Mr. Chey Mongkol teaching Khmer language to students in Surin province (Photo provided)09 August 2009
By Kesor Ranya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer
A source from Surin province indicated that the Surin province education department agreed to include Khmer language as part of the education curriculum in public schools.
While the border dispute along Preah Vihear temple has not been resolved yet, Khmer people living in the North of Surin province indicated that an official authorization was approved for the teaching of Khmer language in public schools in Thailand’s Isan provinces.
Chey Mongkol, Chairman of the Surin province Language and Culture Association, indicated that his association recently made the request to Thailand’s ministry of Education, asking for an official authorization to include several hours of Khmer language reading and writing teaching in school curriculum.
On Wednesday 05 August, the Surin province department of education agreed to this request and it also agreed to organize a conference that will bring in representatives from 30-40 primary and high schools from various districts in the province. The conference goal is to discuss the education of Khmer language in classrooms.
Chey Mongkol said: “I had a good talk with them. I met with the provincial education director to discuss about Khmer language. We had a good talk, we indicated that we live in the same country, there is no need to use the law to confront each other, we seek for a common understanding so that people will not say that Khmer do not hold cordial discussions with others. They agreed, after their meeting, they OKd it, then they asked me what to do? I wanted them to gather school principals and the majority of them agreed to include Khmer language in the teaching curriculum. I was told over the phone that 30-40 schools agreed to it.”
Based on the official plan, Khmer language teaching in public schools will be held for 2 hours per week, starting from grade 1 in elementary school to the end of 12th grade in high school. The teaching will ramp up starting on September, and the first school where the program will be initiated is located in Svay district.
The main problem facing the teaching of Khmer language is the lack of teachers. Chey Mongkol indicated that in order to resolve this issue, he will use students whom he has personally trained through his own initiative to maintain the Khmer language in Thailand.
Chey Mongkol added: “For the teachers, we will use our students, this is better because teachers in those schools are already busy with their work. If we use our students [to teach], this is a mean to attract more people to come to study. Furthermore, these Khmer teachers come from local villages, they do not disappear, unlike bringing teachers from outside and they could disappear very quickly.”
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While the border dispute along Preah Vihear temple has not been resolved yet, Khmer people living in the North of Surin province indicated that an official authorization was approved for the teaching of Khmer language in public schools in Thailand’s Isan provinces.
Chey Mongkol, Chairman of the Surin province Language and Culture Association, indicated that his association recently made the request to Thailand’s ministry of Education, asking for an official authorization to include several hours of Khmer language reading and writing teaching in school curriculum.
On Wednesday 05 August, the Surin province department of education agreed to this request and it also agreed to organize a conference that will bring in representatives from 30-40 primary and high schools from various districts in the province. The conference goal is to discuss the education of Khmer language in classrooms.
Chey Mongkol said: “I had a good talk with them. I met with the provincial education director to discuss about Khmer language. We had a good talk, we indicated that we live in the same country, there is no need to use the law to confront each other, we seek for a common understanding so that people will not say that Khmer do not hold cordial discussions with others. They agreed, after their meeting, they OKd it, then they asked me what to do? I wanted them to gather school principals and the majority of them agreed to include Khmer language in the teaching curriculum. I was told over the phone that 30-40 schools agreed to it.”
Based on the official plan, Khmer language teaching in public schools will be held for 2 hours per week, starting from grade 1 in elementary school to the end of 12th grade in high school. The teaching will ramp up starting on September, and the first school where the program will be initiated is located in Svay district.
The main problem facing the teaching of Khmer language is the lack of teachers. Chey Mongkol indicated that in order to resolve this issue, he will use students whom he has personally trained through his own initiative to maintain the Khmer language in Thailand.
Chey Mongkol added: “For the teachers, we will use our students, this is better because teachers in those schools are already busy with their work. If we use our students [to teach], this is a mean to attract more people to come to study. Furthermore, these Khmer teachers come from local villages, they do not disappear, unlike bringing teachers from outside and they could disappear very quickly.”
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