The Need We Serve
Rebuilding What Was Deliberately Destroyed
The Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s systematically dismantled the country’s education system. Schools were closed, books were destroyed, and teachers and intellectuals were killed.
An entire generation was denied formal education, and the foundations of learning were erased. Although Cambodia has made progress, rural communities in particular continue to bear the consequences of this loss.
Rebuilding an education system that was intentionally destroyed cannot be done in a single generation. It requires sustained, long-term commitment.
Now, inequality between Cambodia’s urban and rural schools threatens to undermine learning opportunities for millions of students. Infrastructure is inadequate, and community attitudes often do not value education. According to a study by the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment for Development (PISA-D), rural students consistently underperform compared to their urban counterparts.
“The rural population has long been falling into the trap of the uneducated-poverty cycle…at first rural citizens are hesitant or even refuse to send their children to school due to the perception that education drains their economies and is useless. They believe education makes no difference for their family.”
- Dr. Chankuolika Bo, Director of the Policy Department at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), as quoted in southeastasiaglobe.com in 2021
There remain striking differences between rural and urban areas, between children with and without disabilities, and between wealthier and poorer families. Particular challenges remain for many children and women in rural Cambodia where everyday life can be extremely daunting.
Dr. Chankuolika Bo of the MoEYS stated, “More Cambodian people live in rural areas than in urban areas, and ensuring education access to rural communities means building human resources. Enabling this environment is the only effective way to help to address the long-run problem of poverty in Cambodia.”
