Factor Analysis of the Quality of Lower Secondary Education in Cambodia

Although Cambodia is able to provide most primary-school-age children opportunities for learning at school, the country is still far from achieving secondary-level schooling for all children. Nearly 80% of pupils who graduate from primary education go on to lower secondary education, but less than half of them go on to the final year of lower secondary education (i.e., the ninth grade). This means more than half the students are leaving schools before completing their lower secondary education. This paper examines where this reduction of enrolment happens, how it happens, and what the associated factors are. A questionnaire was conducted by the author in March 2016 at two public lower secondary schools in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The population for this research was all the students at the schools, i.e., 682 students: 429 for WK School and 253 for PP School. The findings of this study are ten-fold. 1) With each grade promotion at the schools, the number of students decreases, especially between the eighth and ninth grades. 2) The decrease between the eighth and the ninth grades is more evident at PP School. 3) Many students come to school by motor bike, and this is more common at WK School. 4) At PP School, the percentage of students who come to school by motor bike dramatically decreases in the ninth grade. 5) For both schools, there may be a correlation between the student decrease from the eighth to the ninth grades and the decrease in students who come to school by motor bike. 6) Many parents of PP School students engage in agricultural work, while those of WK School students do various kinds of work. 7) For each grade level, the number of fathers and mothers who are doing agricultural work decreases as their children are promoted. 8) More students attend extra classes at WK School, while more students receive private tutoring at PP School. 9) Attending extra classes or receiving private tutoring may not correlate to grade promotion. 10) A reason the percentage of students attending extra classes is lower at PP School may be that at this school, a free after-school study club is available. Extra classes and private tutoring require payment.本研究は、科学研究費補助金（平成25-28年度基盤研究（B）（一般））「途上国の前期中等教育における学校改善実践に関する国際比較研究」（研究代表者：吉田和浩）による助成を受けたものである

Roles for Non-State Actors in Public Education: A Study on Private Tutoring and School Teachers in Cambodia

This study focuses on private tutoring for lower secondary public schools in Cambodia and explores the impact of private tutoring on teaching and learning in public schools. The 2021 Global Education Monitoring Report sheds light on the role of non-state actors in achieving global education targets. Tutoring at private educational institutes can play an important role in strengthening students’ learning in collaboration with public education. In fact, private tutoring is common among pupils and students, especially in Asian countries. For example, the data shows that more than 65% of 9th grade students in lower secondary schools in Japan went to cram schools, (i.e., juku) in Japan. It is said that private tutoring is beneficial to students’ learning, but excessive reliance on private tutoring outside of public education may result in expanding inequality in education. Previous literature on private tutoring in Cambodia points out that lack of instructional time, overloaded curriculum, and large class size in public education impact the supply and demand for private tutoring. Therefore, the following questions need to be answered: 1) how do teachers in public schools reason their provision of private tutoring, and 2) what factors inside public education are associated with the reasoning for their provision of private tutoring? This study conducts field research in Cambodia, and analyzes the data from a questionnaire survey and interviews with lower secondary public school teachers in suburban areas. The findings of this study are as follows: (1) the teachers surveyed acknowledge that their students’ learning is supported by private tutoring, (2) they recognize that their schools face issues of lack of instructional time, overloaded curriculum, and large class size in public education, but that private tutoring is not a main solution, (3) the impact of private tutoring does not outperform that of public education—private tutoring makes up for the shortfalls of public education, and (4) some teachers are working hard to supplement the shortfalls, instead of relying on private tutoring.本研究は、科学研究費補助金（18H03661）「途上国の前期中等教育開発における政策 -実践連携に関する国際比較研究」（基盤研究A,2018-2021 年度 , 吉田和浩教授代表（広島大学））を活用させていただいた