The 2004-05 school year is the last year of implementing the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2001-05 and the first year of preparing ESP 2006-10 to be consistent with the National Development Strategic Plan (NDSP) 2006-10 of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). The actual progress and further improvement of the education sector is a crucial and fundamental tool in education policy analysis and in decision making for future education strategies.

The objective of this report is to evaluate the progress made of the performance of the education sector based on the evaluation of all provincial education and technical department performance reports sent to the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport at the end of the 2004-05 school year. Provincial and technical department reports reflect the level of accountability in implementation and lead forward to achieve the education policy as set out in the ESP, the National Plan for Education for All (EFA) 2003-15 and the Global Millennium Development Goals and in particular the Cambodia Millennium Development Goals (CMDG).

This report is essential as a basis for analyzing the progress in the education sector in particular the impact of education sector reform. The agreed policy implementation between government and donors, including: the impact of the policy of transforming from donor-ship to partnership in the education sector and the positive impact of strengthening partnership as well as ownership of MoEYS/RGC through the adoption of the sector-wide approach on the education sector has had a significant impact

In addition, it reflects the impact of budget implementation, as set out in the education reform stages which is a bridge for designing education policy. It also reflects the result and impact of this policy implementation, including ensuring equitable access to education services for all Cambodian children, strengthening the quality and efficiency of the education services at all levels and the institutional development and capacity building for decentralization.

It is hoped that the MoEYS and its education development partners will learn from this report and use it as a tool for further implementation.