T HE Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Ung Huot solemnly declared four

strict measures would be introduced to ensure examinations this year would be

fair.

At a press conference on June 7 he said: "Firstly the Ministry, in

cooperation with ihe Ministry of Interior, will employ strict controllers who

will investigate any bribery allegations.

"Secondly, the Ministry

pledges to be fair and just and to grade students according to their capacity

rather than according to the intervention of outsiders offering money.

"Thirdly, city teachers will be sent to the provinces to monitor exams

while province teachers will come to the city. This will stop collusion between

students and teachers."

"Fourthly, 30 million riels has been allocated

by the government to hire monitors to ensure the exam process is fair.

Huot added: "The Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh will also have a

look at some examination centers in Phnom Penh and the provinces to encourage

the examiners to pay attention to their duties."

Hout said in the past

teachers only got between 4000-5000 riels in extra pay to cover their travel and

expenses for administering and monitoring the exams.

He said this amount

had been increased to between 10,000 - 25,000 riels, depending on the teacher's

monitoring role and travel expenses, in order to urge teachers to be more

responsible.

Huot said he believed only two percent of the 80,000

teachers were corrupt and he hoped there would be a change in teachers ideas,

and they would help the exam process to be fair and effective.

On May 11 the Ministry of Education warned students and their parents not to

get involved in bribery in the upcoming examinations. A press release said the

government would ensure the exams would be fair and that anyone caught making or

accepting bribes would be prosecuted. Huot asked the media to publicize this

message.