24726 Achieving Education for All in Post-Conflict Cambodia Cambodia has made good progress in rebuilding its education system after three decades of conflict and isolation. Enrollments are growing, administration is improving, and large num- bers of schools have been rehabilitated. A number of innovative and mutually reinforcing programs have energized local administrators and resourced schools, building on early efforts to rebuild capacity. These are, however, not sufficient conditions for improving education outcomes, and significant challenges remain in the financing and management of education in order to realize Cambodia's goal of providing free, universal access to basic education. July 2002 At the school level, the Government, UNICEF, and Challenges for the several NGOs grouped schools into clusters of six educational outcomes. While the number of children enrolled in school increased substantially, net enroll- wide. By providing resources directly to schools for routine operating expenses and a few pre-specified Education System to 10 schools. The main purpose of the clusters ment has increased more modestly, from 78 percent development activities, this program improved the was to enable schools to share scarce administra- in 1996/97 to 84 percent in 1999/00, reflecting rapid availability of classroom materials and helped to miti- Nations recovering from conflict face special chal- tive, pedagogical and material resources. The increases in the school age population and continuing gate the effect of very low teacher salaries by provid- lenges. Education, health care, and income-earning strategy was beneficial for the relatively small inefficiencies in the education system. ing teachers with supplements for conducting needs are enormous, but government institutions number of clusters which received external sup- remedial classes. However, its greatest impact has port, and particularly for the "core" (central) perhaps occurred through the requirement that responsible for delivering social services and setting economic policy are often weakened. In many cases, school within the cluster that received most of Accelerating Progress schools which receive PAP funds do not charge years of political and economic instability follow the material support. toward EFA entrance fees. The reduction in fees appears to have major conflict, adding to the initial loss. helped stimulate demand for education from many The school infrastructure was substantially Since 1999, two programs have been built on these families for whom cost of education was a barrier to Recovery in Cambodia has been particularly difficult. improved by large-scale spending on school build- foundations to help to accelerate progress. The entry. As a result, the Ministry is reporting a rapid The Khmer Rouge regime, in power from 1975-1979, ings throughout the 1990s. Funds were provided Education Quality Improvement Project seeks to increase in the number of children registering for devastated Cambodia's education system. It destroyed by international donors, politicians, NGOs, and pri- model a participatory approach to school quality school in the 2001/02 school year. much of the education infrastructure and eliminated vate individuals. Notable among the programs was improvement and performance-based resource man- its key personnel. The successor Government began the Social Fund of Cambodia, which helped to agement. The project operates in three provinces, generate jobs at the local level while building or covering 23 percent of the total primary school popu- Enrollment in Primary Education rebuilding the education system but faced a decade renovating more than 500 schools. (millions of students) of international isolation, continuing resistance within lation. Responsibility for change is lodged at the Cambodia, and hostility from large sections of the grassroots level, with local school communities 2.8 population. The first large-scale development assis- Donors helped to strengthen administrative capac- empowered to identify their own needs and make tance for education was provided after U.N.-adminis- ity at the provincial and central levels by providing proposals for change and investment. Funds are deliv- tered elections in 1993. However, its effectiveness training and technical assistance. Training was pro- ered directly to school clusters by the Ministry of 2.4 was limited by continuing political instability and vided on the job and through formal course and Education. Change management in clusters is sup- 2.2 many programs were suspended after political vio- study tours. By the end of the 1990s, a significant ported by district-based animators, who in turn draw 2.1 lence broke out again in 1997. Aid was gradually pool of talent was generated in the central general lessons from the experience with the schools' restored after elections in 1998. Ministry and local education departments. quality improvement grants to advise government on 1998/99 1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02 However, much of the talent was underutilized in how to improve its education policies. The animators The education system still ranked among the weakest what remained a highly centralized administration are supported by a network of technical assistance at in the world in 2000, more than 20 years after the and under-financed civil service. the local level which provides pedagogical and orga- end of the worst years of the conflict. The net enroll- nizational support. ment rate was 84 percent in primary school, 17 per- The Government gradually increased expenditure Lessons Learned cent in lower secondary school and 8 percent in on education, from 11 percent of the budget in The project has succeeded in stimulating a lively pro- upper secondary school. By one estimate the repeti- 1996 to 15 percent in 2002. A 1999 World Bank- fessional dialogue at the school, cluster, and adminis- Prolonged periods of conflict weaken the education tion and dropout rates were so high that it took 19 financed Structural Adjustment Credit was particu- trative levels on ways to improve schools. It has also system by destroying the organization and talent student years to produce a primary school graduate. larly instrumental in encouraging increased set in place the process of change in the administra- which it needs to operate. The effects are com- UNESCO estimated functional literacy in the adult expenditure on education and providing budget tion of schooling as well as in teaching and learning pounded by impoverishment of the population and population to be 36 percent. Government spending support that enabled improvements in the actual practices. As a result, unprecedented responsibility the consequent loss of many people's ability to pay on education was 1.3 percent of GDP, while donors, delivery of funds against budget. Relative political has been devolved to school and local administrators, for education. Even in a post-conflict environment, NGOs and households provided more than 70 percent stability and economic policies that restored challenging them to fully utilize their skills and imagi- progress can be hampered for many years by continu- of total financing for education. growth improved the fiscal outlook while nation; education policy has become more "adaptive" ing political instability, poor economic performance, creating income-earning opportunities for and better informed by experience; and encouraging and weak financing systems. people and enabled families to enroll their chil- progress has been made in increasing enrollment, Rebuilding the Education System dren in school. decreasing repetition and dropout, and improving Recovery is often slow. It requires mutually reinforcing teaching and student learning. programs that address the organizational and finan- A number of innovative and mutually reinforcing pro- The improvements in the administration, infrastruc- cial issues at hand. It requires participation by all grams have contributed to the reconstruction of the ture and financing of education were all necessary Another major effort of the Government is the levels of the system, from schools and communities to education system during the last decade: but not sufficient conditions for improvement in Priority Action Program (PAP) that operates nation- the central ministries. Education in Cambodia Socio-Economic Indicators: Education Indicators: Population (millions) 12 Adult functional illiteracy rate 64 Percent below poverty line 36.1 Primary net enrollment rate: 84 GNP per capita 260 Net enrollment rate in lower secondary school 17 IDA/IBRD IDA Upper secondary net enrollment rate 8 PRSP Full 2003 Tertiary gross enrollment rate 1 Total education spending as % of GDP 1.3 Estimated annual financing gap for EFA ($m) 19 of which recurrent 19 Remaining Challenges verge of paying off. Many of the recent gains can be attributed at least in part to programs which have energized and resourced schools, communities and Cambodia's recovery has been particularly slow and local administrators. Sustained efforts to build capacity painful. This is due in part to the depth of the crisis in and strengthen institutions are essential. However, the 1970s and the many years of isolation and insta- faster progress is hampered by continued Government bility that followed. A decade of gradually increasing under-spending in the sector, the heavy burden on Government budget for education and significant for- families and communities for financing education, and eign investment in the sector appears to be on the the lack of meaningful civil service reform. This note was prepared in consultation with the Cambodian government by Christopher J. Thomas, Senior General Educator, East Asia and Pacific, Human Development Network, The World Bank. This note series is intended to summarize lessons learned and key policy findings on the World Bank's work in education. The views expressed in these notes are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. For additional copies of Education Notes, please contact the Education Advisory Service by email at eservice@worldbank.org or visit the web site: http://www.worldbank.org/education/