The SEA-PLM team met with His Excellency Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, and Sport of Cambodia, during the country-level strategic workshop held on 31 March – 1 April. In a high-level dialogue, Dr. Naron shared the Ministry’s policy priorities and best practices in advancing foundational learning as part of Cambodia’s ongoing education reforms. Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim, Co-Chair of the SEA-PLM programme from the SEAMEO Secretariat, also contributed to the discussion, emphasizing the programme’s shift towards in-country support through the new strategy on Evidence-to-Policy linkages.

His Excellency Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, and Sport of Cambodia and  Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim (SEAMEO Secretariat) at the start of the SEA-PLM Country level workshop in Cambodia

Following the high-level dialogue, the workshop introduced Initiative 2: the Evidence-to-Policy framework. This initiative aims to transform data and insights gathered from the SEA-PLM assessments into concrete, impactful educational policies. The evidence from the SEA-PLM 2019 highlighted a foundational skills crisis across Southeast Asia, with significant gaps in literacy and numeracy among primary school children. Addressing these challenges through evidence-based policies is a central goal of the initiative.

The workshop continued on its second day with robust discussions involving various stakeholders. Partners from diverse educational development organizations, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport, and the SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat convened to explored collaborative approaches to translate educational evidence into policy actions to drive impactful reforms at national and sub-national levels.

Mr Alejandro Ibanez (SEA-PLM Programme Manager) facilitated the discussion during a country workshop in Cambodia.

Day three featured an engaging session on the new SEA-PLM System-Level Questionnaire, expertly facilitated by Dr. Fei Victor Lim from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). This session unpacked the complexities of policy environments in basic education, providing participants with deeper insights into effective policy-making mechanisms.

Cambodia outlined essential next steps to continue advancing foundational learning initiatives. These include activating the national steering committee, finalizing an analysis plan, identifying collaborative opportunities with the Regional Secretariat, and analyzing the data from the SEA-PLM 2024 survey, expected to be available for the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport in August. Additional activities involve producing a comprehensive national report, conducting secondary analyses, participating in the Regional Steering Committee, and actively engaging in the upcoming Foundational Learning Forum.

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The UK supports SEA-PLM through the ASEAN-UK SAGE Programme, funded by UK International Development.