In Cambodia, preschool education is not compulsory and caters to children between 3 and 5 years old. Formal preschool education is organized as a three-step system for 3-5 year olds. In addition to public preschools which levy a small fee, there are free community preschools, home-based parenting programmes and mother groups aimed at providing free education, especially for poor children in rural areas. Still, there are significant urban/rural disparities in availability of services (IBE 2011), and teacher deployment is limited in remote areas (UNESCO 2010).
Almost all communes and districts in Cambodia have one to two preschools providing education services to children between 3 and 5 years old. In 2008, there were 1,634 public pre-schools of which only about 100 were independent and the remaining schools shared facilities with primary schools or pagodas (UNESCO 2010). Total enrolment in early childhood education programmes increased from 120,098 children (13.6% of the children aged 3 to 5 years) in 2005/2006 to 171,768 children (20% of the relevant age group) in 2009/2010. There are however significant rural/urban disparities in availability of services. Urban areas which only have 15% of the preschool age population constitute around 25% of total preschool enrolment (IBE 2011).
The quality and effectiveness of preschool provision in Cambodia is difficult to assess, partly because of the mix of objectives. These include school readiness, elements of pre-primary teaching, structured play and social development, initial hygiene and nutrition awareness and broader child minding and child-care (IBE 2011). In addition, preschool teacher deployment is very limited in remote areas and there is an urgent need at national and provincial levels to enhance the capacity of ECCE officials and preschool teachers (UNESCO 2010).
The preschool system has relied significantly on NGO support since the early 1990s. Much of the NGO support has focused on quality assurance such as the training of roughly 20,000 preschool teachers and development of curriculum materials (IBE 2011).
Preschool education provision is supported by a growing public/private partnership. In 1999, pre-primary education was provided in 874 government preschools and 364 community and private preschools. Community schools constituted around 70% of non-public provision. Attendance at community schools is generally tuition free, as compared to urban-based private preschools which levy a small fee. Formal preschool education is managed and monitored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), and the Department of Early Childhood Education was established in 2003 to manage existing preschools but also provide technical inputs to community schools and home-based programmes. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs further supervises the management of community preschools set up by Commune Councils which mainly target children in rural areas (IBE 2011).
Except in the poorest areas, early childhood care and education programmes are mainly locally funded and further supplemented by NGOs and other donors (Rao and Pearson 2009).
According to the National Strategic Development Plan Update 2009-2013, one of the key goals in the education sector is to expand access “for children in early childhood education, as well as those with disabilities and those from minority groups”, and also “ensur[e] community/private engagement in this process is crucial for long-term success.” Furthermore, it stipulates that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in cooperation with relevant stakeholders will be promoting formal and informal education for women and girls by “advocating for and monitoring the expansion of the programme of early childhood education and community based preschools, especially in remote areas” (Royal Government of Cambodia 2010)
In 2010, an inter-ministerial Education Childhood and Care and Development Policy was approved after several years of preparation (UNESCO 2010), and the broad policy target is now to increase the net enrolment in ECCE of 5 year olds to 75% by 2015. However, failure to reach the previous target of 50% NER in 2010 indicates that such efforts might be unsuccessful unless adequate capacity can be put in place (Rao and Pearson 2009).
