{"id":1008,"date":"2018-03-19T09:50:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T09:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cambcomm.org.uk\/ccc\/?page_id=1008"},"modified":"2023-10-16T09:19:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T08:19:02","slug":"education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cambcomm.org.uk\/ccc\/education\/","title":{"rendered":"Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giving Back the Education that Pol Pot Tried To Steal<\/h3>\n
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Education in Cambodia<\/h3>\n

The Year Zero<\/a> policy implemented by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 has had two lasting effects on education in Cambodia.<\/p>\n

Firstly, the Khmer Rouge wished to destroy everything that did not fit in with their vision of a utopian peasant economy. Thus there was no provision for the education of children, apart from political indoctrination. Schools were abandoned and books were destroyed.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the Khmer Rouge sought out and executed those who were deemed to be the parasites that had lived off the productivity of the working classes. Thus the majority of teachers who were unable to conceal their identity were killed.<\/p>\n

As a result of these actions, and because of Cambodia's international isolation between 1979 and 1991, the process of rebuilding the country's education system was slow until the 1990s. Since then, there has been some investment in constructing school buildings, but school teachers are still under-trained, under-resourced and underpaid.<\/p>\n

Private schools, colleges and universities have mushroomed to meet the demand for an alternative to the state education system.<\/p>\n

A generation grew up in the last quarter of the 20th century whose education was effectively stolen by Pol Pot, the former leader of the Khmer Rouge. Now, those of that generation who can afford to do so will pay private schools to give their children the education they themselves missed out on, but the poor are denied this privilege, and the employment prospects of those who have aptitude but not money are severely impaired as a result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Many in today's generation of under-25s are thus still denied the opportunity to obtain a good education.<\/p>\n