The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a career centre at the National University of Management. The centre will provide students with the opportunity to connect to the job markets in the digital economy.
An official announcement, chaired by Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron, was made at the university on December 22. Also in attendance were W. Patrick Murphy, US ambassador to Cambodia, and university rector Hor Peng, along with many students and representatives of the private sector.
The centre is part of USAID’s Digital Workforce Development Project (DWD), a new USAID-funded initiative that will provide young Cambodians with the skills they need to compete in the digital economy.
USAID said in a statement that the DWD project is a five-year programme which has been implemented in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley to promote improved educational outcomes for Cambodia’s youth and young professionals, in a global economy that is leaning increasingly more on technology and requires a skilled workforce.
“The centre will connect universities and private sector employers to create internship programs and job opportunities for students and young professionals. The center will also meet the needs of employers for 21st century skills through a variety of training courses and workshops,” it added.
Pen Chanda, chief of the DWD project, said the project would help create more career centres at other partner universities in both rural and urban areas of Cambodia.
“The career centres will connect students in all fields of study to their chosen career paths. The DWD will work with the private sector and higher education institutions, government and local and international non-government organisations to foster a more productive job-placement network for Cambodia’s graduating workforce,” he added.
Chanda also said the DWD had designed the career centre to be an integral part of the employment ecosystem, which will engage current students, alumni and employers in all sectors. He expected this first centre to become a model for other universities to follow, and expected that it would continue long after the project was completed.
Naron said that he hoped more stakeholders would work together to provide more opportunities for students in the digital age. He expected the centre to make it easier for students to connect with private companies to find work.
“It will provide opportunities to many students who are unsure how to search for an appropriate position. This centre will help them find quality jobs. It will also teach students soft skills which will be important in their professional lives,” he added.
Ambassador Murphy described the career centre as a bridge connecting students and employers.
“Students will pursue their chosen career paths and employers will flourish with equipped and qualified applicants. We are proud to support young Cambodians to meet the demands of a rapidly growing digital workforce,” he said.
Khun Many, a second-year student at ACLEDA Institute of Business, attended the official announcement. She said the centre could provide important opportunities for her and her peers to learn even more of what they needed to know before they entered the workforce, or even started their own businesses.
