Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region: Cambodia by Uk Dararath

Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region: Cambodia 

Committee: EU-SHARE

Topic: Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region

Country: Kingdom of Cambodia

Delegates: Dararath Uk, Gechny Sokkhea, Thida Sann, Solinda Boy, Monyrath Keo and Morokoth Chhuon

Mr. Chair, your Excellencies, professors, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen, very good afternoon. 

It is our privilege and exciting moment to represent Cambodia on international stage, the First Student Mobility Forum, whose theme we are now discussing on is “Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region.”Education plays very important roles in bringing about development, economic growth and prosperity in society as well as the entire world. As Nelson Mandela states, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” In particular, higher education plays an important role in human resource development and it is a key sub-sector contributing to socio-economic development of each nation. 

Higher education in Cambodia has grown significantly showing its improvement in recent years. The number of higher education institutions and students have grown rapidly. To respond to the demand of Human Capital Resources and education, in 1990, the Higher Education principle was reformed and the private partnership was introduced which it allowed higher education institutions in Cambodia to mushroom with the increase of private universities up to 64, and public higher institutions to 39 in 2014. The number of students enrolled in higher institutions has grown remarkably from 10,000 in the early 1990s to more than 200,000 in 2013.

Higher education in Cambodia provides students with knowledge and skills that help them contribute fully to national development and labour market needs; employment related-skills; and understanding of and positive attitude towards work and a capacity to manage and work effectively and harmoniously with others. Social science and business related majors are among most popular courses by the majority of students. However, this poses challenges that there is a mismatch between the needs of the labor market and the current products on the market.  While Cambodia needs more human resources on science, technology, engineering and agriculture which these areas of study are considered to be key skills to foster the growth of the Cambodian economy, only a small percentage of students take these courses.

In additions, there are other several challenges of higher education in Cambodia. First, domestically, in a less developed countries like Cambodia, development gaps between the city and provinces are so big and inadequate access to higher education is clear. Regarding the quality of higher education, there is a lack of research institutions. Although there are several, the limited access and availability still remain. Students acquire knowledge based on traditional classes and lectures. This limitation of research-based study contains students’ knowledge and ability to discover new technology and knowledge to use in society. Last but not least, international recognition and limitation of students to have foreign mobility are also challenges.  

To tackle these issues, based on our perspectives, these recommendations should be considered as following; 

1. All institutions related to Higher Education need to pay attention on their curriculum regarding the quality and the learning outcomes. 

2. Non-CLMV states should provide technical and financial support and assistance to improve and enhance the quality of education in CLMV countries.

3. ASEAN should work on the establishment of funded motilities and form the regional structural body on education with the financial and technical contributions and assistance from each ASEAN member states.

We, as delegates from Cambodia, appreciate this forum and this discussion particularly and look forward to a fruitful outcome from this meeting.   

Sincerely yours, 

Disclaimer: This script is written by Cambodian student delegates solely for simulation purposes . This views herein do not in any way represent the view of any Cambodian university and Ministry of Education and government.