Education is one of the key focuses in the work of the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) in Cambodia. The Methodist School of Cambodia (MSC) has been around since 1997. For many years, we have been teaching our students the importance of putting their best efforts in their studies, and especially in doing the examinations based on their own efforts.
In Cambodia, there are three national examinations: the Primary 6 national exams (equivalent to Singapore’s PSLE), the Grade 9 national exams (equivalent to the GCSE ‘O’ levels), and the Grade 12 exams (equivalent to the GCSE ‘A’ levels).
Cheating had previously been rampant in the national examinations throughout Cambodia; many students cheated their way through their studies. But in 2014, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports instituted processes and policies into their national examinations to prevent students from cheating. This was a shock to the nation as many of the students were unprepared for this change.
For our students in MSC, there were no problems because they had always been taught not to cheat in their exams. In that year (2014), MSC achieved an overall pass rate of 66 per cent for the Grade 12 students against the national average of 23 per cent.
Over the past two years, our students have achieved very good results. MSC had an average of above 80 per cent passes for our Grade 12 students. As for the Grade 9 students, we achieved 100 per cent passes for the past two years, enabling all of them to move on to the next level. From the recent Grade 12 examinations in August 2016, six of our students were awarded government scholarships: one each to study law, economics, agriculture, and tourism, and two for social studies. This is a great achievement for the school.
This is truly a testimony of how God has worked in the lives of the students. They have worked very hard to do well and more importantly, have done it the honest way and been an excellent example and witness to their fellow students! Many of the students have attributed their achievements to the discipline and Christian values nurtured in them at MSC. It is not only the dedicated effort of the staff, but also the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that has enabled MSC to achieve these results. Indeed, it is God working through our staff to prepare our children to be responsible citizens who will be an asset to their country.
PRAY:
- For the students who will be taking their national examinations at the end of the academic year 2016/2017 in August 2017, that they will stay focused on their studies and do well.
- For the teachers of MSC that they will continue to be bold and uphold the “no cheating” policy in MSC through our teaching of Christian values.
- For the Education Minister, that he will continue to bring about the right reforms to the education system in Cambodia.
Benjamin Lee –
is an Associate Missionary with the Methodist Missions Society and is the Principal of the Methodist School in Cambodia.
Photos courtesy of the Methodist Missions Society