Primary education

Enrollment Rates

Net enrolment in primary schools and in secondary schools, as well as transition rates from primary to secondary levels, have all shown varying degrees of improvement in the first half of this decade. According to the UNDP 2005 update of Cambodia’s progress towards achieving the MDG, the net admission rate, which compares actual to potential admissions to grade 1, has stayed unchanged at 81% in both 2001 and 2005, against a target of 95%. However, according to 2005 EMIS data records, enrollment rates are close to universal. In a recent WFP survey (2007) it was found that the primary school net enrolment rate for the districts covered by the WFP School Feeding Programme was 92 percent (91.23 percent for female pupils) as against a nation-wide net enrolment figure of 91.3 percent in 2005-06. It is important to note that net enrollment rates have seen a steady increase since 2001; the abolition of school fees in 2001 being a key reason.

Table 6.1: Percentage Attending School / Educational Institutional Among Population in the Age Group 7 to 24, Cambodia 2004

Source: CIPS, 2004

The World Bank 2007 Human Development Index strengthens the EMIS claim of high primary school enrollment. According to the 2007 HDI figures, Cambodia’s Net Enrollment Ratio increased from 69 in 1991 to 99 in 2005. Net enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment of children of official school age based on the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Enrollment ratios help to monitor two important issues for universal primary education; whether a country is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary completion by 2015, which implies achieving a net primary enrollment ratio of 100 percent, and whether an education system has sufficient capacity to meet the needs of universal primary education, as indicated in part by its gross enrollment ratios. The difference between gross and net enrollment ratios shows the incidence of overage and underage enrollments.

Table 6.2: Cambodia's Net & Gross Primary School Enrollment Ratio - 2005

Source: WB HDI 2007

The survival rate (the proportion of students who stay in education) from grade 1 to grade 9 has actually fallen from 33 percent in 2001 to 29.3 percent in 2005 as against a target of 52 percent (UNDP, 2007). The data indicates that there are many over-aged children stuck at the primary level, which creates disincentives for parents to send their children to school.

Overage enrollment is caused by either late school entry, slow progress through school, or a combination of the two. EMIS data report significant overage intake and enrollment that increases with the level of schooling. CCLS (Cambodia Child Labor Survey) data corroborates this but further emphasizes the impact of both late school entry and over-aged enrollment, stating that approximately 72 percent of children who enter school for the first time are older than 6 and that most children in secondary school are actually over-aged. CCLS also reports that approximately 40 percent of school-aged children entered school at ages 8 and above. Although Cambodian children tend to enter school late, they do for the most part, eventually enroll: according to CCLS 2001, only 9 percent of children aged 12-14 had never attended school (World Bank 2005).

Thus there has been a steady increase in enrollment. According to the 2005 World Bank report on the education sector, Cambodia seems to be experiencing a late entry phenomenon that is common during a period of rapid expansion of a school system, particularly after a period of disruption. In other words, as infrastructure improves, net enrollment will increase as more (and better) schools are created thus offering more educational opportunities especially in rural areas.

Drop-out Rates

One of the education sector’s most significant challenges is to keep children, particularly poor children, in school beyond the first few grades of primary school.   The figure below (Figure 6.1) compares the drop-out rates for grades 1 to 6 between the periods 1998/99 and 2002/03. It can be noted there is hardly any change in the drop-out rates for the first, to fourth grades over a span of 4 years. Indeed, during this time drop-out rates have increased for the first and second grades and slightly decreased for the third and fourth grades. The net result being that over 4 years the overall drop-out rates for the first four grades of primary school have been stagnant. This in itself is alarming as it means there has been no progress in combating this problem. However, the true magnitude of the effect of primary school drop-outs can be seen when comparing the rates for the fifth and sixth grades. The primary school drop-out rate has doubled in the fifth grade and tripled in the sixth grade between 1999 and 2003.

Figure 6.1 Primary school grade- specific dropout and repetition rates for 1998/99 and 2002/2003

Source: World Bank, 2005

According to the 2005 World Bank report on education, dropout rates peak in the transition from primary to lower secondary school and remain high throughout this level of schooling. Thus, while most children spend some time in primary school, a significant proportion of them drop out before completing it. Figure 6.2 and 6.3 illustrate completion curves from grade 1 for children in rural and urban areas.

Figure 6.2  Completion rates from grade by area (CCLS)

Source: World Bank, 2005

Figure 6.3 completion rates from grade by Sex (CCLS)

Source: World Bank, 2005

Table 6.3 Reasons For Dropping Out From School

Source: MOEYS/UNESCO (2000)/NPRS, 2005

As can be seen from Table 6.3, the two most common reasons for children dropping out of school is the inability of parents to afford school fees and the opportunity cost of sending children to school. In other words poverty is the main obstacle. The bottleneck in the basic education system starts in the upper primary education levels. It is worth noting the significant discrepancy between the proportion of children reaching the last grade of primary education and the first grade of lower secondary education and the proportion of children actually completing these grades (Figure 6.2).  Since 2001, primary school fees have been abolished and thus a major obstacle to enrolment has been removed. However, secondary school education is not free and this perhaps explains the high drop-out rate during the transition period from primary to secondary education. Households that cannot afford tuition have no choice but to withdraw their children once they reach secondary school.

Another important factor is the opportunity cost of sending children to school. A child at school would mean the adult members of the household would have to be present to look after the younger children, source water or firewood, etc. However if all the adults are required to work then necessarily such a household cannot send their children to school. This view is strengthened by the fact that the completion rate for girls is lower than that for boys (Figure 6.3).

It is important to note that less than 1 percent of the sample believed that the standard of teaching was poor or that education was unimportant. Thus, education is considered important and useful by most households but wide-spread poverty results in hampering education.

While there has been considerable progress in increasing primary enrollment rates, there has been no corresponding decrease in drop-out rates. This means that while increasing numbers of children are entering the school system and spending some time there, a significant proportion either drop out or fail to enroll in secondary school. Thus, the recent gain in primary net enrollment rates is due to a net gain in the proportion of children that enter school, most of whom are over age, rather than children staying longer in school. A severe bottleneck in the basic education sector begins in upper primary education. While most children spend some time in primary school, significant numbers drop out before completing the primary school cycle. This decline in participation through the years of basic education is particularly severe among children from households in the poorest two wealth quintiles (WB, 2005). Thus, the challenge is to not only maintain and increase primary school enrollment but to reduce drop out rates, thereby ensuring more children enter and continue to be in school.