"Second UK Education Fair crucial to the future of Cambodia's education sector": HE Seng Phally

Over 2,500 Cambodian students attended SpringBoard4Cambodia's second UK Education Fair in February to enjoy free guest lectures and one-to-one talks with representatives of UK universities.

The Education Fair, which was a joint initiative between the National Institute of Education, the Cambodian Higher Education Association (CHEA) and SpringBoard4Cambodia, took place in the first week of February and included lectures by UK academics on topics highly significant to Cambodia's future.

Representatives of 25 UK universities and colleges - including University of Leeds, University of Worcester and Regents College - also congregated at the National Institution of Education, Phnom Penh, to talk informally with Cambodian students about studying abroad.

His Excellency Seng Phally, Rector of the Human Resources University and Chairman of the Cambodian Higher Education Association, said: "It was great to see so many students attend this very crucial and meaningful event in the future of the Cambodian education sector. It was also a great honor for Cambodia to host the event."

Colin Glass, CEO of SpringBoard4Asia, who launched SpringBoard in 2004, said: "SpringBoard4Cambodia prides itself in its commitment to improving access to education for Cambodian students and helping to rebuild an education system that was destroyed during the traumatic civil war of the 1970s.

The Education Fair that we hold every year is designed to create global links for the next generation of Cambodia's business men and women and intellects," he added.

"I really think that this is what we have started to do".

According to one student, Sreynich Sin, 17, of Sisowath High School in Phnom Penh, the UK Education Fair was a welcomed and 'really helpful' initiative.

"It was great to speak to the UK universities. I now know about everything I need to do to fully prepare for study in Great Britain," said Sreynich, who hopes to study Business Studies at the University of Leeds.

"It was really helpful and I would encourage everyone who didn't go this year to go next year," she added.

Last year's SpringBoard UK Education Fair in Phnom Penh resulted in eight students choosing to study for degrees in the UK. One student, Meth Bunnarith, a Cambodian now studying in Wolverhampton after visiting the inaugural Fair in 2009, said: "I am living a once in a lifetime dream, and it all started at the SpringBoard4Cambodia UK Education Fair. It was a great opportunity to get the process started - I collected lots facts and information and it gave me the chance to weigh up my options."

Since the first Education Fair in 2009, SpringBoard has also helped Cambodian universities to set up articulation agreements with well known UK, American and Australian equivalents. Representatives from Cambodia's education sector also visited the UK on a knowledge-sharing study tour - an event that is set to take place again, later in 2010.

This year's knowledge-sharing initiative will see up to 30 representatives from the Cambodian education sector visit universities and colleges in the UK to make vital contacts and learn more about Higher Education and teaching techniques in Great Britain.