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Education in Cambodia Findings from Cambodia’S Experience in PISA for Development

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Education in Cambodia Findings from Cambodia’s experience in PISA for Development FOR DEVELOPMENT Academic Health and performance well-being Attitudes towards school Educational and learning attainment Resources Inclusive environments Learning Family and time community support Quality instruction This report was developed by Cambodia jointly with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which assisted in the design of the report and provided input, guidance and assistance in its development. The report is published under the responsibility of Cambodia and does not necessarily represent the official views of the OECD or its Member countries. Please cite this publication as: MoEYS (2018). Education in Cambodia: Findings from Cambodia’s experience in PISA for Development. Phnom Penh: Author. Cover photo: Education Prosperity Framework by Willms (2018) used for PISA-D Assessment and Analytical Framework © MoEYS 2018 You can copy or print this publication for your own use in documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgement of MoEYS as source and copyright owner is given. Foreword The Ministry of Education's purpose is to shape an education system for our country that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes for all ofour children and young people. A strong focus on student leaming and well-being underpins all our policy and the services we provide. It is to help us achieve our Ministry's purpose that we joined the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment for Development, PISA-D. This programme aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by assessing the extent to which l5-year-old students, near the end oftheir basic education, have acquired key knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. Cambodia's participation in PISA- D demonstrates the importance we place on the educational achievement of our children and young people. In this report, a tearfl of Ministry of Education officials has collated and analysed the information from our participation in PISA-D so that it can be used to benefit the education sector and, therefore, the children in our education system. This report contributes sound data, information and analysis for work under0aken to support the Government's existing education policies and our education policies, strategies and programmes in the future. The report also brings to bear on our education challenges the experiences ofother countries of similar size and economic status, including some from our own region. This opportunity for intemational comparison and international leaming is an extremely valuable aspect of our participation in PISA-D. The PISA-D assessment focuses on the core school subjects of reading, mathematics and science, and does not just ascertain whether students can reproduce knowledge; it also examines how well students can extrapolate from what they have learned and can apply that knowledge in unfamiliar settings, both in and outside of school. This information about students' capacities in these three domains is combined with background datathat enable us to look at the relationships between student achievement and contextual factors, such as students' health and well-being and their socio-economic backgrounds, students' attitudes to school and leaming, the learning environment, quahty of instruction, school resources, learning time, family and community support. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport intends to respond fully to the findings and messages contained in this report and to follow up the suggestions regarding effective interventions that are set out in the report. The effective interventions highlighted in this report include actions designed to: o establish strong foundations for success and improving educational outcomes; o improve the allocation of resources in education; o improve the school environment; o improve the quality of instruction; and o strengthen family and community support for education. Results from PISA-D for Cambodia will be disseminated widely to all stakeholders since success in education relies on many people and organisations across the community working together for the benefit of chj people, especially to ensure Cambodia is ready for PISA 2021 Jhe test and fully respond to a global education trend. a3 December 2018 ucation, Youth and Sport HANG CHUON NARON EDUCATION IN CAMBODIA : FINDINGS FROM CAMBODIA’S EXPERIENCE IN PISA FOR DEVELOPMENT Preface The purpose of this publication, the first of its kind in Cambodia, is to present the results of our country’s participation in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment for Development (PISA-D). PISA-D is a one-off pilot project that aims to make the assessment more accessible and relevant to a wider range of countries. The project is also a contribution to the monitoring of international educational targets related to the Education SDG, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 as part of the Agenda for Sustainable Development. This report describes the results achieved by our students, the resources invested in our education system, and the learning environments in our schools and communities, in ways that allow for comparisons with other countries participating in PISA-D and some countries with similar education contexts. The data and analysis contained in these pages will help our government and our educators identify the main challenges for education policy in Cambodia, and can inform the development of effective strategies and policies to confront them. Cambodia is one of nine countries that partnered with the OECD through the “PISA for Development” initiative, whose aim is to make PISA more accessible and relevant to middle- and low-income countries like ours. An important enhancement in this initiative concerned the PISA assessment instruments themselves, which were re-designed to capture a wider range of performance levels and social contexts, but on the same scales as those used in the regular PISA assessment. We have also benefited from the capacity development that has been built into the PISA for Development project and this will be utilised by us in future cycles of PISA as well as in our own national assessments. Cambodia’s participation in PISA for Development would not have been possible without the strong collaboration between Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the OECD and Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) and the financial support from Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP). Our Cambodia PISA-D team has committed their time and energy to this work with high professionalism to successfully produce such a high quality report. Education Quality Assurance Department MOEYS/EQAD 2018 | II EDUCATION IN CAMBODIA : FINDINGS FROM CAMBODIA’S EXPERIENCE IN PISA FOR DEVELOPMENT Acknowledgements This PISA-D national report is a result of collaborative work between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) of Cambodia, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) and the OECD. The report was prepared by Dr. Heng Kreng, a PISA-D National Consultant and Lead Analyst, jointly with Mr. Chuong Chantha and Mr. Tol Pagna of the Education Quality Assurance Department (EQAD), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) of Cambodia, under the supervision of Michael Ward, OECD PISA-D Project Coordinator and with a technical assistance from Francesco AVVISATI, Guillaume BOUSQUET, Nicolas MIRANDA, Kelly MAKOWIECKI and Hélène GUILLOU. Francesco AVVISATI and Guillaume BOUSQUET provided the technical assistance on analyzing the data and producing tables and figures for the report. Nicolas MIRANDA helped the team to produce system-level data for analyzing resources invested in education in Cambodia and in other PISA-D participating countries; Kelly MAKOWIECKI and Hélène GUILLOU provided support on the infographics of the report’s cover, executive summary and chapter overviews. The Learning Bar and Education Testing Service (ETS), as the international contractors, developed and quality-checked contextual questionnaires and cognitive assessment booklets and their data, respectively. This report was greatly indebted to H.E Dr. Academician Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of MoEYS and to H.E Dr. Academician Nath Bunroeun, Secretary of State of MoEYS, who relentlessly provided advice and guidance on the implementation of PISA-D for Cambodia. Their full support to Cambodia’s participation in PISA-D made this national report a reality and has marked a significant milestone for Cambodia in the PISA context. Many thanks also go to EQAD leaders and staff, especially to Education Quality Assurance Office, for their strong commitment in all the logistical and technical work. Mr. Ung Chinna, Director of EQAD, and Mr. Sar Sarin, Chief of Education Quality Assurance Office, both were the key actors in the entire implementation process, including, but not limited to, international meetings, communications and other planning. South Korea through KICE, as a peer learning country for Cambodia in PISA-D, provided both technical and financial support mainly through in-country capacity building activities. KICE extensively shared with us Korean experiences in the use of PISA results to improve the Korean education system, which is a key input to the policy section of this report. The World Bank Cambodia, under the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP), provided financial assistance on international and
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