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Remarks at Education Congress
20 March 2012
Anne Lemaistre
UNESCO Representative in Cambodia
Chair of Education Sector Working Group (ESWG)
Excellency Im Sethy, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport,
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, ESWG Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to participate in this landmark event of the year and share some thoughts on behalf of the Education Sector Working Group (ESWG). The Congress provides us the opportunity to jointly assess the progress in the education sector, celebrate the successes, and identify the strategies and actions during the year ahead to address remaining challenges.
The ESWG would like to express our sincere appreciation for the strong commitment and dedication of the Ministry leadership and Education Congress Secretariat in organizing this Congress. The ESWG is also pleased to note the partnership and cooperation with technical departments of the Ministry in preparing the concept papers which will guide our discussions during the congress.
Today is a significant day to share the results after detailed preparations in which the technical departments, sub-national education authorities of the Ministry and NGOs actively participated and contributed. As the government pursues "local solutions for local challenges" in the context of decentralization and deconcentration, it will be very important for the Congress to hear and learn from the outcomes of the Provincial Education Congresses which were organized as part of the preparatory processes.
As the incoming Chair of the ESWG, I am very pleased to note sincere partnership, cooperation, and dialogue between the Ministry and the ESWG. I would like to thank the Ministry leadership for your support for a frank and open dialogue. I also would like to acknowledge the participation of all the technical and provincial departments of education, the members of the ESWG and in particular the excellent stewardship of the ESWG by my predecessor Mr. Richard Bridle, to ensure and build this partnership.
Last September, we successfully organized the Education Sector Retreat. During the retreat we reviewed the progress of Core Breakthrough Indicators and identified recommendations and actions to be taken to address some of the key issues of the education sector in Cambodia. The on-going policy dialogue and discussions during the regular Joint Technical Working Group meetings and the Mid-Term Review of the Education Strategic Plan have also been positive opportunities to openly discuss issues related to improving educational quality and learning opportunities for all; for example the need to focus interventions towards disadvantaged districts, and reverse the declining trend in the share of the government budget allocated to the Ministry. The ESWG would like to commend the genuine commitment of the Ministry’s leadership to address the issues, and to reiterate our commitment to work closely with the Ministry to build a strong case to reverse this trend as well as in addressing other sector challenges to ensure quality education and learning for all Cambodian children and youth.
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ការប្រគួតប្រជែងដណ្ដើមស្នាដៃការអនុវត្តការងារអប់រំបានល្អក្នុងកម្មវិធី EIU Best Practices 2012 (