U.S. Government Assistance to Education in Cambodia

USAID/Cambodia

• USAID/Cambodia resumed its assistance in the education sector in Cambodia through a Bilateral Grant Agreement with the Royal Government of Cambodia in 2003.  Assistance to date in the education sector totals $26 million.
• USAID’s goal in education is to improve quality, access, and relevance of basic education.
• The Improved Basic Education in Cambodia (IBEC) Project, USAID’s flagship program in education, is a 5-year, $10 million project that will run through 2014.  It is implemented by a U.S.-based agency, World Education, and four local NGOs in three provinces.  IBEC supports 303 primary and lower secondary schools. The project’s focus includes teacher training, scholarship for the poor, small school improvement grants, life skills curriculum development, and local NGO capacity building.

USAID/Washington

• USAID/Washington recently launched a program called the School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program.  Implemented in India, East Timor, Cambodia and Tajikistan from 2010 to 2013, the program will design and pilot test interventions to prevent students from dropping out of school.  This project will continue through 2013 working in more than 300 lower secondary schools throughout the country.  Approximately $4 million are allocated to Cambodia.

U.S. Peace Corps

• Peace Corps opened its office for the first time in Cambodia in 2006.  Peace Corps volunteers teach English at secondary schools and at teacher training colleges.  In 2009, Peace Corps expanded its assistance to support health services by working at referral hospitals and health centers.  There are 102 PCVs currently working in both sectors.

U.S. Department of Defense

• The Civil Military Support Element conducts civil affairs operations in areas in need of assistance throughout Cambodia in support of the Pacific Command (PACOM) Augmentation Team.  PACOM assistance includes school, clinic, and road/bridge construction.  From 2007 to 2011, 24 school buildings have been constructed throughout the country.

U.S. Department of State

• Through its education, cultural, and professional exchange programs - Fulbright, Humbert Humphrey Fellowship, International Visitor Leadership Program,  Teaching Excellence and Achievement, and English Access Micro-scholarship - the U.S. Department of State provides approximately 200 scholarships annually to Cambodian students, teachers, and professionals for English language education or study opportunities in the United States.  These grantees return to Cambodia to take on leadership roles in support of Cambodia’s development goals or use their new knowledge to help them further their educations and better their communities.  The U.S. Embassy also provides a variety of educational resources in Cambodia, including sponsoring U.S. professors to teach at Cambodian universities through the Fulbright Scholar and Specialist Program, providing access to research databases through eLibrary USA, and supporting English language teaching and curriculum development through fellows, specialists and support for CamTESOL.