PHNOM PENH: The results of the 2023 High School Diploma Exam were announced in Phnom Penh and Kandal Province yesterday afternoon as many students who spent 12 years preparing for the exam received the happy news that they had passed.
Students gathered at Chea Sim Santhormok High School, many with their parents, to find their names on the results list posted.
Young Srey Net cried after seeing that she had passed and told EAC news that she did even better than expected.
"I thought it would be an E, but later on, when I got a D, I felt happier. I did not expect it. Not that I had no hope of learning, but I got a D which I did not expect, and that makes me even happier,” she said.
Another young woman whose mother came to encourage her is Mang Mony Pich. She was among the two percent of test-takers who managed to score an A on the exam, making herself, her family and her teachers very proud. Her advice to students taking the exam next year is to study hard, starting at the beginning of the year and not just two or three months before exam day. She also noted the importance of knowing your subject strengths and weaknesses.
"We should plan a study schedule,” she said. “We need to know where we are strong and weak, we need to organize study hour.” She also noted the importance of finding a tutor that you can get along with. “Even if the teacher is teaching well, but we don’t feel we get along...No matter how hard you study, it does not work. We have to find a tutor who we get along with, but try to study on your own also.”
Yun Chanthon, who also earned an A on the exam, had the same advice regarding studying far in advance and not waiting until it is too late to practice and absorb the exam information. "Let him study hard from the beginning of the year,” he said. “Do not get close to the exam day to begin to study."
The Ministry of Education said that out of the 98,460 students who passed the exam, 2% scored an A; 7% a B; 18% a C; 35% a D; and 38% an E. This year, the Ministry has said that any score above an F is considered a passing grade. Those who passed will now be eligible to apply for a bachelor program.
