Major Partnership and Alliances -- The development assistance arena in Cambodia has many players consisting of multilateral and bilateral agencies, and international and local NGOs. The education Aid Management Information System (AMIS) database of MOEYS lists 113 organizations supporting 233 education projects in Cambodia in 2004 at an estimated cost of US$ 225 million from 2003-2008.

The education donors in Cambodia have organized themselves into the Education Sector Working Group, and the NGOs into the NGO Education Partnership (NEP) to engage the MoEYS in the coordinated implementation of sector-wide reform. The Joint Technical Working Group for Education (JTWG-Education) provides the regular forum for the Ministry, donors and NGOs to come together for dialogue and to reach consensus on reform issues.

The two development banks, World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are major donors with a combined basic education portfolio of nearly US$ 73.0 million for the period of 2005-2010. The ADB provides US$ 20.0 million budget support and US$ 25.0 million in project loan, while the WB contributes US$ 8.0 M in credits and US$ 20.0 million in grants. These two banks will jointly contribute to the expansion of access to lower secondary education by supporting the construction of 800 lower secondary schools in communes without these facilities. ADB will also support the establishment of upper secondary model schools.

At present, UNICEF has been collaborating with both the WB and ADB on a scholarship programme for lower secondary students, especially girls. UNICEF will collaborate with ADB in completing incomplete schools in remote provinces. In addition, UNICEF will work with the WB to develop the assessment system and the adoption of child-friendly schools approach in lower secondary schools in ten WB priority provinces.

Bilateral donors also play key roles in assisting the MoEYS to improve quality and access to basic education. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) supports basic education through UNICEF-EBEP. The European Commission contributes targeted budget support to improve the quality and efficiency of primary and secondary education, expand non-formal education, and support the strengthening of the Ministry’s capacity for financial management and audit. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provides assistance through NGOs to revise the curriculum and develop learning standards. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) focuses on improving the quality of science and mathematics education at the upper secondary level through curriculum and textbook development. The Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) is implementing a four-year programme that includes school construction, teacher training, and scholarships for the poor and girls in three provinces. The Department for International Development (DfID) supports the MoEYS to implement life skills for HIV/AIDS education programme targeted at primary and secondary pupils and out-of-school youth.

At present, there is no major donor supporting the early childhood development sub-sector other than UNICEF and UNESCO. UNICEF will explore the possibility of working with ADB to develop models of community-managed pre-schools and home-based early learning programmes as less costly alternatives to formal pre-schools within the context of ADB’s budget support programme for ECD. UNICEF also works with DfID and USAID on life skills education.