Improving Access to Quality Basic Education: Unlocking Cambodia’s future

Children in Cambodia are entitled to nine years of free education. However, certain groups of children struggle to access quality education at different stages in their lives. For example, disabled girls and children with intellectual disabilities are two times as likely to be out of school compared to their peers, and very few disabled adolescents have completed their lower secondary education. It is also apparent that girls face bigger challenges than boys in accessing full education. Furthermore, children from ethnic minority groups have limited access to education in general due to isolation and discrimination. The unequal access to quality education is a serious issue for the realization of children’s rights in Cambodia as well as the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. 

This brief summarizes the current state of children and adolescent’s access to education in Cambodia and presents recommendations to the Royal Government of Cambodia on how o achieve quality basic education for all.