This expert meeting of the ESSSA initiative will provide a unique opportunity to share international experience in addressing the issue of skills mismatch as a way to contribute to more inclusive growth and good quality job creation across Southeast Asian countries.

1. The 6th Expert meeting of the Employment
and Skills Strategies in Southeast Asia
Initiative (ESSSA)
Session II: Tackling youth unemployment
at the local level- Cambodian Case
SOMEAN KUOCH
National Employment Agency
Email: ksomean@gmail.com
17-18 September, 2014
at Century Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

2. Content
1. Cambodian Youth Profile and Its Key Challenges
2. Policies adapted by RGC
3. The Way Forward
This presentation is largely based on the data compiled by National Employment Agency
and some policies recommendation have been drawn from the study of UNDP on
“Investing in Human Capital-Long-term strategy for industrial development and inclusive
growth”.

3. 1. Cambodian Youth Profile and
Its Key challenges

4. 99
119
142
160
122
-45
283 292 296
237
206 208 201 189
166
137
112
92
73
52
29
5
500
400
300
200
100
0
-100
Population: Annual Birth, Death and Balance
(in'000), 1955-2060
Source: United Nations Population Division 2011
Annual Birth
Annual Death
Annual Balance

5. Cambodian Population by Age Group; 2008, 2013, 2018, &2023
4.3 4.4 5.0 5.7
25.3 25.4 28.1 30.8
14.4 17.7
22.3
18.6
19.1
22.5 19.8 16.7
33.8 30.1 28.5 27.7
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
-
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2008 2013 2018 2023
Millions
0-14 15-24 25-34 35-64 65+ Total population- right axis
Source: Cambodia Population Projection (NIS,2011)

6. Working Age Population: Annual Entry, Exit and
53.863.272.680.6
31
Balance (in '000), 1955-2060
115.2
-24.6
146.4
269.6
91.8
233
206.4
172.6
148.8142.8131.4
113.2
89 85.2
-57 -47
-81.8
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
-50
-100
-150
1950-55
1955-60
1960-65
1965-70
1970-75
1975-80
1980-85
1985-90
1990-95
1995-00
2000-05
2005-10
2010-15
2015-20
2020-25
2025-30
2030-35
2035-40
2040-45
2045-50
2050-55
2055-60
Source: United Nations Population Division 2011
Annual Entry
Annual Exit
Annual Balance

7. Cambodian Working Age Population by Age Group; 2008,
2013, 2018, &2023
40.9 38.7 42.2 46.2
23.2 27.0
28.0
28.6
36.0 34.3 29.7 25.1
12
10
8
6
4
2
-
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2008 2013 2018 2023
Millions
15-24 25-34 35-64 Total WAP- Right axis
Source: Cambodia Population Projection (NIS,2011)

8. Population by level of completed education and group age, 2013
0.2 2.5
3.1 3.5
32.6
41.4
9.7
30.7
32.5
22.3 22.3
3.2
22.8
29.3
37.9
1.0 1.7 3.4
Source: Cambodian Inter Censal Population Survey (NIS, 2013)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
15-19 20-24 25+
Post-secondary
education
Upper secondary
completed
Lower secondary
completed
Primary school
completed
Primary school not
completed
None or only some
education
%

9. Cohort survival rate of student by grade; 2012-2013
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Source: EMIS 2013/2014
• Low cohort survival rate of schooling decreases significantly during
primary education and even shaper at lower secondary
• Low (expected) marginal returns on education

10. Reasons for not attending school among persons 6-17 years of
age who are not attending school, 2012
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Must contribute to household income
Too young
Don’t want to
Did not do well in school
Must help with household chores
Due to disability - Due to long term illness (over 3
months)
No suitable school available/school is too far - No
Other
teacher/Supplies
Too poor
Source: CSES (NIS,2012)
%

11. • High drop out rate before finishing grade 9:
– Barrier for entering formal TVET
• [9+(C1+C2+C3)]=Skilled Worker(Formal Vocational Training)
• [(12 or C3) + (2 or 4)] = Technician or Engineer (Formal
Technical Education and Training)
– Barrier for returning to formal general and higher education
• About 70% of the labour force (15-24) have not
competed lower secondary education (CSES)
– Lack of basic skills to supports and to push to higher industrial
based
– Increase the “low development” trap
– Increases the social cost to the economy as the workforces ages
with low education

12. Unemployment rate by age group, 2012
11
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0
15+ 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+
Cambodia
Urban
Rural
10
8
6
4
2
0
15+ None Primary Secondary Vocational University
Cambodia
Urban
Rural
Source: Cambodia Labor Force Survey (NIS,2012)
%
% Unemployment rate by educational level, 2012

13. Employment by sector, 2008-2012
28.6 26.5 29.6 27.3 30.4
15.8 15.9 16.2 16.9 18.6
55.6 57.6 54.2 55.8 51.0
Source: CSES (NIS, 2012)
8,000
7,800
7,600
7,400
7,200
7,000
6,800
6,600
6,400
6,200
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Agriculture (Primary) Industry (Secondary)
Services (Tertiary) Employed population- right axis
‘000

14. Employment by sector and educational level,
2012
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Total Agriculture Industry Services
None
Primary
Secondary
Vocational
University
Source: Cambodian Labor Force Survey (NIS, 2012)

15. Labour Demand by Skill Type and Sector by QIPs, 2010-2013
384,335
15,983
322,033
36,988
9,331
227,817
10,208
174,385
38,050
5,174
32,800
1,201
4,370
23,289
3,940
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
TOTAL
Tourism
Services
Industries
Agriculture
Manager Engineer Technician Supervisor Staff Skill Unskill
Source: CDC, 2014
• Demand in skill and unskilled workforce is about 95% of total demand by QIP.
• Skill workforce need at least Grade 9 + C1 or C2 or C3.

16. 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
There are growing recruitment difficulties from employer’s
perspective!
%
Share of Hard-to-fill Vacancies by Sector, 2012
Source: Employer Skills Need Survey (NEA, 2012)

17. Type of Skills Shortage
0 10 20 30 40 50
Technical or practical skills
Foreign language skills
Oral communication skills
Basic computer literacy / using IT
Problem solving skills
Team working skills
Customer handing skills
Written communication skills
Office admin skills
Planning and organization skills
Any other skills
Strategic Management skills
Advanced IT or software skills
Numeracy skills
Literacy skills
%
Source: Employer Skills Need Survey (NEA, 2012)

18. 2. Policies adapted by RGC

19. • Skills development and upgrading, and youth employment
issues have been placed on the high priority agenda of the
government policy platform:
– Rectangular Strategy- Phase III 2014-2018, and its
implementation plan, National Strategic Development Plan
(NSDP) 2014-2018.
– National Policy on Cambodian Youth Development 2011
– MoYES’s Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018
– MoLVT’s Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018.
– TVET Development Plan of MoLVT issued in 2008 adopted a two-track
policy, that is:
• to reduce poverty through provisions of basic skills for the rural poor so as
to improve family income;
• to support industrial development through the provision of higher level
skills so as to meet current and future labor demand.

20. • The commitment to achieve 9 year universal education:
– Have Introduced and expanded demand-side programs (e.g.
conditional cash transfer, vouchers, fee subsidy and scholarship,
food and nutrition supplements) with incentive design to
encourage not only school attendance and completion, but also on
learning outcomes.
• Given the high drop out, government have introduced the
“education for all” framework and Cambodia qualification
framework, which could allow every individual to acquire
some skills from the formal education as well as to to
continue upgrade his/her skills and move to a higher level of
education in different pathways.
• The bridging course have been scaling up and made the
TVET system more accessible and effective tool for youth
skills development and upgrading.

21. • Strengthening PPP framework, which is play an important role in
endorsing the formal and informal training via:
– improving workplace learning by: Legally binding (Apprenticeship) and
Informal (Internship)
– Engaging the private sector and, specifically, employers’ representatives, in
TVET dialogues
• Industrial Advisory Group (IAGs) have been constituted
(construction, mechanics and ICT/business) in order to review and
validate the competence standards, and competency based
curriculum.
• The Industrial Liaison Units (ILU) has been set up in all Provincial
training centers to interact with the private sector.
• Expanding and enhancing the TVET short term program via
existing TVET institutions: post harvest program, national fund for
poverty, primer minister’s fund program, and special training
program…

22. • Setting up of the National Employment Agency (NEA) in
the 2009 was a key moment in getting employment,
LMI and career guidance services. The key functions of
NEA are to:
– deliver information services to job seekers, employees, employers, skill
training providers and the public to allow them to effectively interchange
information openly and provide them the opportunities to meet one
another.
– provide new graduates, out-of-school youth and the unemployed with
labour market information and training information.
– offer job placement, services, career guidance, employment counseling,
technical and vocational training counseling, information about
occupational health, workplace safety, skills retraining.
– conduct researches and develop labour market information system to be
kept pace with the current and future socio-economic development.

23. 3. The Way Forward

24. • Increasing the productivity of the under educated and
unskilled labor force through TVET.
• Improve the educational attainment of new labour
market entrants.
• Using PPP to break systematic under investment in
education and TVET.
• Building domestic anchor industries to reduces skills
gaps and mismatches in the context of economic
diversification: Industry policy and education policy.

25. Thank for your attention!
“In order for the Kingdom of Cambodia to acquire human resources for national
development, the RGC had defined a long term vision to mobilize all effort
available in the country with the aim to contribute positively to youth development
and to provide them with opportunities to develop their potential, to access
education, employment, and health services and to participate in decision making,
and to contribute to family, community, national, and global development.”
The vision of National Policy on Cambodia Youth Development.