Over the last two decades, higher education in Cambodia, particularly in the private sector, has grown significantly. The first private higher education institution (HEI) was established in 1996 in line with the government policy of public/private partnership (World Bank n.d.(a)). Currently, there are 32 public and 45 private higher education institutions (located in 19 out of 24 provinces and municipalities), offering specialized degrees in nearly 100 fields ranging from foreign languages, health science, engineering, agriculture, tourism, business management to law and economics (UNESCO 2010).
In Cambodia, economic growth has largely expanded the demand for skilled labour in all fields. Technical and vocational education and training in the country is provided through both public and private professional training institutions. Programmes are offered at three different levels (each lasting one year) in a wide variety of areas including general mechanics, computer technology, agricultural mechanics, electricity, electronics and more (IBE 2011).
Indicators for enrolment in higher education have exceeded targets and estimates suggest that the total enrolment has increased dramatically from little over 10,000 students (World Bank n.d.(a)) in 1997 to 110,090 students (35.5% female) in the 2007-2008 academic year (UNESCO 2010). For the academic year of 2005/2006, a total of 42,212 students (of which 37.5% were girls) were enrolled in TVET under 40 public and 170 private technical and vocational training institutions (IBE 2011).
Still, enrolment in HEIs in Cambodia is low by international standards (in 2008, gross enrolment at tertiary level was 7%) (World Bank n.d.(e)) and enrolment is concentrated in a few academic disciplines such as business and management. In addition, current enrolment patterns show significant urban/rural and gender disparities (World Bank n.d.(a)).
The issue of quality continues to be a concern for all education stakeholders and policymakers due to the fast-growing numbers of higher education institutions, in combination with loose management of the providers and a lack of guidance from the central level. In addition, sufficient quality assurance systems have not yet been developed and there are still many universities which are well below national or regional quality standards. All major donor reports between 1994 and 2006 highlighted similar challenges, and in particular the need to reform academic programmes in order to meet social and market needs. There is also an urgent need for faculty and staff development, pay-increases for qualified lecturers and staff and reform of financial and managerial structures of higher education institutions (UNESCO 2010).
Due to the huge number of youth transitioning from schooling to employment in Cambodia, the labour market and the TVET system are facing major challenges. Currently, there is a skills gap in the labour market: the HEIs are producing more graduates than the market can absorb (World Bank n.d.) while employers still find it difficult to find professional staff who have good analytical and decision-making skills. Thus, the TVET sub-system crucially needs restructuring with a focus on quality, relevance, management and partnerships (UNESCO 2010).
When the Ministry of Labour and Vocational training was established in 2004, TVET was transferred from the authority of MoEYS. Other HEIs are mainly under the authority of the Department of Higher Education (DHE) within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS). To meet the needs of the rapid growth in higher education, the DHE has shifted its role as a control agent towards a provider of professional services in monitoring, analysis and policy formulation, further decentralizing management of HEIs. As a result, the key roles of DHE are to: (i) develop policy and strategy for the higher education sector; (ii) license HEIs for their operations; (iii) assist HEIs to develop academic programs and management tools needed to help meet accreditation standards; and (iv) improve the quality and efficiency of higher education nationwide (World Bank n.d.(a)).
In total, nine government ministries and agencies as well as private institutions are providing higher education services in Cambodia with very limited coordination at national policy level (World Bank n.d.(a)).
The Government sets three key policy objectives for technical training, higher education and science research in the Education Strategic Plan (ESP): (i)increased access and equity ofenrolment opportunities to realize the Government’s pro-poor policy, (ii) quality assurance and improvement at both institutional and system levels, and (iii) strengthenedinstitutional management and development (World Bank n.d.). Some of the specific actions are to expand scholarship programmes, develop a curriculum development framework taking the job market and national needs in consideration, and develop a monitoring policy, tools and mechanisms (MoES 2010).
