In recent years, the Cambodian government has introduced a reform agenda to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, improve the bureaucratic administration of education, and address other major challenges affecting public schools. The new agenda has led to several remarkable transformations in Cambodia’s educational system, including the introduction of a new innovative school model called New Generation School. However, the sustainability and scalability of this new model are questionable due to the large investment needed to operate these schools, […]

This study aimed to identify the current skills of Cambodian garment workers, whether or not they wanted to gain new skills and, if so, what those were. The results revealed that the greatest percentage – 60 – had acquired sewing skills, followed by quality control and packaging skills. More than two-thirds were also able to read, write and calculate, and could use the internet and social networks. Well over half – 67 percent – did not want more skills training […]

Developing skills for current workforce is indispensable in today’s economy. In an attempt to promote investment in skill training for workers in a Cambodian backbone sector, namely garment and textile, this study explores and identifies the problem of underinvestment in their skill training. A total of 787 individual workers are randomly selected using two stages of sampling procedure. The study shows their lack of adequate workplace skills and competencies for career growth related to several reasons, include but not limited […]

The twofold aim of this study is to: identify the challenges and opportunities posed by the immediate response to school and university closures; and assess the edtech readiness and preparedness of HEI teaching staff. The findings demonstrate that unstable internet connection and difficulty assessing student performance are the biggest obstacles impeding the effective delivery of distance learning. Nevertheless, the pandemic has pushed schools to bring about much-needed innovation by integrating new educational technologies in learning and teaching and supporting teaching […]

Using the 2011 Cambodia Rural-Urban Migration Project, we re-examine the effect of parental migration on the long-term educational progress of children who have accompanied their parents to urban areas by comparing such children with those left behind in rural areas. We use a measurement that captures schooling disruption effect and allows for the possibility that being a migrant child also depends on school quality in the neighbourhood. The fixed-effect estimator is applied to eliminate family characteristics shared among siblings such as parental resources and perceptions towards education. […]

Permeability, in the context of education and training systems, refers to flexible learning pathways, that is, the horizontal and vertical links between education and training programmes and institutions that enable students to move through different learning environments at different speeds regardless of programme orientation. This study aims at discussing the driving forces behind endeavours to make the education and training systems more permeable and pointing out the key policies and instruments in force worldwide. This study concludes with some lessons […]

Modernisation brings new economic and social challenges around the globe. In this era of the knowledge economy, knowledge and skills have become valuable assets for national development. Many countries have been working out how best to enhance their knowledge and skills pool. Focus has recently turned to competency-based training (CBT), which is believed to enrich students with practical competencies relevant to labour market needs and thus enhance their productivity and, ultimately, national economic growth. The CBT is characterised by a […]

To address the problems of skills mismatch, skills gaps and low-skilled labour that is hindering Cambodia’s economic development, the RGC issued the 2017 Internship Policy. Part of a larger endeavour to link providers of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to private firms, the project aimed to give TVET students real, workbased experience. This paper aims to scope the fundamental structures and characteristics of these internship programs. With the participation of 14 private firms (responsible for 25 interns) who […]

University accountability in Cambodia, in both a theoretical and practical context, is ruled by complexity and there is no common understanding of what it means and how it should be assessed. This study examines how accountability in Cambodian universities is oriented towards different accounting constituencies – the government, the market, academia and international/supranational platforms. Semistructured interviews were held with 29 deans, experienced in both academic and non-academic affairs, with data supplemented from secondary sources, such as institutional and policy documents. […]

The study applies the Hierarchical Linear Modeling(HLM) approach using the international learning assessment survey, PISA for Development (PISA-D), to examine the effects of demand-side and supply-side factors associated with academic performance in Cambodia. Findings from the study suggest that students’ characteristics and family background are good predictors of students’ test scores in Cambodia, while demand-side factors such as school size, class size, student grouping by ability, remedial class, and teacher absenteeism have little or no influence on student learning performance. […]

This study investigates the relationships between school resources and student learning achievements using large-scale Programme for International Student Assessment for Development (PISA-D) survey data, the first international student learning assessment Cambodia participated in 2017. It found the positive effects on school infrastructure on student performances but did not detect any association between textbook availability and students’ learning. The effects of teacher factors on student learning are much weaker than anticipated, as none are statistically significant when student and family factors […]