A Thailand-based technical university yesterday signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with technical training institutes in Cambodia to improve human resources in the technical sector.
The MoUs were signed between the Thai Rajamangala University of Technology and the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia and the National Technical Training Institute, both geared at raising Cambodia’s technical knowledge to meet market needs.
According to Pich Sophorn, secretary of state of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, Cambodia’s young people are receiving higher levels of education as universities flourish in the Kingdom. However, students often fail to pursue the fields that will provide them the best opportunities and match the needs of the industry sector.
“We have seen an increase in foreign direct investment, especially in the industrial sector,” he said.
“Today students who have graduated from technical training institutes often get better job opportunities than university graduates.”
Neither party released the total cost of the MoU, but according to Numyoot Songthanapitak, president of Rajamangala University, both parties will sit down and work together to design a better curriculum to strengthen the quality and target the demands of the market. He added that there will be more exchange study programmes between students, more assistance provided and many other kinds of technical support.
“[The cooperation] will help to upgrade the teaching faculty of both institutes and will provide a better quality of human resources in the technical sector,” said Numyoot of Rajamangala University.
Mona Tep, director at the Society of Human Resource Management and Productivity, told the Post yesterday that those who had vocational training and skills in machine operation and industrial engineering can usually easily find jobs at garment factories as middle-managers or production-line managers and earn a very good salary. But she said their numbers are still tiny among Cambodians.
“I think the number in the workforce with technical knowledge is very small. We have to promote and strengthen it now, otherwise we will lose advantages in joining the economic integration in 2015.”
Sophorn said that currently “economic power nations like South Korea and Singapore have a large number of qualified engineers in the country.”
