Confidence in Chinese education
WI TH China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative well underway across Asean and, closer to home, in the Kingdom’s Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodian students studying at Guangxi University in China’s Nanning city say they are confident of their future job prospects, while a local dean praised their work ethics.
“Knowledge from China can now be used widely i n Cambodia because the governments of the t wo count r ies have good cooperation. So I t hink in t he f uture, [those who possess] Chinese la nguage sk ills will be better of f than [those who speak other languages],” said Hang Chan Sambor, a 31-yearold student who is pursuing a Master’s degree in Labour Economics at Guangxi Universit y.
He is among 70 Cambodian students studying dif ferent subjects here.
The majority of them are on Chinese government-funded scholarships.
Sambor said he could not compare the quality of education in Chinese universities to those in Western countries, in Europe or North America for example.But he said with the Chinese investment in his homeland, there would be plenty of job opportunities available upon his return.
“Now, the One Belt One Road initiative is underway in Asean countries, so working with China is more beneficial. Now there are more options than just universities in Europe,” Sambor said.
Bun Sotheary, 26, a thirdyear student from Siem Reap province, is majoring in Enterprise Management.
She was hopeful that work would be easy to find after graduating.
“I think there are many opportunities for students who study in China. It may be a bit dif ficult to find t he right job for what they have studied, but as new graduates, we have to adjust to the job market.
“I think there are many jobs out there – the question is whether we accept them,” she said.
Guangxi University International Education College Dean, Qin Chengqiang, said it had been working with Cambodian universities for several years, with partnerships with Kratie University and the Royal Academy of Cambodia to name just two.
He said in 2020, t he universit y will start a Khmer language studies course, which will feature an exchange programme for students and teachers between Cambodian universities and his.
He praised Cambodian students and said Guangxi Universit y current ly has 27 colleges majoring i n 11 disciplines, including 10 i n post-doctora l research, wit h 68 PhD programmes, 247 graduate programmes and 98 undergraduate ones.
“We are already in contact with universities in Cambodia. Cambodian students are industrious and respect discipline,” Chengqiang said.