Your Excellency Tol Lah, Deputy Prime Minister, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Afternoon
In concert with other development partners, the ADB has supported the Royal Government over the nine years to gradually improve its capacity for strategic management of the education sector. Through a series of capacity building technical assistance inputs, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS) has moved from a situation of near-dependency on donor initiatives, to one today where it is determining its own forward-looking policies and priorities, in consonance with broader national fiscal, administrative and public sector reforms. The result is the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and the Education Sector Support Programme for 2001-2005 (ESSP) that have been appraised by the donor community - inclusive of the ADB - over the last two weeks. These documents are consistent with the thrust of the Second Socio-economic Development Plan, 2001-2005 (SEDP II), which is currently under final preparations with ADB support and focuses on poverty reduction strategies and pro poor policies.
We are particularly heartened that the Royal Government embarked on the challenging sector-wide approach to education reform, and is in a sense providing a signal to other Asian countries that this is the new paradigm for development co-operation and partnership. Such an approach is a clear endorsement of the Royal Governments strong desire to enhance aid effectiveness and have a more meaningful impact of development assistance. There is certainly the need to take a gradual approach to sector-wide management given the Cambodian context in terms of capacity constraints. It will also require aid agencies to re-think their programs and try and harmonise programming and policy so as to minimise the burden on limited human and physical resources. Indeed, it is the ownership and the leadership of the Royal Government, and in particular the Ministry of Education, that will determine the pace and direction of education sector reforms within the framework of ESP, in strong partnership with aid agencies and the NGOs.
ADB has closely participated in the appraisal of ESP and ESSP and is confident that the Government’s priorities are well selected. We are particularly encouraged by the commitment to increase public spending in education, the determination to meet international Education for All targets, the de-concentration of operational responsibility for the delivery of education services to the provinces, the concern to address gender and minority peoples’ disparities, and the determination to marshal the education sector to combat the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As a result, ADB has agreed to provide financing in two key areas from the beginning of 2002. The first is support to close the gap in the operational budget in the initial years of expanded Government funding for education. Our policy loan will contribute $20 million to the financing of the priority education programs in the next three years, and we have pipelined further support for the subsequent three to four years if our initial support is successful. The second is to support for $18 million for the expansion of education sector facilities, particularly for basic education, so that the classrooms will be there to cater for increased access, especially in under-served and remote rural areas. Subject to Management approval and our Board's consideration, expected by end 2001, the financing for the two packages will be provided under the Education Sector Development Program (ESDP), for a total amount of $38 million.
UNICEF, Sida and other development partners have also collaborated closely in the capacity building program and in the development of the sector-wide approach and have also committed to provide on-going support in capacity building to complement ADB’s support for the reform budget and physical facilities expansion. ADB is also assisting the Royal Government to access resources from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to develop innovative approaches to draw in boys and girls in remote rural communities into basic education, and we continue to be in active dialogue with Government and other bilateral partners to ensure co-ordination between all potential contributions of assistance.
ADB views its support of education reform as a key ingredient of its overall support for the development of Cambodia, and it is encouraged by the way that the Ministries of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Education are planning to integrate resources allocated to financial and administrative reforms with sector-dedicated resources to ensure efficiency in the use of technical assistance and the closest-fit between sector reform and development and the broad directions of national development.
One of these forward-looking directions is the greater inclusion of the private sector as a partner, and ADB will be providing technical assistance to MoEYS in 2002 to prepare for a major intervention, tentatively beginning in 2004, that will focus on and accelerate the development of a long-term and sustainable public-private partnership in the education sector.
In conclusion, ADB is proud to have been one of the partners in the process of education reform, and is committed over the coming decade to accessing technical and financial resources to assist with the realisation of the strategic targets for the reform and quality improvement in this critical sector.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Deputy Prime Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Australia supports the direction of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport in establishing a sector wide approach involving partnerships between the ministry, donors and NGOs. We are particularly pleased to see the emphasis on pro-poor policies and addressing urban/rural disparities in the education system. The Ministry is to be congratulated on the positive steps taken so far, and we are encouraged by the preparations and outcomes of this appraisal process
Australia also supports the goal of universal basic education as the priority of priorities. There can be few, if any, better investments than this worthy goal
These are bold and visionary plans and programs for the education sector, which will require a whole-of-government approach to successfully implement. We are encouraged by the inter-ministerial linkages being developed and note the importance of the support of the Ministry of Economics and Finance
The Australian Government's program of assistance to Cambodia is currently fully committed and this makes it difficult to make any immediate commitments. The first opportunity to do so would be in the latter half of 2002. However progress made by the Ministry so far and that of the next 12 months or so will inevitably strengthen the case for continued assistance to the education sector.
Once again we congratulate the Ministry on its commitment and work so far to improve education service delivery.
Deputy Prime Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
One month ago, a new step has been taken in the relationship between Cambodia and Belgium. On the occasion of the first meeting of the Joint Committee, held in Brussels, we have signed a General Agreement on Co-operation and in that framework we approved an Indicative Co-operation Programme covering the years 2002 to 2004.
Its objective is to contribute to the realization of the Poverty Reduction Strategy of the Government of Cambodia, in a partnership and ownership approach.
Our programme is also based on the Second 5-year Socio-economic Development Plan 2001-2005 and on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
In this framework, and in order to maximize the use of our human and financial resources, most of our involvement will concentrate on two provinces – Siem Reap and Kompong Cham, and will limit itself to two sectors: education and health.
In this framework, a tentative budget allocation has been made available. For the Education and health in Siem Reap, the budget amounts to 9 Million Euro. For Kompong Cham, 8.5 million Euro has been foreseen in total for those two sectors. The programme design phase, will identify the respective shares and activities in the two sectors.
In view of the priorities of the government of Cambodia’s strategic plan and in order to optimize the efficiency of available funding, the purpose of the projects for Education, will be limited to formal basic education, and to teacher’s training.
The main goal will be to enhance access to schooling, to fight dropout and repetition and to improve quality and performance of basic education, in order to make it more adapted to the needs of the surrounding communities and their environment.
The project will be formulated and implemented by a Belgian technical agency, which will open an office in Phnom Penh early September, and later on, offices in the field, at the provincial level
The activities in the education, in Siem Reap and Kompong Cham provinces, will support the Government of Cambodia’s decentralisation policy at the provincial level, while supporting at the same time the national policies, by adopting the objectives of the Education sector strategy.
As mentioned in Tokyo, we would like to stress the need for adequate implementation of those policies, with special focus on increased budget allocations to the social sectors and improved human resource management. Belgium also encourages the Royal Government of Cambodia to promote community participation in the development process.
We are confident that this new co-operation programme will confirm our constructive relationship with Cambodia, and we hope it will be an encouragement to further strengthen the ties between our two countries.
Thank you
France will fully support the efforts of MOEYS to improve the sector education in the next following years. Because Cambodia use, for historical reasons, at least two foreign languages, it gives the Cambodians an opportunity to get more help from many different countries, anglophones and francophones.
France will keep on helping :
• higher education on going programs : technology, medicine, law, economy,
• administration, Khmer studies, French studies,
• training of primary inspectors,
• training of teachers of French, at secondary school,
• and will propose to built a new program to help the training of the primary schools "maîtres formateurs" (teacher trainers).
Mr. Christian Rumplecker, Deputy Head of the Embassy of Germany, communicated to me today his readiness to considerably increase bilateral support to the education sector in response to the needs of ESSP. Germany is willing to extend its co-operation beyond its current support for vocational education to a much broader support for the sector through targeted capacity building.
I understand that Germany is ready to consider moving education to the lead position in its new programming cycle beginning next year. I have been invited to submit the Ministry's proposal to the Embassy by July in readiness for the German programming mission that arrives in Phnom Penh in August.
ESSP has extensive proposals for capacity building. I may therefore include in my proposal building up the capacity of the provincial education departments as a key element of support to be requested from Germany
Those of you who attended the World Bank Consultative Meeting in Tokyo earlier this month will already be aware that the European Commission is appreciative of the ESP/ESSP process and has indicated that it would wish future EC support to be consistent with this sector-wide approach. It is clear that a better co-ordination both among cooperating partners, as well as between themselves and the government of Cambodia, can only have a beneficial effect.
Nevertheless I would echo the words of caution in the Donors' Statement we have just heard concerning the need for a streamlining of the process over a more realistic and manageable timetable. Furthermore, it is essential to have an accurate idea of the means necessary to arrive at the goals that have been set. In this respect it is quite legitimate to try to obtain a global picture of potential external support to the process. However, it is equally legitimate for those in a position to provide such assistance to ask beforehand what is the extent of support to the process not just from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, but also the other Government Ministries implicated in the widest sense. In other words, what measures have been or will be taken to ensure adequate government funding of the process, and therefore what aspects are left uncovered? As stated in the Summary Appraisal Report, it is clear that a Mid-Term Expenditure Framework for the Education Sector can not be independent of or prior to a government Mid-term Expenditure Framework, nor can the sector wide approach to reform in Education be disassociated from the National Programme for Administrative Reform. Both of these aspects will inevitably affect its timing. I was very interested, therefore, to hear the remarks on these subjects this morning, not just from the honourable Deputy Prime Minister and his colleagues from MoEYS but also from the CAR and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The European Commission would like to ensure a better understanding and vision of these issues before entering into any firm commitments for future support. Nevertheless, given its considerable support to the Education sector through both past and ongoing programmes, and in view of its Cambodia Strategy Paper and the undeniable importance of the needs, the EC has started the process of identifying future support. This would be additional to the long foreseen provision of a technical assistant to MOEYS currently under mobilisation. We have just engaged consultants to carry out an in-depth programming mission, timed to coincide with the ESSP Appraisal, and they arrived in Phnom Penh last Monday. In fact the Team Leader, Mr. Owens, is present at today's Round Table. However, as I have already echoed the need for realistic expectations on both sides that we heard several times this morning, I feel that it is important to stress that such a process takes considerable time, and one should not expect to see any new programme physically starting within the next two years. However, looking at the tremendous amount of prior groundwork and preparatory measures needed to be put into place at the start of the reform you are undertaking, such a time-frame is not inconsistent the rolling programme and Annual review approach.
In the interim, it is hoped that the Technical Assistance to be provided to MoEYS will be able to significantly assist the Ministry in laying these foundations and driving forward the early consolidation of the measures before us.
On behalf of JICA, I would like to express our great esteem for all who have laboured so hard on the ESSP making process and appraisal exercise. It is a great joy to be able to participate today in this Round Table.
Through the concerted efforts over the last ten days, we believe that ESSP has become more realistic and sophisticated thus able to achieve several targets and objectives in the ESP.
From now on, on ESP and ESSP, it is expected that the discussions will be deepened within the Ministry as well as among stakeholders. The discussions are needed in central and provincial level, from top to the bottom at hierarchy of education system, so that policy comes to be a common understanding.
At the stage of implementation of ESP and ESSP, various issues to be solved are foreseen.
These will include:-
• lack of resources,
• Lack of system or present system and practices which do not fit ESSP implementation
With regard to these issues to be solved, it is expected that the Ministry copes with them in a realistic and flexible manner.
Among these issues to be solved, salary and incentive issue is the one of the biggest issues both for the Ministry and people working in the field. It is very serious and sensitive issue that deeper discussions including these from provincial and district level is indispensable.
For the implementation of ESSP, needs for capacity and institution building are enormous.
The Government of Japan and JICA are going to continue the supports. These supports will include Ministry’s capacity building, sciences and mathematics teacher education, human development through providing scholarships.
Once again, we would like to emphasise that the ESP and ESSP development process is a further step towards a new partnership under the Ministry’s policy and leadership. This ESP and ESSP process is challenging one and will not be achieved overnight, but will be a long-time efforts, based on mutual understanding, trust and respect.
H.E. Tol Lah Deputy Prime Minister, Excellencies, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
I would like to thank the deputy Prime Minister for arranging this very important Round Table, which highlights the importance of education sector development in Cambodia.
I would like in this short intervention reconfirm that the education sector will remain a key area of concentration for Sweden's development Co-operation with Cambodia in the years to come.
Sweden supports the process. The process, the ESP and the ESSP that have been assessed here during the two last weeks are of high relevance to Cambodia and are in line with the Swedish aid policies and practices. The proposed programme is also in line with the Dakar Declaration, which constitutes a fundamental reference to Sida’s education policy.
Sida considers that the present support arrangement through UNICEF has been beneficial, positive and conducive to all parties. UNICEF has demonstrated a high level of flexibility in adjusting its programme in line with the Ministry’s priorities. UNICEF has also proved to be a reliable partner to Sida and we understand that the UNICEF’s programme is actually in line with your government’s priorities. Sweden will therefore continue to support the educational development of Cambodia through UNICEF with focus on basic and non-formal education. Strategic support to NGOs and to the SWAp process would constitute an integral part of Swedish support.
While I like to underline that currently, Sida would not be in a position to provide budgetary support. I am happy to announce that we are going to increase our support to the sector, but in other ways. Subject to parliamentary appropriation, the future Sida support would amount to around 30-40 MSEK per year, during the period 2002-2005. This corresponds to somewhere between 12-16 million USD.
I would now like to raise the issue of high level of dependence of external technical assistance in Cambodia. While there are historical justifications for such dependence, we believe that increasing efforts should be made at using untapped national resources and competence both within and outside the Ministry. The future sustainability of the education system in Cambodia will depend largely on your own resources and ability.
In this context of capacity building, we propose that a long-term institutional linkage would be established between the MoEYS and an external professional education institution. One option might be to identify an independent/semi-governmental institution (external to the Ministry), which will be strengthened during coming years to supply appropriate services to the Ministry, namely in sector wide planning, management and action education research. As discussed during the last annual review discussion, Sida and UNICEF are prepared to facilitate such linkages.
Finally, I would like to shortly describe the Swedish assessment plan. MoEYS, UNICEF and Sweden have agreed that a joint MoEYS/UNICEF proposal should be submitted to Sida in the end of August 2001. The joint MoEYS/UNICEF proposal should take into consideration the major thrust of the Ministry’s strategic plan and programme and the out-come of the last two weeks appraisal exercise. In September a Sida Advisory Team will appraise the proposed programme from Sida’s policy perspectives and SWAp development. Sida's senior Programme Officer will thereafter assess and prepare together with MoEYS and UNICEF the final programme. The aim is to sign a new four-year agreement between UNICEF/MoEYS and Sweden before the end of the year.
Thank you.
UNESCO congratulates the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) for the formulation of the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and the Education Sector Support Programme (ESSP), and wishes to strengthen its dialogue with the Ministry in order to ensure that UNESCO's support will be fully consistent with the ESP and ESSP.
At this stage, UNESCO intends to extend its support to the preparation of the Education for All (EFA) Plan of Action to be prepared by the MOEYS in 2002 as a result of the commitment made by the Royal Government of Cambodia at the Education for All Conference in Dakar in 2000. UNESCO will also offer its technical assistance for the preparation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
As a contribution to the implementation of the ESP and ESSP, UNESCO will concentrate its support on the increase of access to education to groups of the population which have not yet access to education, such as minorities, street children, population in rural remote areas and former Khmer Rouge strongholds. This support will be given to several Departments of the MOEYS, namely the Non-Formal Education Department. The emphasis will be put on literacy and skill training, in particular for girls. UNESCO will also develop its support to MOEYS for HIV/AIDS Preventive Education.
UNESCO will participate in co-ordinated efforts of donors to support formal basic education, secondary education and higher education through punctual and selective programmes.
UNICEF and the Royal Government of Cambodia have signed a Master Plan of Operations for the period 2001-2005. The Expanded Basic Education Program of the MPO has a total budget of USD 14 million. Twelve million of this is expected to be funded by Sida. Further details of this are in the Sida statement.
Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Excellencies of the Royal Government and Foreign Diplomatic Missions, Officials of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Donor and NGO Partners …
The World Bank wishes to thank the Royal Government and our donor partners for the invitation and opportunity to participate in the ESSP process and today’s round table.
I would like to briefly describe the on-going and planned activities of the World Bank in support of the education sector in Cambodia.
Our activities include support to the PRSP process, support to economic and administrative reform, support to improvements in primary level education, and reforms in higher education.
Based on the excellent presentations made today by senior officials of the Royal Government, we feel that this program is supportive of the strategy which the Government of Cambodia is developing to ensure substantive educational and poverty reduction improvements in the coming years.
Specifically, we have been and will continue to provide support to the Royal Government of Cambodia in the development of its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. We welcome the emphasis of His Excellency the Minister of Planning to ensure effective linkage of education investments and outcomes to poverty reduction, as well as the suggestion to define an effective framework with clear, measurable indicators to be monitored within the context of the PRSP framework.
We are supporting increased budgetary allocations and disbursements to education as one of four priority social sectors, along with health, agriculture and rural development under a Structural Adjustment Credit. We therefore welcome the commitment of His Excellency the Under-secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance to increase the allocation and disbursement of funds to the education sector and the development of improved mechanisms to ensure effective disbursement and application of funds at decentralised levels.
We are supporting the Royal Government’s efforts to develop a comprehensive civil service reform program, both through our Structural Adjustment Credit as well as through more targeted technical assistance mechanisms. We therefore welcome the comments of His Excellency the Secretary General for Administrative Reform regarding efficiency gains and development of appropriate incentives to improve staff deployment in the education sector as well as teacher performance.
Within the education sector itself, the World Bank is supporting, through a Learning and Innovation Credit, the on-going Educational Quality Improvement Project in which the Ministry of Education, in co-operation with a number of development partners, is working at the provincial and community levels to develop and test specific mechanisms which are consistent with the approaches outlined by their excellencies the Secretaries of State for Education, and which directly support of the priority objectives outlined by His Excellency the Minister of Education with regard to improvements in enrolment and retention rates at the primary level. We believe that through this program, the Ministry is identifying several mechanisms which can be applied more broadly. The World Bank Country Assistance Strategy anticipates a follow-on project in 2004 to support this expansion, possibly on a national scale.
The World Bank has also initiated support to the Royal Government for development of an improved legal framework for higher education to ensure that Cambodia has the trained professionals, including teachers, which it needs for continued social development and economic growth. Preparation of a project to support implementation of the new framework is scheduled to begin in the next few months.
These activities involve strong ownership by the Royal Government, partnerships amongst a number of donor agencies, co-ordination amongst multiple ministries of the Royal Government as well as between different administrative levels, strong involvement of NGOs, and perhaps most importantly, local communities themselves. This experience gives us a sense of optimism that Cambodia can realise significant improvements in education and poverty reduction if fiscal and administrative issues are addressed effectively and sustainably.
In short, the World Bank is and will continue to support the Royal Government’s initiatives to improve carefully selected and well-focused educational outcomes through efforts at all levels of society and in conjunction with the broad spectrum of partners and stakeholders. The specific mechanisms supported to achieve those outcomes will naturally reflect, as well as encourage, the enabling environment developed both within and outside the education sector.
Thank you
The World Food Program began a new three-year program in January 2001 concentrating on income generation and social sector activities, of which the share allocated to education has increased substantially and has a value in excess of USD 2 million annually for the next three years. Assistance to education is predominantly through a school-feeding program, with a take-home rations component to be piloted to provide an incentive to poor families to keep their girls in school. In addition assistance is provided to Regional and Provincial Teacher Training Colleges to support student boarders and in-service teacher training participants. WFP also supports voluntary literacy teachers in collaboration with the Ministry of Women's and Veterans' Affairs and NGOs. The objectives of this support are in line with those of the ESSP and include:
• Increasing primary school enrolment and retention rates
• Increasing the quality and quantity of basic education teacher supply
• Improving adult literacy rates, especially among women
As we move from humanitarian and relief aid to more mainstream development assistance, and as the availability of resources becomes scarcer, WFP next year will develop a Country Strategy Outline and Country Program for the period 2003-2008. While it is too early to say what shape it will finally take, or the amount of resources WFP will be able to mobilise, the ESSP provides an excellent foundation on which to build a continued partnership. What will be critical nonetheless in formulating the Strategy and mobilising resources will be the extent to which the Government is able to demonstrate its commitment to the programs supported by food aid [e.g. Education], through a co-financing/cost-sharing arrangement with the World Food Programme