The Steps to Reforming the Education System

Khmer Times
Tin Sokhavuth

Students in the part-time class at Chey Thavy school. KT/Nou Sotheavy

The government has an ambition to transform Cambodia from a lower-middle income country to an upper-middle income country by 2030 and to a developed country by 2050.

To achieve these goals, immediate economic growth in the context of competitiveness is needed. This requirement, in turn, implies Cambodian people to have the right knowledge and skills. So reform of the education system is unavoidable, and is the main task to be fulfilled by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), in cooperation with many stakeholders.

According to the MoEYS, a high priority has to be given to “equitable access for high quality basic education services.” As a result, the MoEYS has been developing, in cooperation with many development partners, a strategic plan in order to maintain and reform the existing Cambodian education system. The plan is called “Education Strategic Plan 2014-2018,” or ESP.

The ESP is focusing on early childhood education, the expansion of the access to quality secondary and post-secondary education and non-formal education, and technical and vocational education. For marginalized children and youth, specific measures will be used to give them equal access to education.

Within the context of decentralization and de-concentration reform, the education system also needs to be transparent and accountable, because it is crucial to improve overall educational activities. Besides that, an adequate budget management has to be reviewed in order to improve the quality of education.

The ESP pointed out that by implementing a rigorous teacher code of conduct for teachers at all levels, better performance and governance could be reached.

However, to fulfill this task, the MoEYS solicits the participation from people of all walks of life such as the government, communities, parents, development partners, the private sector and NGOs.

The ESP comprises three core policies. The first is “ensuring equitable access for all to education services.” This policy points out that all children have access to all types of educational services such as primary schools, secondary schools and university. For children who are unable to access regular education, alternative learning could be provided.

This first policy also aims to increase the number of children and youth having access to education at all levels in taking in consideration that children living in the most disadvantaged areas have equal access to education. On the other hand, the opportunities for children to finish 12th grade, with good knowledge and logic skills, to be able to continue their studies at university and/or college, are also mentioned by this first policy.

The second policy is “enhancing the quality and relevance of learning.” If children and youth have a good quality and relevant learning experience, they could contribute to the growth of the nation. Then, increasing the quality of learning that responds to the needs of local context and socio-economic goals could lead to better jobs with better salaries.

The third policy is “ensuring effective leadership and management of education staff at all levels.” This policy points out that educational services have to be provided effectively, flexibly, and efficient and professional management leads to the best value. If the management of public education institutions is well organized, the needs at the school level could be responded to adequately.

Most workers in Cambodia are either unskilled or semiskilled and lack technical and vocational education and training qualifications. The quality of the labor force has been improving under the programs with social protection elements such as the Voucher Skills Training Program supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that provides short-term basic skills training in provincial training centers.

As for the ADB, the construction of new schools, the provision of scholarships, the abolition of informal school fees and the expansion of community-based early learning opportunities are the keys to success in the field of access to basic education.

Besides the points mentioned above, the ADB has been setting up some strategies in parallel with the MoEYS’ policies, in the perspective of helping Cambodian people to reform their education system. These strategies include (i) increasing basic education completion, (ii) bridging the funding gap, (iii) harmonizing aid, (iv) improving the quality of teaching and learning at all levels, (v) improving internal efficiency and (vi) increasing access for hard-to-reach groups.

The investments of the ADB in technical and vocational education and training will tackle the issue of gender equity by helping women enroll, retain and complete their formal training and education. According to its strategies, the ADB will ensure that women could have access to funding that could help them get a higher-level of technical and vocational education and training.

The quotas of women in dormitories concerns the ADB, because women from rural areas need help to enroll in training courses that are very often only carried out in big cities. Skills given to women need also to be aligned with the labor market, and for women who want to enroll in training of the nontraditional advanced skills such as information technology, special help and funding will be granted for them.

Skills alone won’t be sufficient to ensure the presence of women in workplaces. For that reason, the ADB has the ambition to coordinate with companies and the government in order to set up as many ready workplaces as possible for women.