Education Ministry Pushes for Online Classes, as School Closures Extended

PHNOM PENH — 
The Education Ministry last week released more detailed guidance asking higher education institutions to start conducting classes online, as the government extended indefinitely the closure of schools and universities.

The April 15 notification asked all higher education institutions to prepare for online classrooms and course work for April and May, in light of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

After announcing the closure of schools and universities on March 14 and suggesting institutions take their pedagogy online, the Education Ministry started producing videos for grades 1 to 12 and streaming them on the “Krou Cambodia” Facebook page and on television.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron on Tuesday acknowledged that the quality of education through digital classrooms was limited. It was a better option, he said, given the uncertainty during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Not all institutions can do it,” he admitted. “This will help students to continue their studies even though it is not 100 percent as effective as face-to-face classrooms. But it solves the current problem.”

Some public and private universities have already started implementing digital classrooms, while others are in the process of training professors and making sure students were prepared for online courses.

Source: https://www.voacambodia.com/a/education-ministry-pushes-for-online-classes-as-school-closures-extended/5388208.html

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E-Learning moves to TV in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH: The Education Ministry yesterday started airing distance learning progra- mmes or e-Learning on the National Television of Kampuchea and some cable TV channels for students in the capital and provinces throughout the country.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron announced yesterday the launch of the TV programmes was carried out following an instruction by Prime Minister Hun Sen to support the education of all students in kindergarten, primary and secondary school levels while schools are temporarily closed to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Naron said the e-Learning programmes will be aired on TV networks, such as a newly created TVK2 for educational broadcasting, Decho DTV’s channel 22, and 55 new cable television networks.

“The airing of the educational videos on these television channels will be done 24 hours a day,” he said. “The live feeds will be aired from 8am to midnight, while repeat broadcasts will run from midnight to 8am.

Mr Naron said students in Grades 9 and 12, who will sit for the upcoming national examinations, will be able to watch three hours of the programmes each day.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50715186/e-learning-moves-to-tv/

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Cambodia: Unemployed to get $40 per month

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training has instructed enterprises, business owners and travel agencies in five provinces to prepare the proper forms for the suspension of employment contracts.

This, it said, will make it easier for the ministry to transfer $40 a month to workers and employees via Wing (Cambodia) Limited Specialized Bank.

On April 7, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced changes in the allowances for temporarily laid-off garment workers from receiving 60 percent of the minimum wage to a flat $70. Of the figure, $40 will come from the government and $30 from factory employers.

Along with the change, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) requested the ministry to issue concrete instructions around the procedure to give out the allowance. Some workers had claimed they had yet to receive the $40 from the government.

An instruction letter issued by the ministry dated on April 17 said for the government to provide the $40, employers or owners of factories, enterprises and establishments in the textile, garment and footwear sectors have to follow the procedure mandated by it.

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1261564/cambodia-unemployed-to-get-40-per-month

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COVID-19: Cambodia extends school closure

Phnom Penh (VNA) – The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) of Cambodia has announced that the re-opening of schools has been postponed until further notice as preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

According to a directive issued by the ministry on April 17, the extension of school suspensions covers all educational institutions at all levels and forms, both public and private.

The ministry urged all educational institutions to promote and support distance learning and e-learning.

Educational institutions have been ordered to close since March 16 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

As of April 18, the total number of COVID-19 infections in Cambodia has remained at 122 for the sixth day in a row.

In an effort to prevent the disease, the Phnom Penh authority on April 17 said it was ready to quarantine more than 15,000 textile workers who were preparing to return to the capital after the traditional New Year of the Khmer.

Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/covid19-cambodia-extends-school-closure/171995.vnp

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Cambodia extends ban on visitors from US, Iran and four European countries

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia on Thursday (April 16) extended a ban on foreign travellers from the United States, Iran, and four European countries in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19, according to a foreign ministry's letter.

In the letter to the ambassadors, consul-generals, and honorary consults of Cambodia to foreign countries, Foreign Ministry secretary of state Sea Kosal told them to extend the ban on foreigners coming to Cambodia from the United States, Iran, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France until further notice.

He added that entry restrictions for all foreigners to Cambodia also remain in effect until there is a new notice.

"Above-mentioned measures of travel restrictions are temporary and must be continued to implement until the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization make a joint assessment that the situation of Covid-19 disease has eased," he said.


Cambodia has banned entry of foreign visitors from the six countries since mid-March and has imposed entry restrictions for all foreigners since March 30.

In its entry restrictions, any foreigner wishing to travel to Cambodia must provide a medical certificate issued by competent health authorities of his/her country, certifying that he/she is not tested positive for the Covid-19.

Also, he/she must provide proof of his/her insurance policy that shows minimum medical coverage during his/her intended stay in Cambodia in the amount not less than US$50,000.

Cambodia has so far recorded a total of 122 confirmed cases of the virus, with 98 patients cured, said a Ministry of Health statement on Thursday. - Xinhua

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Cambodia postpones annual exams over COVID-19

PHNOM PENH, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has decided to postpone secondary and high school exams in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Khmer Times reported on Thursday.

Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron issued a notice on Wednesday, saying the ministry had decided to postpone the two national exams, which were previously scheduled for August.

"The ministry will determine and announce the new dates for the exams later," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Naron advised all students to conduct self-learning at home by using textbooks and e-learning programs like E-School Cambodia and Wiki School system, among other sources.

He said the national examination for the two levels may take place at the end of the year depending on the development of the virus situation.

Naron and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the dissemination of distance learning programs to aid in the prevention and control of the spread of the COVID-19, as well as ensure rural students get the same quality education as those from the urban areas.

Naron said since the closure of schools in mid-March, the ministry has set up online study programs for students from Grades 1 through 12 and has also cooperated with some companies to increase accessibility to the learning platforms.

However, since the learning programs are only accessible online, most students living in the rural areas and do not own smartphones and computers or have access to the internet cannot participate in the sessions.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has cooperated with the Information Ministry to organize educational TV programs to increase access to education, he said.

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2 Historic Khmer Statues Returned to Cambodia

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State and Cambodia Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, returned two Khmer statues to Cambodia during a repatriation ceremony at the National Museum of Cambodia April 3.

The first item is an 11th Century sandstone Khmer statue torso of the Khleang style wearing a Khmer sampot, a traditional garment of Cambodia. The statue was part of an administrative seizure in 2017, when HSI San Francisco received information regarding the sale at an auction house in California. The auction house owner said the piece was imported in 1992 with a certificate of authenticity issued in Bangkok, Thailand, which identified the item as “Body of Khmer in Angkor Wat.” The antiquity expert determined the statue had a fair market value of $75,000.

The second item, dated between the early 10th to late 10th century, is a large gray sandstone Khmer statue torso of an unidentified deity. The item was a part of a criminal seizure in September 2005, when the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protections and HSI Los Angeles confiscated it from a partial shipment of goods that arrived in the United States from Thailand. Experts value this statue at about $120,000.

“On every return of Khmer artifacts from abroad, it is a testament to the fact that a full cooperative and peaceful partnership exists, the result of efforts by the Royal Government of Cambodia and United States government, to make possible the return of the statues that have left the country,” said Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Dr. Phoeurng Sackona.

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Cambodia orders mandatory quarantine for all incoming passengers

PHNOM PENH: With as much as 66 out of the 115 infected with Covic-19 being imported cases who then went on to infect locals with cluster infections, the government has ordered the mandatory quarantine of all incoming people into Cambodia.

This includes all border entries such as land, water ways, sea ports and airports through which many infected victims have come through.

Some had suppressed their symptoms with self-medication and were later tested positive but after having been in contact with locals. Among the Cambodians infected this way are two drivers, tour guides and a hotel manager.

To eliminate this menace, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday announced concerted, cohesive and hard measures for all incoming people, whether foreigners or Cambodians to go into mandatory 14 days’ quarantine established at the point of entries in all provinces and cities which such gateways.

“We need to break the vicious contraction cycle of the coronavirus and also minimise its impact in infecting Cambodians so such measures, though harsh, are necessary. These measures are no different than other countries," the Khmer Times on Wednesday quoted him as saying.

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Cambodia Closes Massage Parlours, Health Spas to Curb Corona Virus

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia decided to temporarily close all massage parlours and health spas across the kingdom in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Tuesday (April 7).

In a letter sent to governors of all cities and provinces, the minister asked them to take action to shut down all massage parlors and health spas from April 7 until a new notice.

He said the closure was made following a piece of advice from the Ministry of Health and a meeting of the National Committee for Combating Covid-19.

The South-East Asian country has so far recorded a total of 115 confirmed cases of the virus, with 58 patients cured, according to a Ministry of Health's statement on Tuesday.

In an effort to stem the virus spread, the kingdom decided to impose temporary entry restrictions for all foreign travelers for one month since late last month.

Also early last month, the country ordered the temporary closures of all schools, karaoke clubs, nightclubs, cinemas and museums nationwide, as religious gatherings and concerts at public areas were also banned. - Xinhua/Asian News Network

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Discover Angelina Jolie’s Cambodia and Why She’s so in Love

The Tomb Raider star has been enamored of the Southeast Asian country since 2000

Cambodia is the place that has reconnected  Angelina Jolie with herself time and time again. The Southeast Asian nation was where her eldest son Maddox was born, and where she first met him as a baby before she adopted him as her first child. She also chose Cambodia as the setting for her directing debut. Stemming from the star’s desire to show the country’s complex history, it’s the subject of her Netflix film First They Killed My Father, which tells the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime.

On another personal note, Cambodia was also the place she chose to stay months before announcing her divorce with  Brad Pitt, with whom she has six children –  Maddox, Shiloh, Pax, Zahara and twins Knox and Vivienne – after a 12-year relationship.

Cambodia’s complex history – its beauty as well as its horrors – and its people’s dignity, culture, and energy brought about an inner transformation in Angelina, redefining her perspective on life. The  Girl, Interrupted star was so enamored by the country that she bought a traditional Cambodian house with 60,000 hectares, a protected area where she has worked for 18 years—through her family foundation, the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation—to support local communities and protect the environment.

In fact, the filmmaker chose to showed a personal facet of herself at her home there in a 2019 commercial—directed by three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki—for the Mon Guerlain fragrance. “He [Emmanuel Lubeski] is one of those artists that finds beauty around them. He senses it, and adjusts to it,” she told Bazaar.com. “I like the idea that you represent something that is truly like how you live in real life. I think people know that: when there’s truth or when there’s a fairy tale. I think they prefer the truth.”

One of Cambodia’s most iconic temples is Angkor Thom

ANGELINA’S CAMBODIA

Angelina landed in this idyllic location in 2000, when she starred in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that launched her into the world’s spotlight. There, she explored the 12th century temple of Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, originally a Hindu temple which was soon transformed into a Buddhist complex.

Ta Prohm is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was also featured in Angelina’s movie ‘Tomb Raider’, during the shoot of which the actress first discovered the Southeast Asian country

She also discovered the the Khmer temple of Ta Prohm, in Siem Reap, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the trees grow out of the ruins in a rare, extraordinary way, making it one of the country’s most spectacular locations.

Twelfth-century Angkor Thom, established by King Jayavarman VII, is about half a mile from Ta Prohm, and was also featured in the 2001 movie and is considered one of Cambodia’s most iconic temples.

Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, is considered an archaeological treasure for humanity

VISITING CAMBODIA

If you decide to visit this magical country in Asia with its incredible landscapes, join the thousands of visitors who every year explore the 9th-century Angkor Archaeological Park. Also essential for learning is a visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. The onetime secondary school was used as an internment camp by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall four years later, and is now dedicated to teaching about one of the most horrific eras in the country’s history.

While temples and museums are a must, so is a visit to one of the country’s beautiful beaches

It is also imperative make time to explore the natural beauty of Cambodia, which is home to the Otres, Sokha, Independence, Victoria, and Serendipity beaches, and the unspoiled desert island of Koh Rong, with its jungles, waterfalls, coconut trees and 23 beaches, accessible by a small local ferry.

A note on the weather: Although Cambodia is a tropical country with warm weather year-round, it has two seasons: one dry and one wet. The best months to visit if you want to avoid the downpours are from November to May.

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Statue Fragments Found Near Cambodia’s Bayon Temple

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA—The Khmer Times reports that large statue fragments have been recovered from a canal near the Gate of the Dead at Angkor Thom by members of Cambodia’s Department of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology, the heritage police, and agents from the Apsara Authority. “The god statue found by the working team has four pieces, while another giant statue has only the back part without a face,” said Chhouk Somala of the Department of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology.

The pieces are thought to have come from a sculpture depicting the Hindu story of the Churning of the Milk Ocean, in which the semi-divine half-human, half-serpent who lived on Shiva’s neck was used as a churning rope wrapped around Mount Mandara. The gods held one end of the naga, while demons held the other. As each side tugged on the naga, the mountain rotated, churned the ocean, and produced the nectar of immortality and other valuables.

The carvings will be conserved and housed in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum. To read about a bodhisattva sculpture unearthed at Angkor Wat's Ta Nei Temple, go to "Around the World: Cambodia."

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Cambodia: Emergency Bill Recipe for Dictatorship

COVID-19 Crisis Pretext for Hun Sen to Seek Unlimited Powers, Go After Critics

(New York) – The Cambodian government should withdraw its draft state of emergency law, which would empower Prime Minister Hun Sen to override fundamental human rights protections, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 31, 2020, the Council of Ministers approved the “Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency,” which would allow the government to restrict all civil and political liberties and target human rights, democracy, and media groups. The one-party National Assembly is expected to vote on the bill later this week or early next week.
Hun Sen has claimed that the law is necessary to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government should submit a new draft that addresses the COVID-19 public health crisis while protecting basic rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and privacy, Human Rights Watch said.

“Even before the coronavirus, Hun Sen ran roughshod over human rights, so these sweeping, undefined, and unchecked powers should set off alarm bells among Cambodia’s friends and donors,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Instead of passing laws to protect public health, the Cambodian government is using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to assert absolute power over all aspects of civil, political, social, and economic life – all without any time limits or checks on abuses of power.”

The bill contains many overly broad and vague provisions that would violate fundamental rights without specifying why these measures are necessary and proportionate to address the public health emergency.

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/02/cambodia-emergency-bill-recipe-dictatorship

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