Royal Government of Cambodia
No: 01 KNR

» According to the constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which states in Article 65 "The State shall protect and upgrade citizens' rights to quality education at all levels and shall take the necessary steps for quality education to reach all citizens." and in Article 66 "The State shall develop a complete and uniform education system throughout the State . so that citizens have an equal chance for improving their livelihoods".

» In line with global trends, which states "Education for All and All for Education"

» Complying with the policy of the Royal Government on human resource development, which stipulates: "The main approach for human resource development is to develop human resources with good health, knowledge and a high level of culture..."

The Royal Government of Cambodia defines that Non-Formal Education (NFE) is an official education system, which contributes to achieving Education For All and gives people access to lifelong education and helps build a learning society with equity, justice and social development.

I. Background » Up

Over two decades of war has made Cambodia one of the poorest countries. About 36% of the population lives below the poverty line. From 1979 to 1988, non-formal education and especially the elimination of illiteracy and complementary education had good results, but since then has mostly been inactive. In the late 1990s, the Ministry of Education, Youth And Sports (MoEYS) with the support of national, international and non-governmental agencies and various other institutions restarted and developed non-formal education by:

» Establishing management structures at all levels;

» Designing annual, short-term, medium-term and long-term plans;

» Providing training skills for staff and strengthening the capacities of administrators/managers at all levels and contract literacy teachers;

» Developing and revising curricula and textbooks in all areas and for all educational levels;

» Seeking support and co-operation for human resources, materials and budget from concerned organisations and stakeholder institutions.

But the results achieved so far do not completely respond to the needs, because from year to year we have only had the capacity to reduce the adult illiteracy rate by 1% per year.

The National Literacy Survey conducted by MoEYS in 1999 showed that out of the total population at the time of 11,437,656 there were 6,547,848 people aged 15 years and over. Out of this figure (aged 15 years and over), 37.10% were found to be literate and 26.60% semi-literate (can read, write and count a little). So, this means that 36.30% are illiterate and most of them are women. From one year to the next, the number of illiterate people is increasing. This is as a result of school-aged children, who don't have access to the formal education system and others who drop out at the primary level, as well as those who relapse into illiteracy and this is causing a heavy burden for NFE.

Statistics from the Education Management Information System (EMIS) of the MoEYS has indicated that the net enrollment rate at primary school is approximately 83.8% and those children who pass to grade 6 at primary level is only approximately 35%. Therefore, only 65% of children of whom 58% are girls, only complete to grade 5 level.

II. National Policy on Non-Formal Education » Up

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the Royal Government defines the strategy of the NFE policy to be as follows:

» Creating opportunities so that all people have access to lifelong learning.

» Promoting literacy and continuing education by creating links, which provide credit, employment and vocational skills so that the population can live in happiness.

» Regularly providing information and knowledge about vocational skill training and technical and scientific subjects to everybody.

» The Royal Government is concerned about

• All people of both sexes and all races living in the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia who don't have access to public school (the formal education system):
• Poor people and those living in difficult circumstances
• Working children and youths and the out-of school
• Ethnic minority children and youths
• Adults aged 15 to 45 years

Amongst these target groups, the Royal Government places special emphasis on girls and women.

• Operating areas of NFE:
• Rural, remote/disadvantaged areas
• Poor areas
• Reintegration areas

Ministries and institutions, who are members of the National Education for All (EFA) Committee and other concerned stakeholder institutions must participate in supporting NFE, which is their responsibility and co-operate for implementing and promoting the spirit of responsibility so that NFE work produces good results, guiding and encouraging concerned stakeholder institutions, local authorities at all levels, village development committees, communes, pagodas, religious buildings, the private sector and all business people to mobilise existing resources for contributing to the development of NFE and in establishing Community Learning Centres (CLCs) in villages, communes and pagodas.

» The Ministry of Interior shall guide and remind local authorities at all levels to increase their spiritual concentration and sustain NFE classes, especially literacy classes.

» The Ministry of Cult and Religion shall co-operate with the two sects of Buddhist leaders, lay monks, nuns and priests to urge them to be involved in educating people through preaching or campaigns at the pagodas, or during religious festival times about the usefulness of knowledge and help them to organise libraries, reading rooms, classrooms and CLCs in each pagoda and participate in teaching or training according to their availability and capacity.

» The MoEYS shall provide opportunities for communities to participate in establishing literacy classes, post-literacy classes, complementary classes, vocational skill training classes, CLCs, reading rooms and libraries etc.; especially, it must be responsible for advising, facilitating and co-operating and expanding teachers' capacities.

» The Ministry of Information shall promote the dissemination of information through radio, television, newspapers and other media networks to advocate continuing education to all people throughout the country.

» Factory managers, businesses and companies must find the means to open literacy classes or vocational skill training courses for their workers, which comply with the Labour Laws of the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia, for the benefit of both workers and factory managers.

» The MoEYS has the responsibility to manage and lead research and surveys and implement projects in accordance with the goals of NFE. Monitoring and evaluation must be carried out strictly to determine whether projects are being well implemented, in order to ensure that NFE is able to achieve good results in terms of quality of knowledge, practical skills and morality.

III. Management » Up

The Royal Government considers NFE as an official education system in the Kingdom of Cambodia the same as the formal education system.

The management structure of NFE must be organised properly to ensure a good, sustainable and effective implementation process.

The National EFA Committee has the responsibility to co-operate closely with competent institutions and ministries as follows:-

» Design and implement an action plan to achieve the EFA goals and count up and evaluate the results for NFE and submit them to the Royal Government according to the deadline.

» Develop relationships between NFE and the formal education programmes at all levels in terms of planning, accreditation, reintegration, making use of school buildings, classrooms, staff and resources that can be used together.

» Increase partnerships with the Royal Government, national organisations, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, donors and the private sector to promote the achievements of literacy work and vocational skill training as a contribution to improving the living standards of the population.

» Strengthen the capacity of the NFE Department in terms of planning, management, data collection, monitoring and evaluation as well as in its capacity for developing curricula and textbooks at all levels.

» Establish criteria for awarding praise and prizes to individuals, units, communities and organisations that make a good achievement in researching and supporting NFE.

» Strengthen the NFE data/information management centre so that it can be disseminated widely and urge the existing EMIS to enter NFE data in its system.

» Provide support in reintegrating the NFE action plan into all of the development plans of the Royal Government to contribute to human resource development and poverty alleviation.

» MoEYS shall establish procedures including some parts that have international links in order to implement this policy effectively.

The curriculum for NFE will include the following components listed below:

» Literacy and vocational skill training

» Continuing Education including:

• Post literacy
• Equivalency
• Quality of life improvement, especially hygiene, HIV/AIDS prevention, gender, culture, peace, morality and civics in everyday life.
• Income generation: such as agriculture, services, handicrafts and small business, provide credit...

» Family education for early childhood development.

» Re-entry programme for primary school dropouts so they have the capacity to go back to public school.

» Curriculum, textbooks and other NFE documents for distribution will have proper contents that respond to the needs of the community and society and proper pictures will be designed so that the results will be good for the learners. Such NFE activities will be arranged as complementary, semi-complementary, part-time, self-study, distance learning etc.

In order to support this policy effectively, the Royal Government has allocated a proper separate expenditure line so that NFE work can develop. The MoEYS must find all means for available funds and technical assistance for developing NFE work and encourage the participation in terms of materials, budget and technical assistance from national and international organisations, non-governmental organisations, the community, the private sector or benefactors in order to mobilise resources for NFE work.

This policy has a national identity and is people oriented and is a compass for the NFE field, which is one of the important factors that contribute to human resource development as well as the development of the country.

Phnom Penh, Date: August 13, 2002

HUN SEN
Prime Minister