Abstract/Summary

Collaboration with the private sector has been an influential tool in addressing a variety of complex issues or problems in both developed and developing economies around the globe. Like many countries, Cambodia has strongly promoted collaboration with the private sector across all education sectors. In the Cambodian TVET sector, the Royal Government of Cambodia has emphasised public-private partnerships (PPP) in its national TVET Policy 2017-2025 and Skills Development Roadmap 2023-2035. Such collaboration can make TVET more industry-relevant by increasing the private sector’s role, duties, and participation in Cambodia’s workforce skills development by strengthening and expanding the linkage between training providers and companies nationwide. TVET institutions often highly value their collaborative activities with the private sector. However, there is still scepticism about the forms, benefits, and degrees of collaboration between training providers and private companies. In this respect, ramping up research into private-sector collaboration in the Cambodian TVET sector is timely. To that end, this study aims to investigate different forms, benefits, and degrees of collaboration between training providers and the private sector. It also examines the challenges training providers face in collaboration with the private sector. An exploration of the perspectives of key stakeholders regarding collaboration gives insights into the under-researched collaborations within the context of the Cambodian TVET sector. The evidence from the study enables training providers, policymakers, practitioners, and relevant stakeholders to address collaboration issues and further build and strengthen collaboration efforts to align skills provision with industrial skills needs. 

The study is based on a qualitative analysis of the data from the “Skills for Industry” project. The phase-1 data includes 36 interviews with 18 case-study companies. The phase-2 data comprises 36 interviews with 20 training providers, nine government bodies, four industry associations, and three labour unions. The study adopted a qualitative content analysis approach to analyse different perspectives of key stakeholders on collaboration-related aspects. A qualitative data matrix using an Excel programme enabled the collation of relevant data and information corresponding to codes and themes predefined and emerging during the analysis stage.

The study found that training providers use different identified forms of collaboration with the private sector. These included student internships, job announcement dissemination, participation in curriculum development, consultative meetings/workshops, workplace visits/tours, the provision of industrial skills training, and joint engagement in research and development activities. These collaborative activities benefited training providers and employers, explicitly and implicitly. The benefits included collection of input for increasing the relevance of newly developed or updated curriculum development/update to meet industrial skills needs; knowledge and skills transfer; access to advanced training facilities, equipment, tools, and materials; and funding for training-related research and development activities. Most training providers had conducted collaborative activities, though these were limited to student internships, job announcement dissemination, participation in curriculum development, consultative meetings/workshops, and workplace visits/tours, commonly executed less regularly and ad hoc, making collaboration efforts less effective and sustainable. Some forms of collaborative activities, like the provision of industrial skills training and joint research and development activities, were relatively small-scale or even absent. As repeatedly reported by various training providers, collaborations could not be built, strengthened or intensified due to several key factors. These factors were insufficient critical conditions including the availability of funding, the capacity of institutions and instructors, the extent of trust in the relevance and quality of TVET programmes, the extent of integration with action plans and implementation, the extent of legal enforcement of frameworks and policies supporting collaboration, and the perception of mutual benefits for the parties. These conditions affected the scope and quality of collaboration with private companies.

Based on the findings, the study advances the following recommendations for training providers, policymakers, practitioners, and relevant stakeholders for consideration when building and implementing collaborations with one another.

• Ensure mutual benefits between collaborators or stakeholders: All stakeholders, especially training providers and companies, should openly discuss their concerns, needs, and expectations when collaborating. Identifying both explicit and implicit advantages is essential to ensure all parties concur on and commit to formal agreements. Formal agreements should clearly define the level of formalisation, co-decision-making, goals, resource sharing, and other key actors in the collaboration.
• Strengthen institutional and instructor capacity: Training providers need to enhance their institutional capacities and resources to ensure that training outcomes are aligned with industrial skills needs. Instructors need to improve their skills through professional development and hands-on training at partner companies. TVET institutions also require further support from the government and stakeholders to better anticipate and develop skills required by the labour market.
• Enforce supportive frameworks and policies for collaborations: It is essential to formulate and enforce clear legal frameworks, policies, or guidelines with full support for the school-industry cooperation. The government and industry associations should facilitate such cooperation by identifying incentives (tax/levy exemptions or special conditions) for employers who voluntarily collaborate with training providers. Additionally, a monitoring and evaluation system should be implemented to track the progress of these collaborations at the national level.
• Streamline collaboration activities through full integration and implementation: Training providers need to fully integrate the collaboration efforts into their school action plan and implementation. Establishing an industrial liaison unit (ILU) with a clear direction, action plan, and adequate resources can strengthen ties with the private sector. ILUs should consult with all relevant stakeholders, including instructors and employers, to ensure effective and consistent implementation that fosters their collaboration with the private sector.