This edited volume presents a detailed portrait of the education system in Cambodia. In addition ... more This edited volume presents a detailed portrait of the education system in Cambodia. In addition to contextualizing the development of education in Cambodia from a long-term historical perspective, the book addresses such issues as: the local enactment of student-centered pedagogies, challenges to achieving literacy and numeracy, practices of private tutoring, the rise of education-related civil society and its influence on education policymaking, issues around student dropout, and current themes in higher education and teacher education. In comparison with other books on Cambodia, the proposed work is unique in terms of its breadth, depth, and timeliness. This breadth of issues is addressed through recent quantitative and qualitative analyses by scholars long engaged in research in Cambodia. The book’s focus on challenges accompanying Cambodia’s continued expansion and modernization of its education system makes the findings and lessons presented relevant both within and beyond Cambodia.
Despite Cambodia's long history of education development (Clayton 1995; Dy and Ninomiya 2003... more Despite Cambodia's long history of education development (Clayton 1995; Dy and Ninomiya 2003), the discussion of the country's contemporary education sector usually begins with the destructive Khmer Rouge regime (Chhinh 2004; Keng and Clayton 2007). This analytical chapter of politics and economics of education reform begins with a discussion of the Khmer Rouge regime during which almost two million people died of starvation, hard work, and execution. Public infrastructure was completely destroyed and basic social services were terminated. The only activities that prevailed across the country were the collective farming intended to turn Cambodia into an agricultural utopia. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge in January 1979, the Vietnamese-supported government established social systems from scratch (Kiernan 1982; Mysliweic 1988; Ayres 2000). Education and other social sectors were reborn with financial and technical support from the socialist blocks. The education refo...
Currently, efforts to improve the quality of teachers in Cambodia are underway. To contribute inf... more Currently, efforts to improve the quality of teachers in Cambodia are underway. To contribute infor- mation that can be used in the design of interventions, this study was conducted. Focus was on deter- mining the factors that influence teaching skills. Participants were 40 urban primary school teachers in Cambodia. Data were gathered by questionnaire and classroom observations. Results of the correlation analysis showed that teacher enthusiasm, teacher punctuality, pupil behavior, relation between the teacher and the pupils, the teacher's use of lesson plan, flashcards, supplementary exercises and visual materials were significantly positively related to the teaching skills. The teacher's use of textbook had a significant negative relationship with teaching skills. The stepwise regression analysis revealed that teacher enthusiasm, pupil behavior, visual materials and textbook contributed joint significant effects on teaching skills.
This article has three purposes. First, it presents findings from a study of student retention an... more This article has three purposes. First, it presents findings from a study of student retention and dropout in Cambodia, as pupils transition from primary to lower secondary school. Second, it aims to understand from an in-depth, emic perspective the dynamics of this process and the challenges that individual families and their students face around this transition. Third, it offers policy-relevant suggestions for addressing obstacles to students continuing in school. It meets these goals by combining complexity theory with the use of narrative research methods in interviews with student-parent pairs in urban, rural, and remote communities in Cambodia.
This edited volume presents a detailed portrait of the education system in Cambodia. In addition ... more This edited volume presents a detailed portrait of the education system in Cambodia. In addition to contextualizing the development of education in Cambodia from a long-term historical perspective, the book addresses such issues as: the local enactment of student-centered pedagogies, challenges to achieving literacy and numeracy, practices of private tutoring, the rise of education-related civil society and its influence on education policymaking, issues around student dropout, and current themes in higher education and teacher education. In comparison with other books on Cambodia, the proposed work is unique in terms of its breadth, depth, and timeliness. This breadth of issues is addressed through recent quantitative and qualitative analyses by scholars long engaged in research in Cambodia. The book’s focus on challenges accompanying Cambodia’s continued expansion and modernization of its education system makes the findings and lessons presented relevant both within and beyond Cambodia.
Despite Cambodia's long history of education development (Clayton 1995; Dy and Ninomiya 2003... more Despite Cambodia's long history of education development (Clayton 1995; Dy and Ninomiya 2003), the discussion of the country's contemporary education sector usually begins with the destructive Khmer Rouge regime (Chhinh 2004; Keng and Clayton 2007). This analytical chapter of politics and economics of education reform begins with a discussion of the Khmer Rouge regime during which almost two million people died of starvation, hard work, and execution. Public infrastructure was completely destroyed and basic social services were terminated. The only activities that prevailed across the country were the collective farming intended to turn Cambodia into an agricultural utopia. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge in January 1979, the Vietnamese-supported government established social systems from scratch (Kiernan 1982; Mysliweic 1988; Ayres 2000). Education and other social sectors were reborn with financial and technical support from the socialist blocks. The education refo...
Currently, efforts to improve the quality of teachers in Cambodia are underway. To contribute inf... more Currently, efforts to improve the quality of teachers in Cambodia are underway. To contribute infor- mation that can be used in the design of interventions, this study was conducted. Focus was on deter- mining the factors that influence teaching skills. Participants were 40 urban primary school teachers in Cambodia. Data were gathered by questionnaire and classroom observations. Results of the correlation analysis showed that teacher enthusiasm, teacher punctuality, pupil behavior, relation between the teacher and the pupils, the teacher's use of lesson plan, flashcards, supplementary exercises and visual materials were significantly positively related to the teaching skills. The teacher's use of textbook had a significant negative relationship with teaching skills. The stepwise regression analysis revealed that teacher enthusiasm, pupil behavior, visual materials and textbook contributed joint significant effects on teaching skills.
This article has three purposes. First, it presents findings from a study of student retention an... more This article has three purposes. First, it presents findings from a study of student retention and dropout in Cambodia, as pupils transition from primary to lower secondary school. Second, it aims to understand from an in-depth, emic perspective the dynamics of this process and the challenges that individual families and their students face around this transition. Third, it offers policy-relevant suggestions for addressing obstacles to students continuing in school. It meets these goals by combining complexity theory with the use of narrative research methods in interviews with student-parent pairs in urban, rural, and remote communities in Cambodia.
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Books by Chhinh Sitha
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the use of narrative research methods in interviews with student-parent pairs in urban, rural, and remote communities in Cambodia.
the use of narrative research methods in interviews with student-parent pairs in urban, rural, and remote communities in Cambodia.