Building back better: Cambodia’s post-Covid-19 education system

With the pandemic closing Cambodian schools throughout much of last year, exposing many of the system's long-standing weaknesses, now is a good opportunity to rebuild a more resilient and inclusive education system in the Kingdom says UNDP Cambodia
Nick Beresford and Khoun Theara
January 22, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented disruptions to education systems around the world, and Cambodia is no exception. Schools closed throughout much of last year as part of the pandemic response. Millions of children in Least Developed Countries were left with little or no educational alternative.

As Cambodia is recovering from the pandemic, it is now the right moment for all of us to reflect and consider how we might make our education system more resilient to shocks, more responsive to the needs of young people, and more conducive for lifelong learning in a post-Covid-19 world.

This Sunday, 24 January, is the United Nations International Day of Education. It reminds us all that education is a basic human right, an essential public good and a public responsibility. Yet, this year, the celebration is muted as this fundamental right has been compromised. More precisely, Covid-19 has rendered many states unable to properly fulfill this social contract.

Many countries have had to impose strict social distancing measures, closing business, schools and other institutions as containment measures to stem the spread of the virus. In Cambodia, schools were closed down nationwide on 16 March for several months, and again throughout December. The good news – the very good news – is that community transmission was successfully prevented, but this has come at a heavy cost to children.

During the school closures, we have seen that most schools both public and private were largely unprepared. The shock pushed educators and students to adopt distance learning tools such as Zoom or Telegram in a rush. But without widespread access to the internet and online learning resources, most children were left with few options.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports deserves credit for supplementing the gap by introducing distance learning apps, as well as televised and radio educational programmes to help students stay connected, and continue to learn.

But distance learning faces many obstacles in Cambodia. According to a government study published in September, over 80% of students reported having no television at home, no smartphone or tablet, and insufficient internet bandwidth. This was compounded by the fact that nearly three quarters of students, and almost as many teachers, had low digital literacy levels. A majority cited the high cost of internet connectivity as a key constraint.

Cambodia has been consistently improving its education, as measured by the Human Development Index, over the last two decades. However, according to a recent report published by UNDP, Cambodia could lose up to four years of human development due largely to the lost access to education throughout last year. This backsliding is unprecedented since the late 1970s.
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