The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved $80 million in financing to support Cambodia’s efforts to enhance the quality of higher education and research, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The funding for this initiative comes from the International Development Association (IDA), which is the World Bank’s concessional lending arm for low-income countries.
This six-year project aims to aid nine public institutions of higher education in developing well-qualified graduates and research products that contribute to Cambodia’s economic development. Approximately 32,000 students, including about 13,000 women, are expected to benefit from activities such as curriculum updates, lecturer training, and the digitization of educational delivery.
The project emphasizes improving learning quality for female students and students with disabilities while also supporting female faculty members. It adopts climate-resilient infrastructure design standards and prioritizes climate change-related research projects.
“To complement investments in health and basic education, which are the foundations for a productive workforce, strengthening high-quality higher education and preparing a critical mass of highly skilled graduates will help Cambodia advance its human capital and promote inclusive growth and development,” said Tania Meyer, World Bank Country Manager for Cambodia.
While access to higher education has gradually increased in Cambodia, there remains a need for improvements in the quality and relevance of education and research. These enhancements are crucial for building the country's capacity to meet evolving labor market demands. This new project will build on successes from an ongoing initiative that has already enhanced learning opportunities for over 128,000 higher education students—more than half of them women—by establishing 67 academic programs, funding 53 research projects, and establishing or renovating 147 laboratories.