PHNOM PENH: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has instructed private primary schools to strengthen implementation of a Khmer language curriculum to cultivate the habit of speaking Khmer among students. The Ministry has also recommended educational institutions to integrate teachings on Khmer culture and civilization into their curriculum to preserve national identity and promote national values.

The Education Ministry has made the Khmer language a compulsory subject for all students of Khmer nationality to take. The Ministry wishes to encourage private primary schools to strengthen implementation of a Khmer language curriculum so that all students can learn to read, write, and speak the Khmer language properly, especially training students to use Khmer when conversing with family and in general social communications.

The Ministry also wants all private primary schools to integrate Khmer culture and civilization education, urging teachers to do more research and incorporate content from the book, 'Culture and Civilization', as well as other general knowledge books related to Khmer customs and culture, into the school curriculum. Additionally, the Ministry has instructed private primary schools to ensure the Khmer culture and civilization education program is more vibrant than those based on foreign cultures.

Other than teachers, the Ministry of Education has urged parents to speak Khmer with their children as much as possible, introduce them to traditional cultural events and explain to them the meaning behind Khmer traditions and festivals. The Ministry recommends parents to read traditional stories and folktales to their children, while explaining who the characters in the stories are, so that children can gain a better understanding of Cambodia's traditions and history from a young age.