mCÄmNÐlÉkßrkm<úCa GENOCIDE EDUCATION IN CAMBODIA Quality Control on the Teaching of “A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)” Report from Kep and Kampot, May 22-29, 2011 By Khamboly Dy 1. INTRODUCTION During the Khmer Rouge (KR) period, Kep and Kampot were in region 35 under the administrative control of the Southwest zone with Chhit Choeun aka Ta Mok as the zone secretary. Ta Mok had been the prominent communist member since he joined the revolution in 1963 until his arrest in early 1999. He died from an illness in 2006 at the age of 80. His funeral ceremony was splendidly celebrated in Anlong Veng District, Banteay Meanchey province. His beautiful tomb with artistic carving is constructed by his followers. A number of people in Anlong Veng still worship his spirit. While Chhit Choeun served as the zone secretary, Kang Chap served as the region secretary. When Kang Chap became secretary of the North zone in 1977, Ta Mok’s brother named Ta Chong became the new secretary of region 35. The two provinces were among the last strongholds of the former KR. The region was integrated into the Royal Government of Cambodia only after 1997 when the last KR military commander Sam Bith, who was stationed in Phnom Voar, defected from the government. It should be noted that Sam Bith along with his other two KR military commander Noun Pet and Chhouk Rin were involved in attacking the train in 1994, which killed many passengers including three foreign tourists. The region was very dangerous and full of land mines. During the 1980s and early 1990s, people were afraid to walk far into the forest. A number of people were killed or were seriously injured by land mines during that time period. A number of KR cadres and soldiers are currently living in both Kep and Kampot provinces. Phnom Voar, Dang Tung district and Chum Kiri district are known to have high numbers of Khmer Rouge. Chum Kiri was also one of the first KR occupied areas. Khieu Samphan, Hu Nim and Hou Youn resided there when they fled into forest in late 1960s. A number of former KR navy soldiers and pilots who received trainings in China still reside in the above mentioned areas. Their children are studying in various primary and secondary schools in the provinces. In addition, a number of small and large dams were built in the provinces during the KR regime. Interviewing the villagers, the team found 20 dams, each of which involves a number of labor forces and deaths. Documentation Center of Cambodia Searching for the Truth EsVgrkKrBit edIm, IK rcg©M nig yutþiFm‘’ DC-Cam 66 Preah Sihanouk Blvd. P.O.Box 1110 Phnom Penh Cambodia Tel: (855-23) 211-875 Fax: (855-23) 210-358 [email protected] www.dccam.org Located along the beach and the range of Cardamom Mountain, Kep and Kampot are the natural tourist sites for both national and international visitors. Tourists visiting these sites enjoy the delicious fresh crabs, the cool wind and sound of waves. Koh Tonsay in Kep and Baukor Mountain in Kampot are favorite locations for tourists. To boost the Ta Mok’s Funeral Ceremony in Anlong Veng District, Uddor economic development, the Meanchey Province government has granted the construction of a huge seaport in Kampot and several other resorts. A few hydropower dams are being constructed to provide enough electricity for various provinces in Cambodia. However, some commentators believe that along with benefits, the dams will also cause damage to the provinces’ ecological system and natural environment. As a result of these constructions, Toek Chhou (a popular water flow that attracts many tourists) has dried out. On May 22-29, 2011, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and the Ministry of Education conducted an evaluation and observation on six classrooms in Kep and Kampot provinces, located in the Southwest part of Cambodia along the sea. Koh Tral Island (or Phu Quoc in Vietnamese), a controversial island in the history of Cambodian-Vietnamese relation since the French colonial period The evaluation team consisted of two DC-Cam’s staff members, Mr. Khamboly Dy and Mr. Sovann Morm and one official from the Ministry of Education, Mr. Dina Chhim. The team observed six actual classroom instructions and conducted twenty- one interviews with teachers, students, school directors and local villagers. The purposes of the evaluation are to examine the effectiveness of the teaching of KR history in Cambodian classrooms as well as to look at various challenges teachers and students face in teaching and learning this history. The team wanted to learn the 2 perspectives and attitudes of teachers, students, education officials and the local community members on teaching and learning KR history in the classroom. At the end of each classroom observation and evaluation, the team provided the observed teachers and school directors with feedback and recommendations for improvement to ensure that the teaching of “A History of Democratic Kampuchea” reaches its goals and objectives. In general, teachers, students, education officials and residents in the provinces whom we met and/or interviewed agreed that teaching and studying about KR history in a formal classroom setting is important to prevent the reoccurrence of such atrocities in the future. However, the team found that the implementations of KR history in Kep and Kampot are very limited. Like other provinces, there were no formal directions and/or requirements set on the form and scope of implementation, the intensity/efforts depended largely on the willingness of each individual teacher. Provincial teachers in Kep also served as the officials of the provincial office of education. They were not teachers in the schools. Therefore, they did not have direct impact in classrooms and could not share the knowledge that they received from the training and the annual teachers’ workshop to the commune teachers. Thereby, the in depth implementation depended totally on the commune teachers. Many of the commune teachers expressed the lack of time to teach KR history into their classrooms. The table below summarizes the evaluation process in Kep and Kampot province. Quality control project Evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching of A objectives History of Democratic Kampuchea. Evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching materials: (1) DK history textbook, (2) Teacher’s Guidebook and (3) Student Workbook. Evaluate the integration of DK history into the daily regular teaching in schools. Examine students’ and teachers’ attitude toward learning and teaching DK history in the classroom. Means of evaluation one-hour observation Interview students, teachers, school directors and parents. Conduct survey of students and teachers Tools for evaluation Classroom observation checklist Questionnaire for teachers Questionnaire for students Interview questions Types of school Urban: Chariya Vong and Preah Reach Samphea, Rural: Hun Sen Chamkar Dong and Preah Beidacheat Most remote areas: Hun Seng Dang Tung and 3 Hun Seng Ang Chork Number of classes Six observed Average number of Between 45 and 50 students per class Approximate number of Approximately 14 percent students with textbook Approximate number of Only teacher who participated in the training teachers with Teacher’s have guidebook and student workbook. Guidebook and student workbook Approximate number of No single student has ever received student students with student workbook. workbook 2. PRE-EVALUATION ACTIVITIES Meeting with education officials and School Directors Before starting the classroom observation and evaluation, the team met with school directors and the officials of the Provincial Office of Education. The team explained the purposes of the observation and evaluation work and asked for their permission to observe the classroom instruction and to interview students and teachers. The team asked the officials and school directors on the challenges that each province faced in improving the quality of education in their respective province. In Kep, the challenge is having only one high school and five secondary schools. The Ministry of Education considers Kep as the region with difficulty. The Ministry allocates extra budget called “regional budget” to help support and give incentives to the teachers who teach there. Most high school teachers in Kep are from nearby provinces of Takeo and Kampot. Each school experienced the lack of qualified teachers. Teachers with a college degree usually transfer to schools in the downtown area where they able to earn more income by either teaching private classes or opening their own private businesses. Likewise, many schools in Kampot province, especially the ones in the rural and remote areas encountered a shortage of qualified teachers. The school Meeting with Mr. Tak Hab, Head of Kampot Provincial Office of directors have reported Education this shortage to the 4 Provincial Offices of Education and have requested more teachers. However, this challenge still persists. The education officials in these provinces are challenged by these circumstances and needs. Education officials in Kep said that a lot of people in the province have low education. Parents do not value education; therefore, they do not encourage their children to study hard. Some parents encourage their children to go off into the sea to fish. Some said that “one night fishing in the sea can provide three days of spending.” In addition to the discussion on the observation and evaluation work and the educational challenges, the team also discussed about the interests and attitudes of both teachers and students toward teaching and learning DK history. The education officials, for example Mr. Tong Hab, Head of Provincial Office of Education, said that teachers have expressed their delightfulness after participating in the commune teacher training. They received incentive, knowledge and materials which helped them teach DK history to their students in a broader term. All schools have between 50 and 100 copies of DK history textbook.