study to decide whether to close all of the MLCs – or just those with issues – or whether adjustments should be made, and the centres reopened, perhaps under a unified management or standard.
