Education reforms ‘daunting’
Cambodia’s political culture is continuing to threaten the quality of primary education, and ambitious reforms are likely to fall flat unless changes are made at the ground level, according to a new report.“However, to improve quality the minister and his supporters will have to win hundreds or thousands of mini-political struggles against all the people in the system who are content with the status quo,” Education Minister Chuon Naron said. While the report said it did not want to pour cold water on the enthusiasm for reform, it suggested policy changes – like higher salaries and weeding out corrupt or incompetent staff – but acknowledged these recommendations “go against the grain of Cambodia’s current political settlement”.
