Dr. SOEURN Visal
Intense globalization and industrialized revolution have huge implications for the role of education in equipping students with both local knowledge and global understanding. The University of Puthisastra (UP) and Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) cohosted the first biennial conference on the theme “Education for Shared Community and Prosperity”. Fifteen UP staff across all the faculties and departments joined the conference as both presenters and participants. Dr Tineke Water, Director of Research at UP, was one of the plenary panelists who discussed “decolonizing methodologies”. She also chaired the Emerging Research Space during the conference.
Dr. Chea Sin, Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, presented about the “Pharmacy Education at the University of Puthisastra: The Journey So Far”, while Dr. Cheng Kimhauang, from the Faculty of Nursing talked about the “Developing Professional Identity: Cambodian Nursing Students” experiences of an Academic Program in a University Nursing School.” Mr. Sao Sok San, lecturer from Faculty of Dentistry, pointed out about “Teaching Dentistry Outside the Classroom – Experiences of students at University of Puthisastra.”
Mr. Vibol Boy, Teaching and Learning Coordinator, was delighted to share his research on “Challenges of Teaching English as an additional language in high schools in Cambodia, and Ms. Chin Chanty, Library manager, talked about the “Envisioning Libraries for the Future of Cambodia.” UP foundation year (Ms. Saut sopheakpanha and Dr. Chhith Saosometh) and health counseling department (Mr. Touch Seyha and Ms. Chhorn Rada) also shared their talks about the challenges of learning physics among health sciences students and the need of health counseling education in Cambodia.
At the emerging researcher space during this conference saw our young researchers (Ms. Eng Muyngim, Mr. Chhea Sophearom, Ms. Cheng Chan Mara, and Ms. Hul Marina) present their work with Future Forum 4 months ago. They were excitedly delivering their various micro-interventions to tackle non-communication diseases in Cambodia. Those four interventions are: (1) Green Friday (2) Physical activity-friendly workplace and study space (3) Benefits of Physical activity during pregnancy (4) Education and Health: working together for innovative actions against NCDs in Cambodia. This was a great conference with a lot of sharing, learning, and networking! University of Puthisastra is looking forward to working closely with CDRI, Future Forum as well as other research/health/educational institutes.
