It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce the second Education Round Table in Cambodia in 2001. Many of those present will recall the first Round Table in late 1994, when the Government presented its proposals for education reform for the period 1995 – 2000. I am honoured to be able to have hosted both Round Tables as Minister of Education, Youth and Sport.
Against this historical background, I would like to focus on a brief retrospective of education reform and progress. At the same time, I would like to examine how the changing policy environment has impacted on both the process and outcome of planning the new Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and Education Sector Support Program (ESSP) for the period 2001 – 2005 and beyond.
I would like to emphasise that providing education opportunities to all Cambodian children is central to the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGOC) poverty reduction and socio-economic development plans. I am confident that the current environment offers a clear window of opportunity for implementing a rights-based education policy and program, and move forward on fulfilling the Constitutional position regarding education provision.
I am also determined to ensure that there is well-planned and genuine participation of provincial and district authorities, school staff, parents and community groups as well as the private sector in these reforms. My Ministry also sees an excellent opportunity in engaging the upcoming commune authorities in bridging the gap between centre and grassroots for directions on education policy and program priorities.
I would first like to put the education strategic plan (ESP) in a broader context. This ESP summarises the phasing of the priority education policy and strategy reforms for the next five years. The proposed ESP reforms are designed to be consistent with Government's broader policies for a national program for administrative reform (NPAR), fiscal and financial reform and gradual decentralisation and deconcentration plans for public service management. I firmly believe that the linkage between ESP and these broader reforms is now well grounded.
In his closing address, the Prime Minister focused on the broader role of education in reducing poverty for Cambodia's people. I should emphasise that the ESP and ESSP are the basis for planning the education sector's contribution to achieving Government's broader poverty reduction objectives and targets over the next 10 – 15 years. You will note that the ESP and ESSP policies, strategies and programs are incorporated into the approved Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP), approved in late 2000.
I would also like to emphasise that the proposed reforms are based on a frank and critical self-examination by the Ministry of lessons learned over the previous five to six years. The reforms take account of feedback from various impact studies, the EFA 2000 assessment and reports from new Government/donor working groups. In particular, the Ministry has been keen to hear the views of the recently established social sector working group (SSWG). I can assure you all that the ESP and ESSP proposals try to address many of the concerns raised by such review groups.
I would like to celebrate some important achievement in improving education in Cambodia in the past 6 years. The primary schooling phase has been extended from five to six years. Primary school enrolment has grown from 1.6 to 2.2 million with an additional 500 – 600 schools being constructed or extended. Secondary school enrolment has grown overall to 330,000 students.
There has been strong growth in the public/private partnership in higher education and technical vocational education and training. For example, there are over 100,000 students participating in post school training, with 50 per cent of provision through private initiatives. Quality improvement achievements include provision of free textbooks for Grades One to Nine from 1997. In addition, around 60,000 teachers have received various forms of training and upgrading. It is also important to note that the share of discretionary recurrent spending on education has risen from nine per cent in 1994 to sixteen per cent in 2001. The ESP and ESSP are designed to consolidate and build upon these significant achievements in the next five years.
I feel sure that many of our donor partners will recognize that ESP and ESSP priorities are based on positive experiences of previous donor and NGO-supported education projects since the early nineties. Many of the capacity building initiatives proposed will build on training programs at central, provincial, district, cluster and school levels initiated in the mid nineties. In other words, the underpinning principle within the ESP and ESSP is one of incremental change.
Reaching this stage has involved extensive internal consultations within MoEYS through four policy task forces, as well as intensive and regular consultations with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Planning in the past 18 months. The Ministry has also mobilized consultative processes with over 500 provincial and district education staff and community representatives on policy priorities throughout 1999/2000. This process also included discussions with the National Parents Association Forum in late 2000 and regular consultation with the donor and NGO community. I am therefore confident about the broad ownership of the proposed education reforms.
I would like to particularly emphasise that these initial ESP and ESSP document are not cast-in-stone blueprints. The intention is not to set out a fixed menu of project interventions for a five-year period. On the contrary, the ESP and ESSP constitute the initial phase of a rolling programme. Therefore, the proposed ESSP forward work plan is a critical component of our proposals.
I believe that this ESSP appraisal exercise demonstrates my Ministry's recognition of the key role that other partners can play. For example, cooperative planning with the Ministry of Women's and Veteran Affairs (MOWVA) and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Youth (MOSALVY) is critical. Without their support, dealing with education provision for girls, female heads of households and the disabled would be difficult.
I also recognise the need to draw on the extensive experience of local and international NGOs and community-based organisations and the private sector. For this reason, my Ministry commissioned a recent NGO Partnership Study. We also commissioned an initial study on Public Private Partnerships in Education this year. In this way, the ESP and ESSP should be viewed as a vehicle for comprehensive and inclusive education reform planning.
I would like to stress that my Ministry sees the ESSP appraisal process as a regular annual exercise. I view these processes as key milestones in ensuring regular ongoing and transparent annual MoEYS/donor/ NGO consultative processes rather than one-off exercises. I also see annual performance appraisal as a critical mechanism for negotiation between stakeholders on policy priorities, strategic options and alternative modalities for financing education reform.
A key feature of the ESSP process is to mainstream such reviews within Government's broader planning process. For instance, we need to create opportunities to dovetail strategic negotiation and financing discussions with the Government/MoEYS budget planning cycle, which begins around July/August each year. In particular, appraisal should be seen as a vehicle for shifting the education partnership away from a passive 'pledging' approach to an active and productive strategic negotiation and annual sector performance review process.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank development partners for their commitment to what are new partnership processes. In essence, the appraisal and Round Table are building on the Principles and Practices for Partnership agreed by MoEYS, donors and NGOs in February 2001. I believe we are now embracing the fundamental principle that partners will engage in constructive and active strategic negotiation in a frank and transparent manner. Such an approach is critical if we are to implement a shared vision and agreed set of long term and medium term policy priorities and targets.
HE Tol Lah
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education