1.3 Future Strategic Development in the Sector (2006-2010) ²¹

The MoEYS, in discussion and consultation with donors and NGOs, is currently updating the ESP 2004-2008 into the ESP 2006-2010 to harmonize with the government’s National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) for 2006-2010. The ESP 2006-2010 is also expected to better harmonize with the longer-term Cambodia Millennium Development Goals (CMDGs) and the National Education for All Action (EFA) Plan by 2015. The NSDP 2006-2010, still in draft form, affirms the education sector priorities and targets that have been articulated in both CMDGs and EFA. In parallel, the ESSP 2004-2008 is also going through the same updating process into ESSP 2006-2010. Annex 1 illustrates the close links between the ESP, ESSP and the various development plans such as EFA, CMDGs and National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP). It also highlights the links of ESP/ESSP with the broader national development reforms such as, Public Administration Reform (PAR), Public Finance Management Reform (PFMR) and Decentralization Reforms (DR).

Continuing with the unfinished business of the ESP/ESSP 2004-2008, the updated ESP/ESSP 2006-2010 will implement education reform driven by the same three priority policies, namely, i) equitable access to education, ii) quality and efficiency of education services, and iii) institutional development and capacity building for decentralization. The following discussions will focus only on the strategic directions of the sub-sectors that are most relevant to the UNICEF/Sida assistance.

Equitable Access to Education – The long term mission of the MoEYS is to ensure that all Cambodian children have equal opportunity to quality education at all levels, regardless of economic status, gender, geography, ethnicity, and physical disability consistent with the RGoC’s commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).²² The Ministry remains committed to providing universal coverage of nine years of basic education and expanding access opportunities for vulnerable groups. Special attention will be given to ensure that vulnerable children including poor, girls, disabled, orphans or from ethnic minorities and border and reconciliation areas in Cambodia will have as much chance of getting basic education as all other children in Cambodia . The Ministry has outlined key strategies in the ESP/ESSP to achieve equitable access. The strategies include: i) reduce cost barriers to basic education through abolition of start-of-the-year registration fee and other illegal contributions at schools; ii) implement effective enrolment campaigns; iii) provide need- and merit-based and merit scholarships for secondary education that target poor children and girls; iv) construct additional primary and secondary classrooms to eliminate incomplete primary schools and expand lower secondary schools in under-served areas; v) provide school operational budget linked to enrolment size and through pro-poor block grant; vi) reduce repetition and drop-out with priority focused on Grades 1 to 6; vii) provide school readiness programme for children age five; viii) provide opportunity for school re-entry for children out of school; ix) institute equivalency programme for out-of-school youth; x) expand adult literacy programme; and xi) active recruitment of teachers from remote and ethnic minority areas.

Quality and Efficiency of Education Services— Although the concept of quality in education may have different meanings, there is consensus among educators that quality is ultimately seen by how effectively and efficiently children are learning. A good quality and highly efficient education ultimately translates into high student learning achievements. Education researches have shown that student learning is influenced by a number of factors. The first key factor is children’s time-on-task which is in turn determined by the quality of the curriculum, teaching process, materials and supervision. A second key factor is “teachability” of children, which is often influenced by the family background, language and culture.

A new curriculum policy with standards is the core of the Ministry’s efforts to improve the quality of basic education. Curriculum standards define what are essential for all students to know and to be able to do for their own well-being, and for them to become effective contributing members to Cambodian society.²³ With World Bank support, the Ministry will develop a learning assessment system linked to the curriculum standards. The system is expected to be operational by school year 2006-2007.

An integrated approach of interlocking strategies to address quality often works better than a single strategy, and simultaneous interventions are more likely to create impact. The Ministry has identified a number of strategies to improve the quality and efficiency of educations. In addition to curriculum reform and learning assessment system, continuous teacher development through decentralized in-service and pre-service training is also another key strategy of the Ministry. The Ministry also implements an expanded pilot of Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) aimed at improving teaching-learning practices, creating a conducive and protective learning environment in schools and classrooms, and enabling communities and parents to support children’s education. The Ministry adopts CFS as a strategy to change teaching-learning practice in Cambodia—from rote learning and teacher-centered pedagogy using “talk and chalk” to one that is child-centered, curriculum-based and learning standards-driven and where children are engaged and actively learning. Under the CFS, special attention will be given to expand School Readiness Programme (SRP) in Grade 1 after a very successful try out and evaluation that showed the programme interventions appear to lead to improved learning performance of SRP pupils in reading and mathematics compared with a control group who did not undergo the programme.²⁴

Other complementary “quality” strategies that will be pursued by the Ministry include: i) provision of instructional materials; ii) decentralized teacher development and management; iii) improvement of school performance monitoring and redefinition of roles of inspection services at all levels; v) increase teaching hours; and vi) remedial classes throughout the school year to assist weak pupils who are unable to cope with the curriculum.

Institutional Development and Capacity Building for Decentralization— Decentralization reform in the country was launched in 2001 as a means to strengthen a democratic society, promote participatory development and reduce poverty.²⁵ Within this framework, a number of ministries including the MoEYS began to establish organizational and financial mechanisms and to develop their staff capacity to respond to decentralization. The Ministry’s long-term policy priority is to enable greater decentralization of authority and responsibilities to provincial, district, commune and school level—with central Ministry’s role focused on policy and strategy development and sector and programme monitoring.²⁶

The passage of the enabling Education Law will be a top priority for the MoEYS in the next two years. The Ministry will likewise pursue good governance and increase accountability for service delivery and financial management across all levels of the system. Introduction of staff performance appraisal system with appropriate reporting and incentive mechanisms will also be considered. Broadening the participation of non-MoEYS stakeholders such as NGOs, civil society, local government officials, national Assembly in monitoring the education sector performance is another key strategy to increase the transparency and accountability of the Ministry. This in turn will support quickening the pace of decentralization.

²¹ Based on preliminary draft of the ESP 2006-2010 dated August 2005. Some of the targets may change slightly as the ESP 2006-2010 is finalized, but the overall strategies will likely remain.
²² MoEYS. Education Strategic Plan 2004-2008, p11.
²³ MoEYS. Introduction to Basic Education Curriculum Standards (draft). 2005
²⁴ KAPE. School Readiness Program Evaluation Follow-up: Terminal Achievement Testing, July 2005.
²⁵ Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI). The Challenges of the Decentralization Design in Cambodia,( monograph), February 2004.
²⁶ MoEYS. Educations Strategic Plan 2004-2008. p14.