Administration and Management of the Education System

Administratively, the country comprises twenty provinces and four municipalities (Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kep, and Pailin). Provinces are subdivided into districts, and districts into communes. The municipalities are subdivided into precincts, and precincts into quarters. The central administration is the main body handling administrative affairs at municipal/provincial and district levels.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) has four levels or horizontal lines of authority, consisting of the central, the provincial/municipal, the district and the school levels. It should be noted that the school cluster is not a new hierarchical line of authority. A school cluster is a group of schools located near each other that can provide mutual technical and material assistance to make the teaching-learning process more effective.

The unique characteristic of the MEYS is the far-flung network of central headquarters, twenty-four provincial education offices, 182 district education offices and around 6,500 schools. With over 80,000 education personnel, the Ministry represents more than half of the total public service. In order to operate effectively, the Ministry requires an organizational structure that is comprehensive in terms of education service planning, management, and delivery and monitoring.

The organizational structure of the Ministry was revised in early 1998. There are five General Departments including General Education, Higher Education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Youth and Sports, Administration Finance and Planning, and the Inspectorate. The Department of Planning runs an Education Management Information System (EMIS) Centre. Its mission is to collect data from all schools across the country for processing, analyzing and then compiling into statistics and indicators yearbooks for distribution to and use by all levels of educational administrators.

Over the past decade, in common with most ministries, the primary mission of the central administration has been to exercise a degree of control over MEYS operations, with a predominant focus on administration of MEYS affairs. Levels of delegation to line departments, provincial and district authorities have been limited and unclear. The predominant culture has been one of seeking upward approval for decisions. The opportunities and willingness to take decisions at lower levels of the system has been limited by unclear delegated authority. The situation is reinforced by a tradition of highly centralized resource management for both personnel and operational budgets.

The introduction of the priority action programmes (PAP) in 2000 has provided an opportunity to rationalize organizational structures and responsibilities within the Ministry. Financial channeling and management of PAP funds is directed from the central government treasury to district accounts held in the provincial treasury. This has had a positive effect on various levels of MEYS to review its role and function. In essence, central headquarters are gradually assuming their proper role of policy making, strategic planning and monitoring. Provincial offices are beginning to assume a progress monitoring and oversight role, with districts and schools being responsible for day-to-day management of PAP funds.

Pre-school education is not compulsory. It lasts three years and caters to children aged 3-5.

Primary education

In principle, primary education is compulsory for children aged 6-11. The primary education programme lasts six years and is the first stage of basic education.

Secondary education

General secondary education consists of: lower secondary, or the second stage of basic education, lasting three years and in principle compulsory for students aged 12-14; and upper secondary, which is not compulsory and also lasts three years.

Higher and tertiary-level education is provided in universities and technical and professional training institutions. Tertiary-level courses last two to three years. Teacher-training colleges train primary and lower secondary teachers (two-year programmes). At the university level, programmes leading to the Bachelor's degree or equivalent usually last four years. A one-year, post-graduate programme at the Faculty of Pedagogy trains upper secondary school teachers. Studies in the fields of medicine and dentistry last seven years (six years in the case of pharmacy and architecture).

The school year should consist of thirty-eight working weeks. Pupils should receive six periods of teaching per day, five days per week, each teaching period lasting forty-five minutes. In consideration of the shortage of classrooms, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports allowed schools to teach only five periods per day, each period lasting forty minutes.