A ceremony to present certificates to graduating trainees and to launch new English training courses took place on Thursday 21 June 2018 at the Senate of Cambodia. This was organized by the General Secretariats of the Senate and National Assembly, and the Parliamentary Institute of Cambodia.
A total of 33 trainees have now successfully completed their training program, which began in September 2017 and finished in March 2018. The training was designed for English language skill acquisition at the different levels of pre-intermediate and intermediate, and for use in the specific context of ASEAN and for parliamentary research.
Mr. David Moller, English Program Manager, reported about the achievements and new development of the supporting activities that benefits the English learning activities. Parliamentary vocabulary collection and language laboratory equipped with online multimedia support English learning at all levels.
Ms. Sony Fernandez, Acting Executive Director of PIC, expressed appreciation to the Secretaries General of the National Assembly and the Senate for providing good cooperation and encouragement in support of PIC’s activity to develop the capacity of parliamentary staff. She congratulated the successful students and urged the new students to study hard and respect class discipline in order to get the best results from the new courses.
Ms. So Phalleap, a trainee who has just completed the ASEAN preparation courses, thanked PIC and the English trainers for contributing to the capacity development of parliamentary staff. She also expressed her pride in the level of English skills that she had achieved as a result of this training: she was already using these new skills in her day-to-day work and research at the Senate.
In his congratulatory speech, HE Mr. Leng Peng Long, the Secretary General of the National Assembly, said that PIC had expanded from an initial focus solely on the Cambodian parliament to become a training institute for other countries in the region. Trainees should be proud of the PIC training they had received, he said. HE Mr. Leng Penh Long ended his speech by encouraging trainees to show commitment by taking full advantage of this English training opportunity.
Announcing the launch of the new English training courses, HE Mr. Oum Sarith, the Secretary General of the Senate, assured trainees that English proficiency skills would provide three major benefits: first, successful staff would build their own capacity; second, they would be able to build their professional careers; and, finally, staff would be equipped to seize work opportunities not just nationally, but also regionally within other ASEAN countries. He therefore urged trainees undertaking the new courses to participate in the programs fully and actively to fulfill the criteria for success. In conclusion, the Secretary General expressed his appreciation of PIC for the new training initiative, and as a key partner for strengthening parliamentary capacity.
The new training courses will take about six months beginning from 25 June to 14 December 2018. A total of 56 candidates from the Senate and National Assembly have been invited to enroll for different levels of the English program.