Improving the quality of Cambodian higher education: Key challenges and suggestions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2023.03.02.03Keywords:
Higher education, higher education quality, challenges, suggestions, CambodiaAbstract
Higher education is one of the main drivers of economic development. Due to its significant roles, many countries, including Cambodia, have invested in developing their higher education subsector. For over two decades since 1997, Cambodia has experienced a high increase in the number of higher education institutions (HEIs). Despite the rapid institutional expansion, there are many issues impeding the quality of Cambodian higher education. Drawing on secondary sources and the authors’ extensive experience and knowledge of the subsector, this article tries to investigate and explain some of the factors affecting the quality of higher education in Cambodia. The article focuses on several issues, including political interference, fragmented governance structures, ineffective ministerial policy implementation, fragmented institutional management, limited quality of teaching personnel, low academic salaries, business-oriented higher education, and issues concerning curriculum and academic programs. The article offers some suggestions to address these challenges. Key suggestions include (a) limiting political interference in appointing top university leaders, (b) setting up effective and independent higher education quality assurance bodies, (c) creating a term limit for top university leadership roles, (d) establishing a meritocracy-based policy for university leader appointments, (e) making academic salaries comparable to those of other similar professions, (f) developing policies on minimum tuition fees and student loan programs, and (g) introducing mechanisms to improve curricula and promote enrollments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.
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