A partial assignment written for the subject 'Development and Public Policy' Master of Public Policy, University Malaya

1. PART 2: POLICY RECOMMENDATION ON A DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE ISSUE IN
CAMBODIA – PROPOSAL TO ENHANCE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR DISABLED
CHILDREN VIA RURAL OUTREACH AND IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING ON
DISABILITY AND SPECIAL NEEDS ISSUES
Mohd Hasim Ujang, Hieu Luu, Mohamed Sala Hassan
International Institute of Public Policy and Management, University Malaya Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Introduction
This paper seeks to propose to the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
(MEYS) to initiate two (2) important policy implementations at national level in order to
enhance inclusive education for disabled children in Cambodia. The recommended policies
are urgent and necessary to address the daunting situation that has largely hindered
optimum participation amongst Cambodian children into the mainstream education,
especially children with disabilities. The proposals are:
1. To implement a rural outreach program that encourages early learning and schooling for
children in remote areas with special attention to children with disabilities; and
2. To fully adopt the In-Service Teacher Training On Disability and Special Needs Issues
for Primary School Teachers.
Background
Cambodian children with disabilities are facing enormous challenges to attain full
participation into formal schooling at primary, secondary and tertiary level. The country still
requires huge amounts of foreign assistance to rebuild its education system from massive
destruction that have occurred as a result from decades of civil war and atrocities during the
rule of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975 – 1992). Until today Cambodia is still struggling to
provide quality education from kindergarten right until tertiary level. Hence, participation into
the mainstream education is a very big issue in Cambodia, not only for children with
disabilities but for normal children as well.
According to the latest UNICEF Report on Education in Cambodia, the 2010/2011 enrolment
rate for children into the first year of primary schooling is 95.2 percent (95.8 and 94.6 percent
for boys and girls respectively). These figures cover all children including those with
disabilities. Despite the high enrolment rate however, less than half of these children are not
expected to complete primary education, and even less of them are able to continue until
lower secondary school. The very high dropout rates are contributed by the multiple factors
that include poverty, geographical and ethno-linguistic challenges.
Poverty pushes many students out of school as many parents, especially in rural areas,
cannot afford the direct and indirect costs related to education. Moreover, families often
require children to help at home with chores and field work to supplement income which are
mainly supported by subsistence farming. In addition, lack of quality of education in schools,
leading to high rates of repetition, also contributes to high dropout rates, particularly at the
primary and lower secondary level. Repeating grades results in a significant proportion of
overage children in primary schools, preventing children from reaching the transition to
secondary school at an age where it still makes sense to continue in education.
In addition, schools are mainly concentrated in urban areas and thus, become significantly
prohibitive for children from rural and remote regions. These children especially those from
ethnic minorities, lack access to consistent, quality education and many of them could only
begin primary education well beyond six years of age. In the 2008/2009 school year, nearly

2. half of children in remote areas admitted to grade one were over the age of six, compared to
29 per cent in urban areas. Late enrolment magnifies the problem by decreasing a child’s
chances of staying in school. Across the country, more than half of 12 to 14 year olds are in
primary school and struggle to keep up with their younger peers.
Furthermore, a lot of children from remote areas are only able to speak in their native tribal
languages whereas school teachers and textbooks are using Khmer, the Cambodian national
language as the primary medium of instruction. There are no less than 20 ethnic minorities
from rural areas who are not well-exposed to the Khmer language. This situation presents
significant communication barrier that largely hinders effective knowledge absorption and
cognitive development amongst children from a disadvantaged background. As a result,
learning by rote, in which children are taught to merely repeat after their teachers without
understanding the context still continues to be practiced in many schools.
Portions of rural community are also still live based on subsistence farming typically
characterized by repetitive cycle of slash, burn, plant and moving away in search for new plot
of arable land. Thus, children in these communities continuously follow their parents to move
from one place to another in search of arable lands, adversely affecting their schooling.
Recommended Policy Implementation
Rural outreach program
The rural outreach program should make use of various instruments to maximize opportunity
and access to knowledge and education amongst rural children especially those who are
disabled. Among the instruments that should be included are:
Establishing makeshift libraries and mobile learning centres in clusters of three (3)
villages throughout the interior of Cambodia. This effort should be carried out in a cost-
conscious manner to minimize impediments due to financial constraints. Cost-effective
materials such as old and recycled construction materials, wood and bamboos from
nearby forests and even old buses and trailers can be converted into makeshift libraries
and learning centres with the aid of Labour-Based Appropriate Technology (LBAT) to
minimize costs.
Provide free classes to teach Khmer and English to rural communities with support from
local and international volunteers plus social workers. The makeshift and permanent
learning centres can be used for this purpose. In this respect, the Bridgebook
Foundation has already created very good examples in Cambodia and Mongolia with a
total of eleven (11) learning centres that teach English to children and young persons.
Their model of community-based education service is replicable throughout rural areas
in Cambodia especially with close collaboration from existing government institutions.
Teaching materials for schools and learning centres can be procured with minimum cost
via donations of books and other teaching materials. Assistances in the form of grants
from foreign governments such as Cambodia Disability Inclusive Development Funds
(CDIDF) under UNICEF and Australian Government are also useful.
It is highly recommended to get the involvement of multinational corporations in CSR
programs that aim to assist rural education and community service. For instance, the
Bookbridge Foundation has invited multinational corporations to participate in leadership
and internship programs in the management of Cambodian community services that are
operated by the Foundation. Thus, efforts to generate more of such initiatives should be
carried out to maximize contributions from multinational corporations in the restoration of
Cambodian education system.

3. Creating awareness amongst the rural community regarding the hazards of slash-and-
burn farming to their environment and livelihood while simultaneously assisting them to
settle permanently in well-established communities. This measure requires education,
training plus some material and technical support
To build at least one school in every radius of 3 to 10km depending on route and
population density. The school should provide kindergarten and primary education for
rural population with maximum inclusion of children with disabilities. The cost-effective
approach and LBAT approach can be used to implement this scheme cost-efficiently.
In addition, cheap mode of rural transportations that are custom-built for children can be
provided using cost-efficient and LBAT approach to assist children with disabilities to
attend schools. Normal children can co-benefit from this instrument with disabled
children, which also develops shared needs and mutual friendship across ethnic and
physical barriers.
The rural outreach program shall require extensive involvement from foreign donor countries,
national and international bodies of persons with disabilities that possess significant
capability to contribute financially and in terms of other resources. Social advocacies and
community support group from foreign countries can also take part to make the proposal
work effectively. The Cambodian Government via the National Disability Action Council
(NDAC) and should lead the way to ensure the success of the rural outreach program.
In-Service Teacher Training On Disability and Special Needs Issues for Primary School
Teachers
The In-Service Teacher Training On Disability and Special Needs Issues for Primary School
Teachers is a handbook specially developed to train teachers to correctly recognize and
respond to the educational needs of children with disabilities. The adoption of this handbook
into mainstream education is particularly important because there is no concrete approach or
program currently exist to equip Cambodian teachers with skills that are necessary for
educating children with disabilities.
The CRPD Universal Periodic Review Number 18 (UPR 18) for Cambodia states that in
2008, the MEYS adopted a “Policy on Education for Children with Disabilities” to guide
national education program for children with disabilities. However, this policy focuses only on
children with physical disabilities. It excludes children with intellectual and psycho-social
disabilities. Furthermore, it does not contain specific guidelines for teachers to accurately
assess and respond to the needs of children with disabilities as defined by the CRPD.
Thus, the adoption of the In-Service Teacher Training On Disability and Special Needs
Issues for Primary School Teachers can appropriately address this void. The special
education toolkit was written by Philippa Thomas, a UK-based education researcher in
collaboration with Cambodian NDAC, MEYS, representatives from special schools plus local
and international NGOs. The toolkit was specifically developed in Cambodian context with
specific references to similar experience in UK, India and Laos. However, despite close
collaboration and specific relation to the Cambodian context, the Cambodian government
has only formally recognized the toolkit but has yet to incorporate it into the national
education policy.
Thus, a huge number of Cambodian teachers are not yet exposed to the toolkit and a great
deal of effort is needed to familiarize them with the special methods and techniques to teach
children with disabilities which has been structurally presented in the toolkit. The 157-page
toolkit consists of 6 modules which can be described by the following salient features:

4. Modules 1 – 2: Defining special needs & Disability awareness. These modules expose
teachers to case studies involving different types of special needs among children that
are largely defined by their physical, cognitive and/or psychological impairments. These
modules educate teachers to differentiate between learning difficulties caused by a
disadvantaged background and those that are caused by impairments that contribute to
‘disability’ as defined by WHO and the CRPD. The modules also guides teachers on how
to lend appropriate assistance based on the type of learning disabilities that children face
in school. Most importantly, the modules educate teachers to understand and embrace
the concept of social model of disability in lieu of the medical model and consequently to
tailor the appropriate assistance along this line of thought.
Modules 3 – 4: Education for children with special needs & Responding to diversity.
These modules give detailed understanding to teachers about the social model of
disability as defined under international conventions. The modules educate teachers
about the responsibility to align existing education policies, infrastructure and educators’
mindset towards an inclusive education that gives equal treatment and priority for all
children regardless of their disability or state of fitness. Most importantly, these modules
teach educators to follow eight (8) golden rules in managing and adapting to different
learning needs of children in their classrooms:
o Communication
o Classroom management
o Individual plans
o Assistive aids
o Lesson planning
o Individual help
o Managing behaviour
o Including all pupils.
Modules 5 – 6: Teaching basic skills to children with special needs & Advice for teaching
children with disabilities in the classroom. These modules guide educators on how to
teach essential skills & subjects such as talking, reading, writing and mathematics to
children with special needs, what are the expected challenges and how to deal with the
challenges. The last module include further case studies that demonstrate how teachers
and pupils can cooperate to generate warm acceptance, friendship and solidarity with
children with special needs. The use of games, group activities and stimulating
environment are heavily emphasized for such purpose.
The heuristic approach employed in the special education toolkit that are based on real life
examples further strengthens its potential to address the existing shortcomings in the
Cambodian education system in dealing with special children. The toolkit is also applicable in
other countries with similar context due to its comprehensive and flexible content that can be
adjusted to meet local circumstances.
Challenges in implementing the Recommended Policies
The extensive destruction of Cambodian education system during the Khmer Rouge era
requires huge amount of financial and technical resource to rebuild and restore the system.
Compounded by the constraints in the Cambodian economic growth, it is very difficult to
implement the above suggestions without extensive involvement and assistance from foreign
governing bodies, international NGOs and multinational corporations via CSR programs.
Thus, concerted effort needs to be carried out continuously to attract the highest participation
from the respective parties in order to expedite the remedies for the Cambodian education

5. problems. The authors of this paper noted that the level of CSR contributions to Cambodia
from multinational companies are still sorely lacking. Thus, more effort should be directed
towards drawing in CSR-based projects to assist in the restoration and enhancement of the
Cambodian education system with special attention to disability-inclusive learning.
Furthermore, the adoption of special training toolkit for teachers requires extensive
contribution from experts in special education who have vast experience in conducting
training for teachers. Significant language barrier is expected to be present since most of the
trainers are not fluent in Khmer. Thus, significant effort is needed to overcome the language
barrier. Since Cambodia cannot rely forever on foreign expertise to train its teachers in
special education, it is highly likely that the toolkit needs to be translated from English into
Khmer to enable the concept of ‘train the trainers’. Thus, careful implementation and
adoption of this toolkit is necessary to maintain the effectiveness and long-term viability of
the teachers’ education program in special education.
Due to the financial constraints faced by the Cambodian government and the parties
involved, the recommended policies should be implemented in a gradual and phased manner
to amortize the costs across a long term period. Meanwhile, the gradual improvement in the
Cambodian education system should mark a shift away from providing basic knowledge and
vocational training tailored for blue collar and unskilled jobs towards building intellectual and
professional capacity of the Cambodian population to generate higher level of economic
growth. Only by this measure can the country move up towards middle and eventually higher
income economy with more desirable standard of living.
Conclusion
The recommended policies underscore the importance of education as the key to attain
higher standard of living that ensures sustainable wellbeing of Cambodian future
generations. Considering that the Cambodian civil war has only ended in 1992, the progress
achieved within the space of 22 years is truly remarkable. However the state of Cambodian
education system still leaves much to be desired which necessitates prompt adoption of the
recommended policies. The Cambodian experience should serve as a very good lesson for
current and future post-conflict rebuilding efforts in any countries. Most importantly,
multilateral participation from governments, IGOs, INGOs, academia and multinational
corporations can greatly assist restoration efforts in post-conflict development.
References
1. The UNICEF report on the current state of Cambodian education system
(www.unicef.org/cambodia/3.Education.pdf) retrieved on 15th
December 2014.
2. The Cambodian Universal Periodic Review on the state of CRPD compliance and
disability-inclusive development issues
(www.dpi.org/documents/dpo_upr_report_cambodia_final.doc) retrieved on 15th
December 2014.
3. The Bookbridge Foundation efforts for community service and education in Cambodia
(http://www.bookbridge.org/who-we-are/story/) accessed on16th
December 2014.
4. The Bookbridge Foundation’s information on current syllabus taught in Cambodian
education system (http://www.bookbridge.org/2012/03/the-education-system-in-
cambodia/) accessed on 16th
December 2014.
5. The toolkit for teachers’ training in special education published by Education Enabling
Network, a UK-based social work organization
(http://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/cambodia_contents.php) accessed and
retrieved on 17th
December 2014.

6. 6. The call for proposal to submit application for the 2015 Cambodia Disability Inclusive
Development Funds (CDIDF) (http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/overview_22939.html)
accessed on 18th
December 2014.
7. Susie Miles, School of Education, University of Manchester, UK: Mainstreaming
Disability in Development, The example of Inclusive Education
(http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/Disability/3inclusive_ed_paper.pdf) published in May
2005, retrieved on 19th
November 2014.