News

• 27 September, 2024
• Posted by: EuroCham Cambodia

 

This week, we interviewed Manuel Azibi, Resident Twinning Advisor at France Education international, who recently arrived in country to spearhead efforts on the Supporting Upper-Secondary (Grade 10, 11, 12) Technical Education Reforms in Cambodia” project under the EU. Manuel's core responsibilities include improving the links between schools and companies to ensure students are learning the right skills to succeed in the future workforce and have valuable internship opportunities. Read on to find out how Manuel will help make this possible!

EuroCham: For those that don’t know (including myself before I met you), could you explain the concept of “twinning”?

Manuel: I had the same thought, when France Educational International called me in France and asked if I wanted to be the Resident Twinning advisor, I thought to myself “What’s that?”

Twinning comes from Europe, it’s normally a term used inside Europe. When a new country wants to enter the EU, there is some cooperation and collaboration that needs to happen to help some of these countries reach the same administration level as the EU.

The EU then worked on similar projects in North Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and also in the Balkan countries. Now we are in Cambodia, where we have my programme and a programme focused on  statistics.

This project is especially unique because it relies heavily on collaboration with civil servants, which is quite different from some other projects. It’s great to see civil servants from Europe and civil servants from Cambodia working together, as we both have common goals and can approach problems from similar foundations. At the moment, I’m working in the Ministry of Education, and we pair experts with local counterparts to reform technical education.

The title of my project is “Supporting Upper-Secondary (Grade 10, 11, 12) Technical Education Reforms in Cambodia” and there are three components. The first is to propose and adapt work-based learning EU models to Cambodia. This is the most important for me and it’s difficult because we have to work with the private sector to assess required job skills, with universities, and with vocational schools at the same time.

The second component is improving the curriculum, and we will work with a German team on this. They have experience working in ASEAN and will be able to provide key insights into adapting the programme for Cambodia.

The last component is implementation, which is training the teachers and finding a work model that works for the students, the teachers, and businesses which will host the students for internships. Within these three components, we have to take into consideration gender equality, digitization, green strategies, etc.

EuroCham: You’ve been here three weeks, the start of a 36-month programme. What are your first impressions of Cambodia?

Manuel: Before moving to Cambodia, I lived in Indonesia, and while there are similarities, Cambodia is quite a different and new destination for me too. Indonesia is very bureaucratic and at times it can be difficult to propose fresh ideas. In Cambodia, I've found people to be very open to new ideas and I feel a true collaborative spirit here.

Phnom Penh is also a very compact city, you can get from one end to the other in less than an hour. I have heard complaints about the traffic, but in Jakarta, you can be stuck in your car for over an hour without moving a meter. So, you won’t hear me complaining about traffic here!

EuroCham: How is this project a blending of EU and Cambodian needs and desires?

Manuel: On the one hand there is the Cambodian national development plan, the Pentagonal Strategy, and in this plan, they underline the importance of human resources to build a new growth model based on skills, technology, and innovation.

On the other hand, for the EU there is a Global Gateway flagship project, transforming technical education EU-Cambodia partnership from 2024-27 and finally they matched these two plans and decided on the twinning project.

What I like about this project is that it’s a true collaborative effort between the EU side and the Cambodian side. It came about organically and will be tailored specifically for the Cambodian context. Sometimes projects might seem like a good fit from the outside, but they actually don’t address the real needs in the local context.

EuroCham: One idea that is mentioned is as a desired output is a “dual training system” with a focus on low carbon, climate-adapted techniques, hand in hand with digitalization. Could you help explain this in simpler terms?

Manuel: We need to be more agile and that's why this programme is so unique. We constantly keep track of the upcoming trends in jobs in different sectors. For example, with the rise of EVs we may suddenly need a labour force who can work on batteries for electric cars. Without proper planning, it would be hard to accommodate these market demands.

In places like Vietnam or Malaysia, there is more manpower and technical education, which helps attract foreign companies. With this programme, we can help build this foundation as well, and in turn attract more companies to relocate to Cambodia.

For internships, we work together with teachers, students, and the hosting company to ensure the  student is learning practical skills and employers are also benefiting from this experience. We focus on training practical skills relevant to job demand, which brings another level of accountability to the parties involved because we actually monitor the internships.

Concerning ideas such as sustainability and digitalization, we need to include this components organically, as they are increasingly important and necessary in all spheres of work, including for young graduates entering the workforce.

EuroCham: How do you gauge the effectiveness of a project like this?

Manuel:  We mustn't make the mistake of simply copying Finnish, German or French systems that work in Europe. The aim is to have a system inspired by the EU countries but adapted to Cambodia's realities and needs.

There’s already an excellent basis for work and reflection in the vocational education department in Cambodia. I think the challenge will be to make our project operational and to find the necessary relays to ensure that our actions reach teachers, students and small companies. When we say small companies, we’re talking about companies between 10 and 50 people – if we can have an impact on these companies, it would be a massive achievement for the project.

We don't want a theoretical project, we hope to carry out a project in the field with a model that can be duplicated at all vocational schools in Cambodia. Surveys and recommendations are good, but if you don’t have the monitoring and evaluation to go with it, the impact may be limited.

It will be exciting to start visiting the vocational schools to see how they work and get a better feel for the situation. Right now, we’re in the early stages, and I’ll soon be joined by colleagues from Finland and Germany, who will be able to offer their insight as well.

EuroCham: Why is this work important to you?

Manuel: This job is important to me, because I believe that technical vocational training is crucial for the development of countries. Indeed, for companies in Cambodia or companies with plans to come to Cambodia, finding a trained and qualified workforce is essential.

I'm highly motivated by this job because I can help to create a link between the education system and the private sector and help them synchronize. I really appreciate the chance to work with decision-makers and high-level leaders who have the power to change things. If you see something wrong, there's an easier path to get it fixed quickly compared to some countries in Europe, where there are more steps involved and consultations with the highest-level leaders is rarer.

I’m reminded of a story when I was working at a vocational school in France. I was able to procure this cutting-edge 3D printing machine that used metal instead of plastic. The applications were endless. We found a way to keep the metal dust safely contained and we were able to print products with zero waste since the printer only used what material was necessary.

We did have companies come in and use it, and they worked with our students to learn more about its applications. There was potential to scale this up and create this symbiotic relationship with students and the private sector. However, it was too difficult with the given framework to actually make this happen, so I was not able to do so. I’m hoping that here in Cambodia, the work I’m about to embark on one day reaches all corners of the country!