1. Objectives

The program objectives for lower secondary education are: 1) to reduce access barriers for students; and 2) to improve the quality and efficiency of educational services in order to increase grade 7-9 survival and grade 9-10 transition rates.
The program objective for upper secondary education is to assure equitable access to upper secondary education after students have successfully completed lower secondary education, especially in rural and disadvantaged areas. These students will comprise the human resource for enrolment in technical and vocational education and higher education.

2. Responding to ESP Strategies and Policies

Policy 1: Ensuring Equitable Access to Education Services

* Expand participation of the private sector and communities, especially commune councils in all levels of education.

Policy action:

• Guidelines on community involvement in the management of secondary educational institutions developed in 2011.
• Continue constructing new schools and community learning centers and provide additional facilities to incomplete primary schools.

Policy action:

• Guidelines on roles and responsibilities of fully resourced lycees developed in 2010.
• Guidelines on the management of lycees and the increase in the number of fully resourced lycees developed in 2010.
• Prakas on recognition of such fully resourced lycees developed in 2011.

Policy 2: Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Education Services

* Improve the quality of teaching and learning nationwide.

Policy action:

• Legal document for retired teacher utilization by offering them extra teaching hour remuneration developed in 2010.
• Guidelines on the implementation of the new curriculum in secondary education revised in 2010.
• Internal regulations for secondary schools revised by 2010.
• Regulations on establishing and managing libraries developed by 2013.

* Implement the new curriculum policy, including the Primary and Lower Secondary education curriculum with a focus on teaching hours.

Policy action:

• Guidelines on the dissemination to stakeholders of standardized test results in grade 3, 6, and 9 developed in 2012.

3. Indicators and Targets

• Net enrolment rate (NER) in grades 7-9 increased from 32% in SY 2009-2010 to 51% in SY 2013-2014.
• Transition rate in grade 9-10 increased from 73% in SY 2009-2010 to 85% in SY 2013-2014.
• Student achievement in standard curriculum on grade 9 Khmer literature increased from 62% in SY 2009-2010 to 80% in SY 2013-2014.
• Student achievement in standard curriculum on grade 9 mathematics increased from 32% in SY 2009-2010 to 70% in SY 2013-2014.
• There are 45 fully resourced lycees in SY 2013-2014.
• Growth enrolment rate in grade 10-12 increased from 32% in SY 2009-2010 to 40% in SY 2013-2014.
• Completion rate in grade 10-12 increased from 70% in SY 2009-2010 to 80% in SY 2013-2014.

4. Main Programs and Activities

4.1 Recurrent programs (Program based budgeting​​​​​ and others budgeting)

• Nationwide provision of school operating budgets, based on annually agreed modifications to the block grant and per capita spending formula.
• Provide merit-based incentives for students annually.
• Monitoring of curriculum implementation, learning and teaching, management, planning, examination and student learning achievement.
• Strengthening staff capacity on school development plan formulation, library management, teaching, management and examination.
• Nationwide outstanding student selection exam on subjects of mathematics, Khmer literature and physics.

4.2) Capital programs

Investment:

• Provide means of communication at national and sub-national levels such as electronic equipment and experimental tools and equipment.
• Provide operational budgets for fully resourced lycees in the first two years and after that transfer the responsibility to the MOEYS.
• Provide operational budgets for ECE schools.

Technical Cooperation:

• Prepare training document on management and teaching in fully resourced lycees and networked secondary education schools.
• Carry out impact study on CFS program implementation.
• Conduct standardized test to measure student learning achievement in grades 3, 6 and 9 nationwide annually by educational level and through sample selection.

5. Program Management and Monitoring

The Department of Secondary Education will manage the whole sub-sector development by focusing on planning, monitoring, evaluation, resource utilization and capacity development. The Department of Secondary Education will provide technical and management assistance to sub-national levels to implement their roles and responsibilities. The Provincial Education Office will be responsible for AOP formulation for the sub-sector, implementing national level guidelines and providing support to schools on technical, administrative, management and financial issues. 193 DEOs will be responsible for administrative facilitation. Each secondary school will be responsible for the formulation and implementation of its school development plan with the full participation of the community according to national guidelines. The school will also be responsible for managing and implementing every national program set at national level, strengthening good governance and school management. Each school will have to ask for permission from the national level for every activity implemented by an NGO or another organization that could influence student learning achievement.

6. Financing Plan (million Riels)