Students return to class at Preah Sisowath High School In Phnom Penh in September. Hong Menea
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport will continue to conduct the high school diploma examination or “baccalaureate” in accordance with the principles of law and transparency.
Ministry spokesman Ros Soveacha told The Post on October 20 that the ministry has scheduled the examination for December 6.
“At the end of this month, the ministry will meet to evaluate the learning progress of grades 9 and 12 students in order to prepare for the middle school exam and high school exam,” he said.
The spokesman added that so far there has been no summary of the number of candidates who will take the baccalaureate exam yet.
“These examinations must continue based on the principles of law, justice, transparency and acceptable results in accordance with the health safety measures as planned,” said Soveacha.
According to the letter that education minister Hang Chuon Naron sent to the directors of municipal and provincial education departments on October 18, two optional subjects – science and social sciences – have been included in the high school diploma examination.
In the letter, the minister requested that all educational institutions and municipal and provincial education departments prepare the examination registration forms of candidates along with their first and second semester scores, annual scores and that a complete and accurate list of candidates be submitted to the ministry on time.
Sok Sophanna, a 19-year-old grade 12 student at Hun Sen Svay Chrum High School in Svay Rieng province, told The Post on October 20 that she was ready for the exam at year’s end despite her expectations that she would only be able to pass about 50 per cent it.
“I’m in the countryside and I do not have much internet access to study online. My classmates and I study according to the documents provided by the school once a week,” she said.
Sophanna said she was not sure if the exam would be held in class or online, or whether the government would decide to let all students pass like it did last year. But whatever form the exam will be, she says she will accept it, though she personally prefers to take the exam to get a score for college entrance applications.
In 2020, there were 121,108 candidates who applied for the exam, of whom 63,908 were female.
