PhnomPenhPost-Nov 8, 2022
Media literacy refers to the ability to think objectively about the information a person comes into contact with through general media and, increasingly, social media. It is a common goal of the government and civil society organizations to bring this knowledge to the Cambodian people, especially the young, who are more active on social media platforms. In Cambodia, the number of social media users increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. These increases have aligned with a greater amount of false or misleading content being shared and treated as factual news, which has led to frequent confusion. For this reason, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is working closely with NGOs to strengthen media literacy. In cooperation with the DW Akademie project, they are training teachers to educate high school students about this issue. “We have not only trained university students. We have also trained high school students. Even at that age, they are able to grasp the importance of media literacy,” said Seng Sineth, deputy director of the Information Technology Department of the ministry.Textbooks were issued to facilitate teaching and learning at the basic level and the department has established web content which can share content related to media literacy. One of UNESCO’s programs – in collaboration with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications – provides education that helps Cambodians learn to research and identify data which may be inaccurate. Sor Chandara, project manager for DW Akademie Cambodia, has been working on this issue for many years. He said success will require the participation of the public. “We do not put pressure on anyone or apportion blame, but we need to join together to prevent the spread of misleading information,” he added. Read more at: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/media-literacy-becoming-important-say-ngos-and-ministries
