Sheith Khidhir
13 July 2019
The Asean Post
This picture taken on 5 June, 2019 shows children playing on a grave as a woman dries her clothes on another grave in Phnom Penh. (AFP Photo)
The youth have often been pitted as Cambodia’s greatest asset especially in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook, 30.8 percent of Cambodia’s population is made up of people between the ages of zero to 14 years, 17.8 percent is made up of those between 15 to 24 years, and 41.1 percent is made up of those between the ages of 25 to 54 years. The median age in Cambodia is 25 years.
However, while Cambodia’s population is young and the country boasts one of the largest youth populations in ASEAN, the youth in the country are facing challenges when it comes to acquiring useful talents and skills to cater to the demands of Industry 4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), many young people drop out of school and access to secondary education shows high inequalities across gender, location and socio-economic groups, with a total secondary net enrolment rate of only 27.7 percent in 2014.
The drop-out rate also gets higher when it comes to secondary education, reaching 21 percent for lower secondary in 2014. Although rural and the poorest youth have an improved opportunity to enter higher grades, their rate of school enrolment is still low compared with urban and the richest youth.
Even though higher education remains far beyond the reach of most rural and female youths, the gross enrolment rate in tertiary education among youths aged between 18 and 22 has improved significantly over the last 10 years from 4.9 to 20 percent, including among the poorest households (from 0.2 to 2.6 percent) and women (3.3 to 17.4 percent).
“Both access and quality of education pose crucial issues and indicate a need for more relevant school curricula, sufficiently trained teachers, and more resources for school improvements,” the OECD said.
While the organisation cites figures from 2014, the more recent INSEAD 2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index does not paint a pretty picture for Cambodia either. Out of 119 countries, Cambodia ranked 108th overall. It also ranked 111th for talent growth which includes aspects like formal education, and quality of management schools. It ranked 103rd for retaining talent which includes aspects like brain retention; it ranked 113th for vocational and technical skills; and 113th for global knowledge skills.
Source: INSEAD
Child labour
On the one hand, Cambodians who are in school aren’t receiving the right kind of education to make them ready to meet the skills demands of Industry 4.0. On the other, many youths in Cambodia are also already employed and may not have the opportunity to pursue new skills.
According to the country’s Ministry of Planning, 74.5 percent of males aged between 15 to 24 years are employed while the percentage is lower at 68 percent for females. Although these figures are from 2013 (the ministry’s latest findings), a December 2016 report by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) stated that child labour is still rife in the country.
A recent Blood Bricks research project has led to a photo exhibition exposing debt-bonded labour in the brick making industry. Based on those photos (some of which can be found on the internet) it is clear that many of those working in these brick-kilns are children. This lends some hard evidence to the claim that many of Cambodia’s children are, in fact, working instead of studying.
It is worth noting that the Cambodian government has taken proactive steps in order to address child labour in the country. Unfortunately, while the problem has been declining thanks to government efforts, the problem still persists.
As the old are replaced by the young, a question that Cambodia must ask itself today is whether it is giving its children and youth all the possible opportunities to grow up and become, not just workers and leaders, but capable ones at that.
3 comments:
KHMER PEOPLE MUST WAKE UP AND TAKE UNPRECEDENT ACTION AFTER SAM RAINSY’S RETURN TO CAMBODIA
Some stupid people such as Mam Sonandumb, Mouk Hoeun, Germ Sok, etc... kept deploring Sam Rainsy about the amendment of the constitution from the 2/3 to 50 plus 1, and the CNRP's join of the 2013 National Assembly.
In my opinion, even if there were no 50 plus 1, and no CNRP's join the 2013 National Assembly, Ah Kwack and Yuon will still find a way to hold on to power. And the 2017 dissolution of the CNRP was the proof that Ah Kwack and Yuon will never stand still to see Vietnam's plan to swallow Cambodia derailed. Therefore, some stupid people must stop condemning unnecessarily Khmer nationalists' actions that were not conformed to their thoughts or their airheads. We must stay together and continue our struggle to save our motherland from Yuon.
On the contrary, in fact, the 50 plus one has given the CNRP a good chance to win the general election, which prompted Ah Kwack and Yuon to dissolve the CNRP.
And the CNRP's join the National Assembly in 2013 has undeniably produced a credible NEC. The 2017 commune election's result also was the proof of the new NEC's effectiveness.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the 50 plus one and the CNRP's join the 2013 National Assembly. We should think like this, without the 50 plus one, without the CNRP's join the 2013 National Assembly, Ah Kwack and Yuon will work around to achieve their plans drawn by Ah monkey Ho Chi Minh. For example, the 1993 election, it was the 2/3 law. What did Hun Sen and Yuon do to hold on to power??
Here is one more problem with the 2/3 majority law.
For example the CNRP won the election with less than 2/3. So the CNRP needs the cooperation from the CPP. The CPP replies that it will join the new CNRP's government if the CNRP let it control these important departments: Defense, Interior, Finance, and Foreign Affair. If the CNRP did not let them control these departments, the CPP will never work with the CNRP. And then the political impasse will last forever.
What I really want to say is that Sam Rainsy and the CNRP's actions are not relevant to the current crisis in Cambodia. STOP BLAMING EACH OTHER. STOP PLAYING YUON'S GAME.
If some stupid people are not blind, they should see that Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha have led the CNRP to victory already. Therefore, stop saying that Sam Rainsy has worked over 20 years without producing successful result. If the thieves came to rob your house with rifle guns, you don't blame the owner for failing to protect the house.
Likewise, you don't blame the CNRP for failing to seize the power, you must instead condemn Ah Kwack and Yuon for illegally stealing the election.
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In 2017, Ah Kwack Hun Sen and Yuon saw that the CNRP's victory in 2018 will be imminent, they decided to take an unpopular measure to dissolve the CNRP.
The erratic attacks on Khmer nationalist by those stupid people have inadvertently benefited only Ah Kwack and Yuon.
Hun Shit and Yuon will never accept defeat and they will destroy Khmer people and Cambodia without hesitation in order to keep Yuon's ambition to swallow Cambodia alive.
For example, if the CNRP did not join the 2013 National Assembly and if the CPP was on the verge of collapsing, Ah Kwack and Yuon will take some actions such as killing Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to destroy the CNRP.
Trying to find something to discredit, to weaken Khmer nationalist leaders is one of Yuon's tactics to prevent Khmer people from uniting, making Khmer people blaming each other and fighting with each other.
In addition, the constitution stipulated that Khmer people have the right to make the peaceful protest.
Can Khmer people make peaceful protest now? Of course NOT. So it is not the 50 plus 1 and the CNRP's join the 2013 National Assembly that caused Cambodia's present chaos. It is Yuon's execution of its plans to swallow Cambodia that made Khmer people suffered.
Finally and hopefully a nationwide peaceful protest will be spontaneously exploded after Khmer people's patience run out, especially after Sam Rainsy's return to Cambodia. Only then we can see some light in Cambodia. In the mean times, we must stop fighting with each other for no reason. We must stop expressing stupid opinions that would benefit only Ah Kwack Hun Shit and Yuon.
93 Years Old Woman
We must always blame the Vietnamese. All problems in Cambodia caused by the Chinese must be blamed on the Vietnamese.
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