I have already written about some of the evils of for-profit universities in Cambodia and elsewhere. Today I want to focus on the use (or lack thereof) of English in those universities.
First, a little background on Cambodia, and many similar countries. The only requirement for university admission is a pass on the public grade-12 examination. There is no English language requirement. Since money is the only criterion for admission, I wager that no high school graduate has ever been rejected by any Cambodian university.
What’s more, no student ever flunks out of a private Cambodian university, because that would represent a loss of tuition revenue. Therefore, students can get zero in all their courses, or not even attend class, and still be passed along, as long as they pay their tuition.
Now since there is no English language requirement, students are admitted with little or no knowledge of English. This has several consequences:
- All instruction must be given in the local language, Khmer. Even English literature majors or TEFL majors are taught in Khmer, so that, with no accountability, students may graduate as ‘qualified’ English teachers with little or no knowledge of English.
2. There can be no international student exchanges, foreign students, or foreign teachers, because classes are held in Khmer.
3. When I was in university in America, most courses required the writing of a term paper, which entailed library research, footnotes, references, etc. Nowadays, most international universities subscribe to online libraries like JSTOR, with millions of online papers and articles.
A) The writing of term research papers is not an option for students who do not read English. They cannot do an internet search in English, so any library — online or not — is not an option in Cambodian universities, except just for show.
B) Many Cambodian universities have token libraries or subscribe to online libraries to promote their image, but in practice, libraries are not used.
4. Participation in international conferences or forums is not possible.
Speaking of image-building, I put some of the above ideas to the CEO of a Cambodian university. (Note: the fact that the head is called the CEO illustrates how universities are considered as for-profit companies, not educational institutions.) His disingenuous dodge was, “But we have an English placement exam.” Such a phony exam is just for show, since no one ever fails the exam, and students are admitted into even English courses even if they score 0%.
Another disingenuous dodge is the requirement for students to buy photocopies of 800-page university textbooks in English, even if they cannot read a word of them. In one instance that I have witnessed, the 800-page textbook required for an Art History course was not even about Art History!
All these problems will continue as long as for-profit universities admit and pass along any student willing to pay the tuition.