The repercussions of COVID-19 resulted in global disruptions to supply and demand as well as shocks to the global production networks. This paper employs a trade analysis approach to assess the impacts of coronavirus on Cambodia’s export performance. Utilising Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, changes were analysed using data pre-and post-pandemic to explore the Kingdom’s competitiveness and dynamic export position during this time. We found evidence that COVID-19 has caused a 6 percent decline in Cambodia’s trade in 2020 and […]

Background Cambodia envisages to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. The country also aspires to develop into a knowledge-based society (MoEYS 2014). To support these goals, it is crucial to consider the role of higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly universities, in training, research and service. However, research has shown that Cambodian higher education is faced with many challenges ranging from skills mismatches to fragmented governance to limited research capacity and stakeholder involvement (Heng and […]

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. Its presence has created significant disturbances across society and particularly within education. On 16 March 2020, as a preventative measure against the spread of COVID-19, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) decided to close all educational institutions. However, in an effort to continue providing education services to students, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) alongside relevant […]

Entrepreneurship is crucial to advancing the economy of Cambodia and fostering the development of society. The Royal Government of Cambodia has recognised the importance of entrepreneurship and included the promotion and entrepreneurship education in multiple policies and strategy. Universities and higher education institutes have been more active in providing entrepreneurship education (EE) as well as services and facilities to support startups in recent years. However, to date, there is very limited research on how young people in Cambodia perceive and […]

Internationalisation is known to contribute to higher education development, particularly through the integration of international, inter-cultural or global dimensions into the purpose, functions, or delivery of higher education institutions (Knight 2004). Within this inter-connected world, higher education institutions are pressured to produce quality human resources with global citizenship characteristics. Students have benefited greatly from this process as they can have access to international/regional standards of education services and the opportunity to be exposed to other countries, people, and cultures. Academics […]

The Covid-19 pandemic locked students all around the world out of school and caused unprecedented educational disruptions for more than two years. Like other countries, Cambodia switched from the traditional physical classrooms to online and distance learning during school closures. Cambodian schools were able to reopen their doors briefly at the end of 2020 after the first nationwide school closure in March earlier that year. However, largescale community outbreaks in February 2021 forced schools to close again. There have been […]

Civic engagement is “how citizens participate in the life of a community to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community’s future” (Adler and Goggin 2005, p. 236). In Cambodia, civic engagement has been promoted by civil society organisations (CSOs) since 1993. The organisations covered by the abbreviation “CSO” are many in Cambodia, but they consist of, and are not limited to, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), youth associations, community-based organisations (CBOs), self-help groups and small clubs. There are around […]

Industrial development is central to Cambodia’s economic development as it plans to upgrade the country’s status to an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and to a high-income country by 2050. Equipping the workforce with the skills and competencies that match industrial needs requires a great deal of continuous efforts and resources. In this regard, this paper aims to look into the linkage between skills and transformation based on employers’ perspectives. It explores insights into how companies perceive and use the skills […]

The distinction between vocational training and academic education can be traced back to different institutional structures in medieval Europe. However, owing to an increasing need for higher-level skills to respond to market demand, countries have resolved to establish flexible pathways for students on both tracks or systems to move or transfer across to each other. Permeability in education and training refers to the possibility for learners to transfer between different types of education and between different levels of qualifications. In […]

Street food vending is a vital part of the urban economy, and the poor, in particular, rely on it to earn their living. We examine their socio-economic dimension, especially their backgrounds and business operations and challenges, as well as the perspectives on life satisfaction among different income earners. Importantly, we looked at the marginalisation and vulnerability of street vendors in Phnom Penh. We mapped 1141 street food vendors in nine districts and we randomly selected 553 respondents in Phnom Penh. […]

Pesticides are agricultural technologies that farmers use to control pests and weeds and remain an important modern input for crop production including vegetable farming. There are many types of pesticides, such as insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides and herbicides, that target different threats to crops. While the potential production benefits of chemical pesticides are undeniable, people are becoming more aware of their risks. There is an array of dangers associated with inappropriate pesticide use. As pesticides are a poison, they pose inherent […]

This qualitative study examines the development of STEM programs in Cambodian higher education, using as its theoretical framework Chesky and Wolfmeyer’s (2015) concept of an integrative STEM education, which highlights the intersections between purpose, pedagogy and content. The teaching of STEM in Cambodia remains discipline-based, dominated by teacher-centred approaches and lacking real-world experience. Outdated course content and uncritical adoption of foreign curricula with little consideration for local context have resulted in a disconnection between pedagogy, content and mission. Cambodia needs […]