[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]載嗣泭薯③溼恀51VOA.COM [00:00.96]From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. [00:05.72]The top education official in Cambodia [00:09.16]is praising efforts to prevent final-year high school students [00:15.20]from cheating on their exams. [00:18.04]Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron says [00:22.20]he is sure the results will be better this year [00:25.92]than they were for the class of 2014. [00:29.64]Many high school students are hoping the same thing. [00:34.28]Last year, 60 percent of students failed [00:39.28]after the government launched the "no-cheating" policy. [00:43.52]Cambodia's 88,000 final-year high school students took their exams last month. [00:51.72]Many are afraid the government's "no-cheating" policy [00:56.04]may hurt their chances of entering a university. [01:00.36]Some students prayed for success. [01:03.60]One unhappy student told a Phnom Penh newspaper [01:08.16]she hoped people watching the testing [01:11.36]would let the student cheat "in a small way, [01:15.60]like reading each other's answers." [01:20.08]But her hopes did not come true. [01:23.08]The "no-cheating" policy was firmly enforced. [01:27.48]As usual, some students tried to cheat on the exams. [01:33.36]A few students were caught with hand-written notes to help aid their memory. [01:39.08]One Grade 11 student was arrested after he tried to take the exam for his older brother. [01:46.96]For the most part, it seems, the new rules stopped the cheating [01:52.56]that has taken place for years during exams in Cambodia. [01:57.24]Hang Chon Naron is the person responsible for the "no-cheating" policy. [02:03.60]It is an important part of his efforts to reform education. [02:08.64]His goal is to replace the old system 每 which supported cheating [02:14.72]每 with a culture of merit that helps those who work hard. [02:19.32]The education minister started in his current job two years ago. [02:25.48]He thinks the pass rate will be higher this year, [02:29.20]partly because students have studied more. O [02:32.20]ther changes also have helped, [02:34.96]including improved teacher training and extra classes. [02:40.16]"We have seen the change in student attitudes [02:43.92]每 especially we got a report from the schools that they worked harder, [02:47.88]they attended the additional classes on Saturday and Sunday [02:51.60]that [were] offered by the teachers." [02:54.76]The minister hopes that honesty in exam-taking [02:58.84]will begin correcting the biggest problem facing the education system: [03:04.88]high school graduates who are not ready to fill jobs. [03:09.44]The system has long produced graduates [03:13.28]who lack the skills that employers need. [03:16.28]"Indeed, you know, we still have insufficiency because for one year working is not enough, [03:23.28]because for some subject matter it takes a few years at least 每 two or three years. [03:28.32]But we will see more progress this year compared to last year, [03:33.72]and I believe that it is a change of mentality from the students. [03:38.72]And it sets new habits." [03:41.04]Other changes include better training for teachers, [03:45.36]increasing their pay and making improvements to school buildings. [03:51.52]Other programs are aimed at improving education for women. [03:56.68]As we reported in January, [03:59.52]the Asian Development Bank and other donors [04:03.04]are providing the money to help improve Cambodia's education system. [04:08.64]Fixing the problems in the education system [04:12.00]will not be easy, says the minister. [04:15.52]But he thinks it was good to start by ending cheating on exams. [04:20.48]That policy not only shows weaknesses in the system, he says. [04:26.20]It also forces students to learn. [04:29.36]"All that spending 每 like spending on textbooks, [04:33.32]spending on more resources, even higher salaries of teachers [04:37.16]每 if the students don't learn then you cannot have [success with] that." [04:40.28]As for the Class of 2015, [04:42.88]it seems most students took the new no-cheating policy seriously. [04:49.20]They spent extra hours preparing for the exams. [04:53.36]They will soon find out whether those efforts helped. [04:57.36]A report on the test results is to be released in the middle of September. [05:02.96]For the VOA Learning English Education Report, [05:06.84]I'm Jill Robbins. [05:08.64]Now it's your turn. Is cheating on exams common where you live? [05:13.80]What do you think is the result of cheating? [05:16.72]Write to us in the comments section.