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4. Education Facilities Development Program
4.1 Objectives and Justification
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Provincial, district and commune level inequity in access to Basic Education has been identified as a significant constraint on the ability of the work force to develop the skills needed to reduce poverty nationwide. The present scale and distribution of lower secondary classes is seen as a bottleneck to development and to access to further education and training. At primary level the continued existence of a large number of incomplete primary schools is a constraint on primary completion and therefore on transition to lower secondary school. At upper secondary level growth has been restricted by the provincial and district inequity in the availability of Grade 10 places and entrants, so limiting provincial shares in access to further and higher education.
Key strategic issues addressed through the facilities development program will include a) the balance of public and private investment in post-basic education facilities, especially, higher education b) appropriate strategies for reducing incomplete primary schools using a mix of additional facilities and institutional reforms c) the institutionalization of Basic Education schools and assessment of the balance between using basic cycle grade 1-9 schools and stand alone secondary schools to accommodate secondary enrolment expansion d) the planning of strategies to assure the availability of adequate numbers of teachers to staff the new LSS and e) selective expansion of existing facilities in overcrowded schools where sustainable demand is projected.
The medium-term priority strategic objective for facilities development is to assure equitable access to 9 years of high quality basic education through nationwide coverage of primary and lower secondary facilities in every commune in Cambodia. A related objective will be to ensure that all villages have a complete Grade 1 - 6 education provision as close to home as possible, taking account of the location and cost benefit analysis of village-based provision. Another associated objective will be to provide Grade 7 - 9 and Grade 10 - 12 education facilities in under-served and over-crowded areas and schools.
4.2 Scope and Coverage
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For primary and secondary education, the facilities programs will be nationwide, with priorities selected against a number of criteria and targets. For primary education the target is that every primary age pupil should be within 3 km of a school to ensure that all children have easy access without incurring transport costs. To address the problem of incomplete cycle schools, every school should have a minimum of three serviceable classrooms, including selective use of double-shifts and multi-grade classes. To assure the quality of education, provision of additional facilities will be considered where class sizes exceed 60 or a triple shift system is needed due to classroom shortages.
For secondary education it is proposed that every commune should have a lower secondary school and every district should have a combined school offering upper secondary grades. Exceptions may be made in remote areas where student numbers are low, instead transport and accommodation subsidies would be provided. For post secondary education, the medium-term facility development program may cover all public HE institutions and some private institutions, depending on proposals meeting eligibility criteria.
4.3 Outputs and Activities
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The education facilities development programs 2004-08 are detailed in the table below. A key feature of this investment is the expansion and efficient use of basic-education facilities in order to meet growing demand and enable Education for All. Another key feature is to enable both expanded access and quality improvement in upper secondary education through demand led facilities investment. A further key feature is to enable demand led growth of higher education and other post-secondary opportunities within a growing public/private partnership.
Table 13: Projected Capital Investment Budget, 2004-2008
| Component |
Riels (Million) |
US$ (Million) |
| 01 Incomplete Primary School Expansion |
20,000 |
5.0 |
| 02 Lower Secondary Expansion |
100,000 |
25.0 |
| 03 Upper Secondary Expansion |
80,000 |
20.0 |
| 04 Science, Technology and ICT Facilities Expansion |
31,600 |
7.9 |
| 05 Education Staff Development |
38,000 |
9.5 |
| 06 Education Staff Accommodation |
20,000 |
5.0 |
| 07 HE Facilities Development Fund |
60,000 |
15.0 |
| Total: |
349,600 |
87.4 |
Program 1: Incomplete School Expansion Program (US$ 5.0 million)
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The main outcome of this program will be to reduce drop out and to improve progression in over 2,000 incomplete primary schools, especially annex schools and those in remote areas. A second outcome is to largely eliminate the number of incomplete schools, ensuring they offer full grade 1-6 range or selectively be expanded to grades 1-9. The main activities will be to construct 1, 2 or 3 classroom blocks and provide furniture, especially in schools with highest grade 4 and 5. In schools with highest grade less than 4, it is anticipated that a combination of community managed school development grants and selective use of private contractors will enable classroom construction.
The program will be linked to strategies including staff deployment and incentives, targeted programs for poor students (e.g. school feeding), use of multi-grade or double-shift teaching and strategies for expanding equitable access throughout basic education. These complementary initiatives will be selectively supported by the priority action programs or targeted donor interventions.
Program 2: Lower Secondary School Expansion Program (US$ 25.0 million)
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The main outcome of this program will be to enable sufficient grade 7-9 capacity for projected demand increases over the 5-year period, enabling projected enrolment growth of at least 0.55 million by 2008. The priority will be to provide commune based grade 7-9 provision in at least 800-900 communes currently without lower secondary facilities. A second priority will be to selectively convert incomplete schools into basic education schools offering grades 1-9. A third priority will be to selectively expand grade 7-9 classrooms in over-crowded schools. A mix of appropriate and cost efficient construction modalities will be adopted in urban, rural and remote areas.
The first component of this program will be to create basic education schools offering grades 1-9 in existing primary schools with under-utilized facilities. The second component will be to provide new grade 7-9 facilities in un-served communes at existing primary school sites. The third component of the program will be demand-based expansion of existing grade 7-9 facilities. A coordinated approach will be adopted with staff deployment, giving priority to these new or expanded schools, with appropriate remote and difficult posting allowances. In some cases, classroom construction will be supplemented by new or upgraded water and sanitation systems.
Program 3: Upper Secondary School Expansion Program (US$ 20.0 million)
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The main outcome of this program will be to expand access through expansion of upper secondary classroom facilities, enabling a projected enrolment growth of least 0.15 million by 2008. The priorities will be to combine access expansion in 53 districts without grade 10-12 provision, with new and upgraded facilities in existing or new schools. Targeting criteria will include use of new school sites or extension of existing grade 7-9 facilities.
The first component will be to establish at least 24-30 model schools through upgrading existing upper secondary schools in urban areas, covering all 24 provinces. These model schools would provide a high standard of facilities and teaching staff. The second component will be to gradually expand the number of rural upper secondary facilities through a mix of expanding existing schools and provision of additional schools in underserved areas with high potential demand.
Program 4: Science, Technology and ICT Facilities Expansion Program (US$ 7.9 million)
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This program has the main objective of enhancing quality education outcomes through provision of appropriate specialist teaching and learning facilities. The program will provide these facilities in upper secondary schools and higher education institutions. One priority will be to provide science, technology and ICT blocks in all the provincial and regional training institutes and the proposed upper secondary model schools. A second priority will be to provide more limited computing/ICT facilities in selected urban and rural upper secondary schools. The program will be linked to appropriate science/ICT teacher upgrading and deployment to institutions benefiting under this program.
Program 5: Education Staff Development Program (US$ 9.5 million)
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This program will have the main outcome of enabling increased quality of teaching, greater responsiveness to changing sub-sector teacher demand and improved education strategic and financial planning and management. The priority will be to provide new or upgraded teacher training facilities, in response to proposed curriculum reform. A second priority will be to selectively provide other staff training facilities for education management, planning, accounting, audit and administration.
The first component of this program will be the introduction of mini teacher training facilities in the six provinces without PTTCs in order to accommodate any re-training of basic cycle teachers needed. The second component will be to upgrade NIE, PTTCs and RTTCs to more flexibily respond to MoEYS staff development and teacher training needs, alongside addition of specialist facilities and classrooms (e.g. science, maths, technology/ICT and foreign languages). A third component will be to provide additional staff training facilities in selected central and provincial education departments.
Program 6: Education Staff Accommodation Program (US$ 5.0 million)
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The main outcome of this program will be to facilitate increased deployment and retention of staff, particularly in remote or difficult areas, through the provision of incentives. The priority will be to provide accommodation incentives in remote and difficult areas, especially linked to the lower secondary and incomplete school expansion programs. A combination of strategies are being considered including a) a housing loan scheme, b) selective MoEYS provided teacher hostel accommodation and c) housing for transferable provincial directors of education. The balance of these approaches will be more clearly defined in 2005.
Program 7: Higher Education Facilities Development Fund Program (US$ 15.0 million)
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This program will have the main outcome of expanding nationwide access to public and private higher education institutions. The priority will be to enable further growth of high demand programs, including a) agriculture, b) health, c) mathematics, d) science, technology and ICT. The outcome will be to expand both bachelor degree and masters degree provision, alongside enabling establishment of university foundation courses in selected universities.
The main component will be to create a higher education development financing facility for access by both public and private institutions, alongside development of eligibility criteria. A second component will be to selectively provide library, laboratory, foreign language and other teaching and learning facilities in priority public universities. The program will be linked to technical assistance for curriculum and staff development as part of broader quality assurance and governance strengthening.
4.4 Management and Monitoring Arrangements
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A key feature will be to gradually decentralize the prioritization and planning of education facilities programs to provincial authorities and institutions. For primary and secondary schools, provinces will be given an annual facilities budget allocation and required to formulate an annual education facilities plan through a provincial facilities planning committee chaired by the Governor. Facilities budget management has been introduced on a pilot basis in four provinces in 2002/3 and is being further expanded. For post-basic institutions, senior management committees in these institutions will be required to present annual facilities development plans. In addition, central MoEYS authorities will be further strengthened to screen and review annual provincial/institutional facilities development plans and budgets against agreed eligibility and screening guidelines.
The Department of Materials and State Properties (DMSP), MOEYS, will be responsible for facilities development and be in charge of a) overall program monitoring, progress and quality control, and approval of provincial level activities, b) capacity building, c) financial management, accounting and audit compliance responsibilities delegated by the Steering Committee, d) overseeing regularity of procurements, and e) reporting to the Steering Committee. The operations will be coordinated by the Director of DMSP, who will ensure that the program is coordinated with other ongoing school building programs, that duplication of beneficiary schools and operational costs are avoided, that targeting criteria and unit costs are consistent with ESSP.
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