Learning to teach: a curriculum for Cambodia’s future

In an effort to cast off its record as the country with the lowest quality of primary education in the region, Cambodia’s Ministry of Education is launching its first bachelor’s degree programme in teaching next month, enrolling 500 primary school teachers in pilot institutes in Phnom Penh and Battambang. Karolina Rutkowska, capacity development adviser for VVOB Cambodia, talked with Southeast Asia Globe about the curriculum the NGO is developing to give future teachers the skills to overcome the Kingdom’s education hurdles and compete in 21st-century Asean.

Tell us about VVOB’s role in the teacher academy and its curriculum…

In 2016, [the Japan International Cooperation Agency] signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports [MoEYS] to support them in developing new institutes of higher education that are responsible for the new teacher training. The current teacher training is two years. Basically, you finish secondary school, and you can do an entrance exam and start the… two-year [training before entering the field]. That’s both for a primary school teacher and lower secondary school teacher. They’re changing that to a four-year degree, so not only is the whole curriculum changing, also the institutes that give this training are completely new… We joined the project in 2017 along the way and we are responsible for the development of 12 [primary school-level] syllabi [across] mathematics, managing learners… professional practice and inquiry… [and] teaching practicum.