Effective Education Project Focuses on Poor
Sunday, July 4, 2010 6:47
The Cambodia Education Sector Support Project (CESSP), which is supported financially by the World Bank, has been implemented by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport for four years. The World Bank Cambodia monthly Newsletter interviewed H.E. Ou Eng, CESSP Project Manager, on the project’s achievements and the challenges it faces.
Please could you let us know what the goal of CESSP is?
The goal of CESSP is to assist the Government of Cambodia, particularly the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), to expand access to educational services by addressing supply, demand quality, and efficiency constraints with special focus on poor and under-served communes.
There are two essential objectives. First, to demonstrate characteristics of effective schooling for primary and lower secondary schools, with increased participation from poor and disadvantaged children a specific target. Second, to improve institutional capacity for Government Policy and Administration to address issues of education quality at all levels.
Why does Cambodia need the CESSP?
Cambodia needs the CESSP in order to implement three of the main strategies in the Cambodia Education Strategic plan. These are Increasing Equitable Access, Improving Quality and Effectiveness, and Support to Higher Education.
What are the achievements of the CESSP in its four years?
The CESSP is a five-year program due to end in December 2010. To date the project has achieved the majority of its planned outcomes. These include the following:
- Construction of 249 Lower Secondary Schools, mostly in remote areas. This includes 17 schools to be completed in 2010;
- Delivery of more than 30,000 scholarships to poor students in 23 provinces;
- Creation of a national leadership program for school directors;
- Creation of a set of Teacher Standards approved by the MoEYS;
- Establishment of a national training program for Basic Education Teachers. To date 6,343 teachers have had their skills upgraded through this program;
- Support to 139 Lower Secondary Schools to implement the MoEYS Child-Friendly School policy;
- Establishment of national tests at grades 3, 6 and 9;
- Support to the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia to develop Higher Education Accreditation Standards;
- Support to the Department of Higher Education to develop a vision and strategy for the future of Higher Education; and
- Construction of the Hun Sen Library Extension at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, which began in early 2010.
What are the challenges of implementing the CESSP?
The main challenge is to establish mechanisms to ensure that the good practices developed by the project are sustained and further developed after the project finishes.
What lesson has been learned from the project?
The main lesson to be learned is that seemingly impossible obstacles can be overcome and seemingly impossible targets can be reached through development of a shared vision and clear leadership.
(Source: The World Bank Newsletter: Volume 8, Number 3, March 2010)