Abstract
In the Kingdom of Cambodia, public education was introduced in the days of the French Protectorate. In a recent paper, I suggested that the public education systems were different in each circonscription résidentielle, and examined the situation of Kompong-Cham. In this paper, I investigate the introduction of public education into the circonscription résidentielle de Kampot, located on the Gulf of Thailand. According to a list of schools and students in each circonscription résidentielle in 1930, Kampot had a particular number of écoles de pagodes (schools of pagodas) and we can suppose that the French authority made a special attempt to promote public education in this circonscription résidentielle. The circonscription résidentielle de Kampot was located on the border of three states: the Kingdom of Siam, the French Protectorate of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the French Colony of Cochin-China. Geographically, it was where inland Cambodia intersected with the maritime world. The distinctive characteristics of Kampot were its openness and its unusually large populations of Chinese, Malays, Siamese and Annamites.
In the circonscription résidentielle de Kampot, the public education system was composed of (1) the école résidentielle/école de plein exercice established in Kampot city, (2) the écoles franco-cambodgiennes established in the interior, and (3) the écoles de pagodes rénovées established at the pagodas of rural villages. In the école résidentielle/école de plein exercice, the curriculum, class composition, equipment, and the attendance of students bore a strong resemblance to its counterpart in Kampot and Kompong-Cham. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the purpose of these schools, training candidates of functionaries, and the examination for certificat d'études primaires franco-indigènes and certificat d'études élémentaires led to this homogeneity.
On the other hand, the strategy to promote public education among the local population differed among circonscriptions résidentielles. In Kampot, the French administration used the traditional authority of pagodas and Buddhist monks in Cambodian society to establish schools in rural communities. During and after the 1930s, the écoles de pagodes rénovées were expanded from Kampot to other regions of Cambodia and became the foundation of today's public education system.
In addition, Chinese and Malay villages had the tradition of schools in Kampot. However, the French did not plan to exploit Chinese or Malay schools as educational resources. Most Chinese had no interest in the French educational system and preferred to send their children to Chinese schools. This fact implies that those who sought opportunities in the French Protectorate of the Kingdom of Cambodia accepted public education, and that most Chinese in Kampot who lived by the maritime trade on the Gulf of Thailand saw no value in the French colonial education. Only further investigation of the Chinese population in Kampot will confirm or refute this hypothesis.
