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In-Depth Information
ization reported that Cambodia had more than 429,000 child laborers, 383,000 of them in
rural areas.
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As government education funding has tailed off, the private sector has picked up the
slack. The best high schools in Cambodia, like the Lycée René Descartes and the Interna-
tional School of Phnom Penh, are private institutions restricted to those few who can af-
ford the high annual fees. Smaller private language schools are a common sight in Phnom
Penh and the large provincial towns, but their flashy names and logos gave a misleading
impression of the quality of education on offer, which is often terrible.
The crisis in the public schools has even provoked anger at the top. In early 2013,
during a workshop when the EU announced €37.2 million ($50.3 million) in education
support funding for 2014-16, then education minister Im Sethy tossed out his prepared
speech and attacked his colleagues in the Ministry of Economy and Finance for making
such small allocations for education. “The Finance Ministry doesn't know how to make
policy at all,” Sethy said, pointing an angry finger at a finance official sitting on stage. He
cation system upward, donor handouts have reduced the government's need to provide
funds itself, meaning that the sector, and millions of Cambodian students, are more de-
pendent on outside help than ever.
Aside from the burden of extracurricular “fees,” Cambodia's education woes have
longer-term implications. Cambodia is a young country: 65.3 percent of the population is
age, an entire generation has been habituated to a system in which hard work and initiat-
ive are disincentivized and self-reliance is frustratingly self-defeating. For the 13 percent
of Cambodians who pursue education beyond high school, the situation continues: a ma-
jority of tertiary institutions are private and unregulated. There are frequently shortages
of computers, libraries are badly stocked, and students lack access to important online
resources such as academic journals. There is little reward for succeeding, and few con-
sequences for failing. The best institutions in the country, such as Pannasastra University
and the Royal University of Phnom Penh, set more exacting standards for students, but
many other private institutions leave their graduates with few skills other than how to
work the system.
Despite the rapid growth of the economy, few of the 250,000 graduates who enter the
workforce every year have the skills required by potential employers. In the garment
factories there are few if any Cambodian managers. Other business owners frequently
speak of managerial vacancies being kept open for months due to the lack of qualified
candidates. Unable to rely on the education system, employers instead have to invest
considerable time and money in bringing staff up to their required standard. Senaka
Fernando, a chartered accountant who first came to Cambodia from Sri Lanka in 1994
