Presentation by H.E. Tol Lah,
Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister, MoEYS
I welcome the chance to address this important Round Table. I feel sure that we all endorse the view that education is a key bridge between enabling economic growth and at the same time, ensuring the social well being of Cambodia's people.
I now welcome this further opportunity to set out in a little more detail, the critical policy and strategic parameters and priorities for my Ministry's education reforms. In particular, I would like to highlight the major signposts for policy and strategy development within the Education Strategic Plan (ESP).
I would like to emphasise that the ESP is emphatically pro-poor. The Government's Interim Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan (IPRSP), the Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2001/6 and our own Education for All (EFA) Assessment in 2000/1 have provided substantial momentum and guidance in formulating these pro-poor policies.
The broad policy thrust is that the current education poverty trap will be eliminated. The broad strategic thrust of ESP focuses on a number of measures that begin to eliminate the cost barriers to education for poor families, while still assuring well-managed and relevant education. This is my broad vision for assuring equal opportunity to education, independent of gender, wealth or geographical location.
My long-term vision for education reform also includes increased authority to districts, schools and communities for planning and running education affairs, accompanied by steps that enhance a real feeling of mutual responsibility for ensuring high quality education provision at all levels of the system. I am confident that the ESP and ESSP will lay the foundation for achieving our longer-term aspirations for education in Cambodia.
I would now like to summarise the main policy priorities and strategies anticipated in the ESP and ESSP for 2001 – 2005. The fundamental policy objective will be improved equity of access to basic education and further studies. This will be achieved through expansion of facilities, reduction of cost burden on poor families and targeted incentives/scholarships.
A second policy objective is to see an improvement in the quality of education services at all levels. The strategy will be to secure large increases in the non-salary share of the MoEYS recurrent budget. A second strategic thrust will be to ensure improvements in the living conditions of the teaching service, combined with reductions in informal charges on parents. Other measures will be adopted to ensure improved teacher performance and productivity. The later session at the Round Table on administrative reform will examine some of these issues in more detail.
It is important that post-basic education provision is not neglected. Accordingly, my Ministry is determined to move forward quickly with improved management of public/private partnerships for upper secondary education, TVET and higher education. This will be achieved through targeted Government support and improved financial/quality regulation and management. I believe that the new PAP for higher education is an important and useful start in implementing these policies.
The strategy to be adopted is an expanded information program to make sure that these messages reach schools and communities. A related strategy will be to plan and implement a number of key pieces of legislation and regulation that ensure open and direct accountability at all levels of the education system.
Another policy focus is to assure improvements in the efficiency of education services. Key program strategies are to improve the progression rates in primary schools and transition rates from primary to secondary education. This will be done through the PAP for remedial and reception classes and targeted scholarships for children from the poorest families.
Another key efficiency measure will be to ensure optimum use of existing and future education resources. As part of administrative reform within my Ministry, the intention is to set new staff deployment guidelines that guarantee efficient use of education managers and teachers. I would draw your attention to the proposed program for education service efficiency that sets out the key parameters.
Achieving these objectives and targets will require additional facilities, especially at primary and secondary levels. Our proposed program is set out in detail in the ESP and ESSP documents. These will focus on providing complete Grade 1 – 6 primary educations close to home for all children. There is also a plan to make sure every commune will have a secondary school nearby. Our intention is to make sure that there are good schools in remote areas, integrated areas and communes operating under difficult circumstances and in ethnic minority areas.
A key feature of the ESP and ESSP is to increase decentralisation of management and governance of education services to provinces, districts and schools/ communities. The broad strategy is to embark upon an extensive capacity building program at every level of the education system.
I would like to highlight that my Ministry takes a very broad view of what constitutes capacity building. Let me emphasise from the outset that staff training and skills transfer is only one component of effective capacity building. My Ministry will play particular attention to ensuring broad ownership and understanding of mutual roles and responsibilities as part of the capacity building initiative.
Capacity building also involves clear definition of duties and tasks, effective measures for deploying staff and more rigorous time management. This will be linked to improved internal and external communication and information systems. Another important measure will be to gradually introduce targeted staff performance appraisal and reporting systems to ensure accountability.
Another key reform will be to improve progress and impact performance-monitoring systems for education. I look forward to hearing the address from the Ministry of Planning on this issue, particularly related to poverty monitoring. We all recognize that without effective monitoring, it will be impossible to adjust our reforms as the process rolls forward. I accord the highest priority to building up both technical and financial monitoring and audit capability within MoEYS.
Finally, I wish to re-emphasise that implementing the ESP and ESSP will require new forms of partnership in education at all levels. The preparation of the ESP and ESSP has provided an effective platform, encompassing extensive dialogue with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Interior and Council for Administrative Reform.
There has also been broad ranging consultation with provincial and district authorities, community groups and the international community. I am confident we can build on this foundation of constructive dialogue as the implementation of ESP and ESSP progress.