Roles of education in Cambodian development: facilitating positive outcomes

Abstract

Development has been a topic of discussion over the past century. The concept of development is believed to have its origin in the colonial era and then has changed over time, especially after the end of the World War II. Development was traditionally discussed in an economic context, but it has increasingly drawn attention from social scientists. Today, development is discussed in the context of human development. In this context, an improvement of quality of life is the ultimate goal of development. At the same time, there is widespread recognition that education has produced positive outcomes on development in many countries. Therefore, this study examines positive outcomes of education in the context of development. To do so, Cambodia has been chosen as a specific focus of the study because it has a unique historical context [where the literacy rate was almost zero after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979] and has experienced particularly rapid post-war development. An exploratory approach and qualitative methodology were applied to collect first-hand information from eighteen participants consisting of eight development and education experts, five university graduates who are appointed as leaders at their organisations or companies, and five university students who are studying at different universities. The research has produced five major findings. First, education has empowered individuals in the areas of health, internal capacity and skills, and resilience. These attributes serve as a foundation which enables individuals to develop themselves so that they can become professionals or skilled workers. Second, education improves chances of or pathways to a career, especially in the context of globalization and regionalization of economies. Third, education has produced positive social changes in many areas such as [better] working conditions, [higher] incomes, [more] employment, and [reduced levels of] social inequality. Fourth, education is a powerful tool to fight poverty. Fifth, the cycle of poverty can be broken when barriers to education are broken down, and there are three mechanisms for removing these barriers: support from the government, support from family and community, and student commitment.