» Topic List
	1.1 Early childhood education and pre-school
	1.2 Primary school
	1.3 Lower Secondary Education
	1.4 Upper Secondary Education
	1.5 Non-Formal Education
	1.6 Higher Education
	1.7 Teacher Training

1. Ensure equitable access to education service

To achieve the policy of equitable access to education service, MoEYS put into action and efficiently implemented various strategies including:

• the abolition of unofficial contributions from parents,


• the provision of school operational budgets,


• the strengthening teaching and learning management,


• the provision core textbooks to students free of charge,


• redeployment and performance based incentives for teachers,


• continuous teacher development and


• Scholarships for poor student, especially girls, which is combined with re-entry and equivalency programs for drop-out students.

The achievements during the year are shown in detail below:

1.1 Early childhood education and pre-school » Up

In 2004-05, there were 2,223 pre-schools, which included 1,365 public and 778 private pre-schools. Among the public pre-schools, only 129 are independent while the others are pre-school classrooms within primary schools. With efforts from pre-school teachers, parents and community members to improve access to pre-school, the total enrolment at the three levels of pre-school in 2004-05 grew to 72,214 students (36,151 girls).

The total staff at pre-schools is 2,833 (2,788 female) with a teaching staff of 2,650 (2,624 female).

The Ministry encourages all provinces to promote pre-school activities as they believe, based on research, that children who have attended pre-school are more likely and able to continue their studies further than the ones who have not.

Along with progress in establishing pre-schools, the Ministry also promotes early childhood education through the establishment of a new management structure as only 20% of children aged 5 have access to pre-schools. A program for parental home-based education for early childhood is provided. The program not only upholds the Rights of a Child but also aims to reduce family violence, child abuse, HIV/AIDS infection, drug addiction and other harmful activities in the society. For this program the Ministry mobilizes resources from all sources, including the local community, international organizations, non-governmental organizations supporting early childhood education activities in local community and households where it cannot provide proper pre-schools due to other priorities.

1.2 Primary school » Up

Statistical data for the 2004-05 school year shows the total number of primary school as 6,180 with 2,682,129 students. This includes 1,266,420 girls which is 47% of the total indicating that at this level the enrolment of boys and girls is similar with effectively no gender gap at primary school. The number of primary school staff is 60,841 (22,934 female) of which the teaching staff is 50,140 (20,678 female or 41.24%) MoEYS is seeking measures to ensure a better proportion of teaching to non-teaching staff.

Enrolment increased from 2.4 millions in 2000-01 to 2.7 millions in 2002-03, but has slightly decreased due to the declined population growth over the last 5-6 years.

In the school year 2004-05, the net admission rate (NAR) for primary education was 81%, which is lower than the target set of 90%, and an area of significant concern as grade 1 provides the student cohort for all future grades. The NAR for girls was 79% compared to the target of 90%.

The net enrolment rate (NER) in 2004-05 of 91.9%, nearly reached the target of 92%, and for girls was 90.7% compared to a target of 91%. The targets of NER for primary education in the school year 2004-05 were 95% (urban), 92% (rural) and 76% (remote areas). The graphic below shows that schooling for primary education in rural and remote areas surpasses the target set, but is lower than the planned target for the urban areas. Comparing the school year 2000-01 with the school year 2004-05, NER rose by more than 20% in remote areas and by 8% in rural areas, while the increase in urban areas during the same period was around 5%.

1.3 Lower Secondary Education» Up

By similar policies and strategies as in primary education there has been an increase of 92 schools so that in 2004-05 there are 578 lower secondary schools. The total number of student enrolled was 528,940, including 230,048 girls.

The lower secondary education NER set in ESP 2004-08 for the school year 2004-05 was 50% for urban areas (49% girls), 35% for rural areas (35% girls) and 15% for remote areas (15% girl). The sector performance results show that the planned target has not been reached.

There have been significant increases in the numbers of students in Lower secondary schools, with enrolments increasing from 233,278 students in 1999-2000 to 528,940 in 2004-05 a 126% increase over the period. This has led to an improved NER of 26.10% (girls 9.30%), which is higher than 2003-04, but lower than the ambitious target set of 40%.

Although in the recent years, school facilities have been expanded for grades 7-9, it is not enough to respond to the demand. There are only 749 communes from a total of 1,621, with lower secondary schools. In remote areas NER is lowest at 3.9%, i.e. more than 95% of children aged 12-14 are not enrolled in lower secondary schools, which implies that there still exists an acute shortage of secondary school in these areas.

Education at the lower secondary level functions smoothly even though there is a shortage of specialized teachers in some schools in disadvantaged areas usually rural and remote provinces.

Mainly school management is effective due to community participation. However, 20% of new schools still have a problem because of the lack of experience of untrained school principals. The student-centered approach is not well implemented in most schools due to overcrowded classes, a shortage of core textbooks, learning/teaching materials and libraries.

The significant growth in quantity is causing the quality in lower secondary education to drop and there is an unbalance between quantity and quality development. According to the 2004-05 school year statistics shown that 871 communes among the total of 1,621 communes, did not have Lower Secondary schools

1.4 Upper Secondary Education » Up

In 2004-05 there are 232 upper secondary schools compared to 212 in 2003-04. The total number of student is 177,129, including 66324 girls.

The NER is 9.3% (7.9% girls), which is higher than the previous school year and lower than the target set 15% (14% girls). The enrolment has only slightly increased when comparing it to 2003-04, because of poverty, labor market needs and few dormitories for girls from remote areas. At present, 45 out of 185 districts have no upper secondary schools. Up to 2004-05 school year there are 46 districts did not have Upper Secondary schools.

1.5 Non-Formal Education » Up

The MoEYS has used all aspects of non-formal education activities by promoting re-entry and equivalency programs for out of school children so they can re-enter the formal system The object is to have all children who have been out of school for 1-3 years enter the general education system.

In Cambodia, the adult literacy rate of aged-15 and over is 67.3% and so the MoEYS has also established literacy classes in order to improve this They have created Community Life Long Learning Centers with good cooperation with NGOs and other international organizations. These aim to provide programs which strengthen knowledge and life skills which lead to income growth and the acquisition of basic skills. Also there are non-formal education programs to enable unskillful adults, especially illiterate people and out of school children, to access functional literacy programs.

MoEYS with good cooperation with NGOs has tried to strengthen the NFE sector both quantitatively and qualitatively by establishing the Non Formal Education Management Information System to ensure the effectiveness of the programs which help out of school children, youths and adults in the local community who do not have simple skills to be able to work in order to increase the income for their families.

1.6 Higher Education » Up

In 2004-05, the total number of higher education institutions is 44, in which 13 are public and another 31 are private institutions. These spread over 11 provinces/municipalities and provide an opportunity for local students to continue their studies in higher education.

STUDENTS IN PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION

The Royal Government of Cambodia has set out a privatization policy which effects positively on higher education. For the last recent years, private institutions have reduced the student load into public higher education. In 2004-05, the total number of fee-paying students in higher education institutions is 38,722.

At the same time, MoEYS tries to make possible for people to access higher education in order to strengthen the human resource development for the future of the country. MoEYS has provided scholarship to elite students, poor students, female students and students from the remote area and has built dormitories especially for the poor students and also for female students.

1.7 Teacher Training » Up

In 2003-04, the number of students at Central Pre-School Teacher Training Center, the Provincial Teacher Training Centers (PTTC) and Regional Teacher Training Centers (RTTC) was 8,671. In 2004-05, the total number of students decreased to 6,520. The number of student has decreased by 24.8%. It is necessary to solve this problem as soon as possible in order to achieve the target of EFA by 2015.

The table below shows the status of student in the 18 PTTCs, 6 RTTCs, the Central Pre-School Teacher Training Center.

Table 1: Number of trainees in Teacher Training Center