Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s

Transcription

1 Mind & Time subscribes to open access and creative commons license policies and offers academic publications free of charge for the authors and the public. We practice and encourage diversity, creativity, and systems and ecological thinking. We request proper credit attribution to our published authors, at the same time reserving the publisher's right to independence as far as the ideas expressed. CCL Autumn 2013, Mind & Time Publications Special Issue 2013/2014 of Mind & Time GEN ISSN: Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s [29 pages] submitted September 2010, revised , reformatted Autumn 2013 Author: Phirom Leng Published by Mind & Time Publications Open Journal Systems University of Toronto URL: POBox 7015, Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W1X7 Canada Mind & Time acknowledges the sponsorship of work on the Knowledge Society project through Government of Ontario support and University of Toronto graduate assistantship funding and

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3 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s Phirom Leng University of Toronto Abstract: This study examines how foreign influence has affected the Cambodian higher education system following the country s adoption of a free market economy with multiple party politics over the past two decades. Examining various sources, the study has found that during the first half of the 1990s, foreign influence took two major forms: (1) the adoption of educational reforms initiated by international organizations, and (2) foreign assistance which comes with conditions. After the introduction of the policy of privatization of higher education in the mid-1990s, other modes of foreign influence have emerged and become influential, including foreign languages, foreign teaching staff, Cambodian scholars educated abroad, and, more recently, collaborations between local and foreign institutions. The study s central argument is that although it helps develop the country, foreign influence since the early 1990s has created numerous issues for Cambodian society at large, and for the higher education system in particular. These issues include the impact on institutional autonomy, conflicting ideologies between local and foreign scholars, and growing unemployment among university graduates due to a mismatch between educational provision and the skills needed for the economy. All of the above have contributed to the fragmentation of the higher education system. In spite of being focused on the last twenty years or so, the study also discusses the similarly negative impact of foreign influence on (higher) education in earlier periods. This is meant to provide scholars, policy-makers and other stakeholders with a critical understanding of the issues in historical perspective and to direct their attention to counteracting current and, where possible, avoiding future adverse effects. Keywords: Cambodian higher education, foreign influence, globalization, internationalization, pagoda education, language of instruction; English, French, Khmer

4 2 Phirom Leng 1. Historical Overview and Scope of the Study Pagoda education, Cambodia s traditional education, started in the thirteenth century and continued into the twentieth century. With new, secular formats gradually taking over, it may well be completely phased out by now. It was offered in monasteries, where Buddhist monks taught boys some carpentry skills along with reading and writing in Khmer. The texts which the students read and learnt from were mainly Buddhist teachings, which are a major part of Cambodian culture. 1 The French colonial era ( ) triggered the transition from religious to secular schooling. In the early 1900s, the French started to introduce the European education style in pagoda schools by bringing in new subjects such as arithmetic, history, and geography (Fergusson & Le Masson 1997; Tully 2002). In addition to the temple schools, by the 1920s the French succeeded in setting up secular Franco-Khmer state schools in the capital Phnom Penh and in provincial towns (Gyallay-Pap 1989, p. 258). During the French period the more promising students could obtain high school diplomas and university degrees in France or in Vietnam, a French colony at the time. In 1935 the Lycee Sisowath opened as Cambodia s only secondary school. It was also the only place offering education comparable to Western post-secondary trade schools or associate degrees, which took one-two years or less after high school. The National Institute of Juridical, Political and Economic Sciences, the first institution of higher education proper, opened in 1949 in Phnom Penh (see references in footnote 1). After regaining its independence from the French in 1953 and until the late 1980s, Cambodian higher education went through ups and downs. From 1953 to 1970, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia s post-colonial leader, made substantive education reforms in order to modernize and develop the country (Ayres 2000; Tully 2005; Clayton 2005). Francerelated subjects were replaced with Cambodian culture, history, and arts (Clayton 2005). A number of universities were established as well. The 1 For further information about pagoda education in Cambodia, see Ayres (2000), Tully ( ) and Whitaker et al. (1973).

5 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 3 Khmer Royal University was established in 1960, followed by six others in They included the Royal Technical University, the Royal University of Fine Arts, the Royal University of Kompong Cham, the Royal University of Takeo-Kampot, the Royal University of Agricultural Science, and the People University (Chhum 1973; Pit & Ford 2004). Thus, the first two decades after independence marked a prosperous period for Cambodian higher education and the country at large. However, from 1970 to 1989, Cambodia went through radical changes under three different political regimes: Lon Nol s ( ), the Khmer Rouge ( ), and the Vietnamese occupation ( ). Civil wars and international isolation during these periods affected significantly the development of higher education and the country as a whole. Foreign influence on higher education from 1953 to 1989 took various forms such as adoption of Western ideologies and concepts (Ayres 2000; Huon 1974), dominance of foreign teaching staff with various foreign ideologies (Chhum 1973), foreign assistance with conditions attached (Pit & Ford 2004), and foreign languages (Clayton ). Foreign influence always played a dual role: helping Cambodia s development and concurrently creating issues (Ayres 2000). Sometimes, the impact of educational changes was powerful enough to drive, along with other factors, the whole society into chaos, as was the case in the 1970s, when the country lost its best educated people. As a legacy of the past, multiple models of higher education coexist to this day. These include the French model established in the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet and Vietnamese models in the 1980s, and the American model after the introduction of the privatization policy in the mid-1990s. There is a good amount of literature on foreign influence and its impact on Cambodian higher education since the system was established and up to 1989, when the decade of Vietnamese presence ended. However, little has been discussed in that area since the adoption of a new economic and political system in the early 1990s. This study focuses on that period, examining forms of foreign influence and their negative effects both on the educational system and on society at large. It shows that, along with helping the country s advancement and connection with

6 4 Phirom Leng the global community, foreign influence during the past two decades has created a number of problems within the higher education system, as it had done in the past. Thus far, some forms of foreign influence in that period have produced overt negative effects, which have caused particularly strong reactions among Cambodians. There have also been other forms in operation, mainly after the system was privatized in accordance with free market ideology, which may in the long run prove to be just as invasive and harmful, even if most people have accepted, and even welcomed them. While the study s main focus remains on the last two decades, previous periods are discussed as well so as to allow critical, and instructive, comparisons of the various stages in history. It should be noted that, despite its emphasis on the negative side, the study does acknowledge the significant contributions of foreign influence to the rehabilitation and improvement of higher education and the country as a whole. The intention is not to suggest that Cambodia should avoid Western higher education models or ideologies. Such idea is impractical in today s globalized world, and may even do more harm than good to the higher education system, which would ultimately affect the country as a whole. This is what happened in the second half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, when Cambodia remained isolated from the rest of the world. By looking at the negative side of foreign influence, the study intends to provide scholars, policy-makers, and other relevant stakeholders with a critical lens in order to encourage efforts to neutralize as best as possible current and prevent future damage. Looking at the time immediately preceding the period of interest, between 1970 and 1990 raging civil wars and international isolation caused unprecedented devastation, whose repercussions are still felt today. Above all, the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 destroyed almost everything in the country, and no sector was more affected than education (Ahrens 2002, p. 8). Educational infrastructure was demolished and learning and teaching materials were burned. Between 80% and 90% of teachers, including university professors, were killed during the regime, and most educated people who survived the tragedy left the

7 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 5 country after its collapse (Clayton 1998). In the subsequent period, which is commonly known by Westerners as Vietnamese Invasion ( ), Cambodia s foreign contacts were mostly, if not exclusively, limited to Vietnam and the Eastern Bloc countries 2. Foreign assistance was entangled with political ideologies and higher education stagnated throughout the 1980s (Duggan 1997; Pit & Ford 2004). This, along with earlier historical legacy, poses serious challenges to the rehabilitation of higher education in modern times (1989 present). The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the transition of Cambodian society from a centrally planned economic and political system to a free market economy and a multiple party political system. Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia in The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) not only assisted Cambodia in arranging the first national election in 1993, but its presence also marked the beginning of Cambodia s openness to the outside world. Development assistance, especially from the more influential Western countries and international organizations, began pouring into the country, first through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and then directly from governments of donor countries as well (Clayton & Ngoy 1997; Sloper 1999; Pit & Ford 2004). Thus, the period of heavy reliance on foreign influence commenced. It has helped with the overall economic restoration and growth of the country. As to higher education in particular, the changes have affected individual institutions as well as the system as a whole, once again, productively as well as counter-productively. 2. The Role of Foreign Sponsorship Foreign influence on higher education in the early 1990s emerged through Cambodia s educational reforms made in accordance with regulations by international funding agencies and governments, when Cambodia began to be integrated into the world. As Kurbanova mentions, integration of new states into the global market led many countries to adopt require- 2 For more information about the geo-political context of Cambodia and its relations with Vietnam and other Eastern Bloc countries, see Chandler (2000) A history of Cambodia.

8 6 Phirom Leng ments of international laws, agreements and treaties (Kurbanova 2008, p. 176). As for Cambodia, it began to adopt international educational reforms in 1991, focusing on achieving Education for All (EFA), which was initiated by UNESCO, the World Bank, and other international development agencies as well as governments (Duggan 1997; Pit & Ford 2004). Also, in May 1994, Cambodia signed an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Structural Adjustment Agreement to increase its budget for the education sector (Ayres 2000). Such educational agreements and reforms enabled Cambodia to receive huge amounts of foreign aid (up to US $70 million during the period ) for the rehabilitation of the education sector (Duggan 1997, p. 1). There were some 50 international organizations funding that sector in Cambodia by 1994 (ibid., p. 10). The penetration of foreign influence went far deeper than agreements at the state level. The dire need for assistance from the international community during the early 1990s enabled foreign funding governments and agencies to influence directly policy planning and reforms throughout the education system. At the ministry level, the National Action Plan for Higher Education, created in 1995 to deal with various issues of academic and administrative aspects of higher education, was financially and technically coordinated by experts from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Australia, and the United States (Sloper 1999). At the institutional level, many foreign donors used their aid packages to establish direct contact with public higher education institutions. For instance, the French government began to supply financial and technical assistance to six public higher education institutions in the early 1990s (Cuenin 1999). Among them, the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (then named the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Higher Institute) received its first funding package of almost US $18 million from the French government in 1994 (Duggan 1997, p. 10). Likewise, through USAID assistance, twinning programs between two American universities and the National Institute of Management (now the National University of Management) were established in 1993 (Hebert 1999). Similar agreements were made with many other public higher education institutions.

9 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 7 Unavoidably, along with the benefits, the above intervention spawned a number of issues, although it cannot be denied that the international education reforms and foreign assistance have greatly contributed to the rehabilitation of Cambodian higher education. For instance, without French financial and technical support, the Institute of Technology of Cambodia would have closed during the transition period in the early 1990s, because all assistance from Vietnam and the Soviet Bloc countries was cut off by the late 1980s (Clayton 2006). The government was unable to finance higher education at the time, and up until now, it has provided little financial support other than staff salaries of approximately US $75 per month (Ford 2006). Hence, foreign assistance was indispensable during the 1990s. On the downside, many international funding agencies, including the World Bank, claimed that return on investments in basic and general education was higher than that of investments in higher education (Banya & Elu 2001; King 1990, 2009; Crossley & Watson 2003; Duggan 1997). This meant that it would be more financially advantageous to avoid, if not completely discontinue, higher education investments. Like other poor nations, Cambodians had to follow such policy advice, and have since then made a strong commitment toward achieving "Education for All" (EFA) at the basic level (Duggan 1997; Pit & Ford 2004). Higher education, albeit viewed as key to the development of the country, received only limited attention and financial assistance from both local and international sources. Also, foreign assistance is usually conditional on something (e.g., [adoption of the sponsor s] language, ideology, religion), and so NGOs have brought with them not only much-needed capital and technical assistance but also hidden cultural and ideological assumptions (Pit & Ford 2004, p. 344). For instance, the Institute of Technology of Cambodia was required to turn to the French language as the medium of instruction in the early 1990s, when the French government began to provide full financial support (Clayton & Ngoy 1997). In the same manner, the National Institute of Management began to use English as a foreign language, to follow American curriculum and programs of study, and

10 8 Phirom Leng made other partner-mirroring reforms in its twinning programs with American universities (Hebert 1999). This happened at many other public higher education institutions and it clearly shows how various foreign aid programs serve the interests of the sponsors and only partially the needs of local Cambodians. Not only did institutions lose a degree of autonomy, but students were severely affected by the rapid implementation of new educational programs from one system, and language, to another (Clayton 2006). During the 1980s, Cambodian higher education had followed the Vietnamese and Soviet models (Ayres 2000; Pit & Ford 2004). After Cambodia s transition to a new social, economic and political system, various funding agencies and governments, as stated above, came in with the intent to exert influence through their funding packages (Clayton 2006). Students were overwhelmed by such rapid and unregulated change of educational programs. In reaction, at the National Institute of Management, a lot of students protested publicly in Revealingly, one student commented, in our first year, we studied socialism, we had Vietnamese teachers and the [Vietnamese] language. Then we studied free market economics and French accounting, we had French teachers and learnt the French language. Now we study marketing, business and American accounting [with] teachers from the U.S., and we study English. We are unlucky students (Clayton 2006, p. 190, cited after Mang 1994, p. 5). Changes like these took place at other public higher education institutions as well. There was also a strong reaction to foreign influence at the policy level. In the mid-1990s, the government set up a language policy to encourage the use of the Khmer language in higher education, in order to avoid international influence through foreign languages (Clayton & Ngoy 1997). It was recommended that English and French be used only for further research. However, that policy could hardly work. Cambodian higher education, like other sectors, still relied heavily on foreign assistance at the time. This limited the authority of the government and individual public higher education institutions in the choice of language. The Institute of Technology of Cambodia is a case in point. When students

11 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 9 organized a riot in 1994 to show their dissatisfaction with the French language, and demanded English instead, the French threatened to withdraw all assistance if the school turned to either English or Khmer as a medium of instruction (Clayton 2006). The decision upset the students and the Cambodian government, who could not do anything other than to follow the requirements of the donors. This indicates how different foreign sponsors tried to take control of local institutions to serve their own interests. Going back to earlier historical periods, similar trends could be observed during the French colonial era, when education beyond the high school level was created to serve the interests of the French, rather than those of local Cambodians (Clayton & Ngoy 1997). Clayton & Ngoy point out that the French government employed higher education as a sorting machine to select the best students from basic education for advanced education in order to equip the country with a large number of modern and competent civil servants (ibid., pp ), who would apparently embody French cultural-political values. Also, these authors note that the imposition of the French education model at any level, with little adjustments to the needs and culture of Cambodians, created an ideological conflict between students educated in French schools and Cambodian people in general (Clayton & Ngoy 1997). More specifically, most Cambodians normally thought of those graduates of French colonial schools as new men or Westernized Cambodians, and it was believed that through their educational interactions with the French, these Cambodians were fundamentally changed, discarding their traditional values and ideologies for those things [of the] French (ibid., p. 23). This is even more true of Cambodians who obtained degrees from universities in France. Similar issues occurred during the period from 1979 to 1989 when Cambodia was heavily dependent on Vietnam and the Eastern Bloc countries for assistance. Higher education policy and planning at both the ministry and institutional levels were thus shaped by scholars from those countries (Clayton 2006; Pit & Ford 2004). The university curriculum served two major purposes: good technical training and good political

12 10 Phirom Leng training (Clayton 2005, p. 510). Tellingly, courses had titles such as Marxist-Leninist Theories, World Revolutionary History and the History of the Cambodian Revolution, The Situation and the Role of the Revolution and the Policy of the Party, Moral Education and the Revolutionary Way of Life, and Attitude to the Common People (ibid., p. 511). Furthermore, the Vietnamese and Russian languages were dominant in higher education (Ayres 2000). As Ayres concludes, the purpose of the aid during that period was to help build a socialist state through the development of education (ibid., p. 137). As stated earlier, both learning/teaching materials and all kinds of assistance were primarily provided by Vietnam and Soviet Bloc countries (Duggan 1997; Pit & Ford 2004; Clayton 2006). Such a total dependence for assistance was no doubt problematic. Duggan (1997) mentions that when world politics changed in 1989 with the economic collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and especially the Soviet Union, assistance of any kind from those countries was cut off. The first issue was that there were not enough local scholars to fill the gap after all the foreign trainers left the country. It led to a second problem, namely. that available educational materials in Russian and Vietnamese could not be used. As Duggan puts it, boxes of materials that have arrived cannot be opened and used because the accompanying technicians and training programs to be provided by the USSR have also been withdrawn (Duggan 1997, p. 6, cited after UNESCO 1991). The historical parallels above show that foreign influence during the early 1990s operated in a manner similar to that during the French colonial era ( ) and the period of Vietnamese and Soviet influence ( ). At all three stages in history foreign funding governments have helped to strengthen the higher education system, the primary motivation being to spread their political influence, rather than to help with the development of Cambodia and its people per se. Knowledge and language, thus, have turned into mechanisms of political recruitment, and even subjugation, in exchange for much needed financial assistance.

13 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s Paid Education and Institutional Privatization As indicated above, foreign influence on the higher education system as well as on many individual public institutions during the early 1990s took the shape of educational reforms and vital financial assistance. Concern about the resulting impact motivated the government to make financial reforms in higher education in the mid-1990s and afterwards, so that public higher education institutions would be able to survive financially on their own (Zhang 1998). Among those reforms was the introduction of the policy of privatization of higher education, which enables public higher education institutions to offer fee-paying programs, in addition to their merit-based free programs, and the private sector to exist for the first time in the history of Cambodian higher education. It should be noted that the other major purpose of introducing the privatization policy was to expand the system to accommodate the growing demand for higher education since the early 1990s (Pit & Ford 2004). Until then, higher education in Cambodia had been a public monopoly. The system had been very selective, and elitist, with only a limited number of students admitted into higher education. There were only nine public higher education institutions until the mid-1990s. Since the introduction of the privatization policy, higher education has developed from a public monopoly into a significantly expanded and greatly diversified system including both public and private higher education institutions (32 public and 45 private in 2009 according to the World Bank 2010). There was a ten-fold increase in student enrollment from 13,465 in 1996 (Zhang 1998, p. 8) to 137,253 in 2008 (World Bank 2010, p. 2). Such a huge increase in student enrollment, moreover with collection of tuition fees by both private and public institutions, has enabled higher education institutions in the public sector to generate a source of revenue in the absence of public funding (Innes-Brown 2006), and thus to become less dependent on foreign assistance (which always comes with strings attached). Importantly, at present, universities have more decision-making power regarding both the academic aspect and institutional management.

14 12 Phirom Leng While foreign influence through provisional financial assistance has since then become less dominant within the system, various other modes have taken over, most of which previously packaged with funding, such as foreign language and imported programs. Other modes include Cambodian scholars educated abroad, foreign scholars working in Cambodia, and growing collaborations, in various formats, between local and foreign higher education institutions. Yet another one is a more recent development, namely access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet. It has certainly served as a facilitator for the rest of them. These forms and the problems they generate will be the subject of the next section. 4. Embodied Knowledge and Linguistic/Technological Media This section first addresses the circulation of various kinds of hard knowledge related to education and its governance as these are embodied by the various human actors involved: local Cambodians, Cambodian officials, foreign-trained Cambodian scholars, foreign scholars and finance and business experts working in Cambodia. The discussion subsequently turns to linguistic knowledge, which is part of human actorembodied knowledge, and plays a crucial role (including as a medium of instruction) in the numerous reforms that the higher education sector has undergone. Toward the end of the section new media and technologies are discussed as another medium that significantly shapes the face of education in Cambodia, just as it does internationally. Recent years have seen another form of foreign influence, through the increasing number of Cambodian returnees who have been educated abroad, in countries like Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Japan and members of the European Union. Those scholars now play a key role in the development of Cambodian higher education, especially within the private sector (Pit & Ford 2004). Also, there has recently been an increase in the number of foreign scholars and administrators who work at various Cambodian higher education institutions. In , the number of foreign faculty accounted for 6.3% (671) of the total number of faculty (10,612) working in higher education in Cambodia (You 2010, p. 4).

15 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 13 Parallel with the above, there is a growing trend to employ foreign scholars from developed countries. Taken together, these two trends support Altbach s (2006a) argument that degrees and knowledge from the more advanced Western nations are highly valued at the periphery. The perception that foreign-trained and foreign faculty are better has become pervasive in Cambodian society. A number of Cambodian students would consider faculty with degrees from developed countries (both foreigners and Cambodians) as one of the criteria when choosing their prospective higher education institutions (Leng 2010). Likewise at the policy level, the government shows a strong preference for adopting various Western models of higher education, the most influential of which currently is the American one. This reflects a historical change in dominant political powers in the country, as already discussed in section 1, which unavoidably affects the education sector. For example, the credit system and credit transfer for courses taken were introduced in 2004 within the whole post-secondary system (Accreditation Committee of Cambodia, n.d.). Also, international organizations such as UNESCO and the World Bank are still influential in policy advice and planning within the Cambodian higher education system. To quote from UNESCO s 2010 report: In terms of policy for higher education, UNESCO has been one of the key advisors for the printing and dissemination of higher education policy papers and guidelines to all key stakeholders, including public and private higher education institutions. In this way, Cambodia has been exposed to regional and global trends in higher education policy, mobility, and quality assurance. (UNESCO 2010, p. 49) Hence, people who have knowledge of foreign higher education models, whether Cambodians or foreigners, play a key role in importing knowledge into the Cambodian system, over and above what direct agreements with the Cambodian government, ministry and institutions can contribute in that respect. Yet another way is through direct ties between Cambodian and foreign institutions. An examination of the websites of most Cambodian

16 14 Phirom Leng higher education institutions, within both the public and the private sector, also shows that almost all of them have collaborated with various academic institutions worldwide. These collaborations include student and staff exchange programs, twinning programs, and research collaborations, among others (Chet 2006). For instance, according to Chet s study: [the] Royal University of Phnom Penh, the largest and oldest higher education institution in the country, has academic partnerships and cooperation across the globe. It has technical assistance in many departments that assists the University in developing new curricular and promoting new teaching methodologies. (Chet 2006, p. 27) Likewise, the Royal University of Law and Economics has academic exchange programs with more than 20 foreign universities around the globe (The Royal University of Law and Economics, n.d.). Through such collaborations, the university has not only invited foreign professors to come and teach at the university, but also sent up to 30 students every year to those foreign partnering institutions to further their education (ibid.). All this indicates that at present, foreign-style higher education is taking root within the Cambodian higher education system at all levels. Human actors can hardly be separated from the knowledge and the languages they embody. The American style of higher education is by now the most influential, just as human actors who embody it are. So is the English language, which has become popular and dominant within Cambodian higher education, well ahead of French 3. Within the private sector, almost all higher education institutions have chosen English as a foreign language (Pit & Roth 2004; Chhuon 2000; Clayton 2006). Several of them, including the Pannasastra University of Cambodia (PUC), also use English as a medium of instruction in all programs of study. A similar trend is apparent in the public sector as well, where the English language has begun to supplant the French language. Even at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, where French had been the main language of 3 See the incident reported in section 2 of students demanding to switch from French to English as the language of instruction.

17 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 15 instruction until recently, English has been introduced as part of the programs. According to a recent study by this paper s author (Leng 2010), an increasing number of Cambodian students show a strong preference for the English language. For instance, the study found that many students would look at English as one of the main criteria when selecting their prospective higher education institutions. Also, a number of students who were already in the public sector decided to pursue simultaneously another English-based degree program in the private sector in order to improve their English proficiency. The growing popularity of English among students is mainly due to the belief that proficiency in the language would enable them to find a good job as well as to be able to compete for scholarships abroad, mainly in English speaking countries such as Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This phenomenon in Cambodia is in line with tendencies noted for other Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia, where English has been introduced as a medium of instruction at many major higher education institutions. Such an approach by those Asian countries serves to attract international students, like Cambodians, to pursue their higher education studies there. Along with the adoption of Western-style models and the influence of the English language, there is Cambodia s growing access to various forms of Information and Communication Technologies in higher education. Especially the Internet has recently allowed Cambodian scholars to access databases, journals and various kinds of information worldwide, a lot of it at no cost. Such access has also enabled them to get acquainted with new ways of learning and teaching, and to get integrated into the world knowledge system, although still in a limited way relative to other countries. Hence, with the assistance of new media and technologies, foreign ideologies and concepts can permeate the whole higher education system much more easily than ever before.

18 16 Phirom Leng 5. Local Needs versus Internationalization/Globalization This section moves from internationalization and globalization, reflected in the import of foreign education models, to the broader issue of the clash of traditional and new Western belief systems, whether in the context of higher education itself, or society as a whole. This brings up the question of finding the right balance between local interests and pressures from outside, whose ambiguous effects have been multiply highlighted. It seems obvious that the increasing influence of Western-style higher education and knowledge on Cambodian higher education is part of the processes of internationalization and globalization. According to Knight (2008), de Wit (2002), and Altbach (2006b), globalization refers to the flow of knowledge (hence, the education sector), economy, technology, ideas, cultures, values, and people across borders the process resulting in the interconnectedness of the whole world, which in some cases may definitely have an oppressive dimension. A parallel process, on a comparable scale, is internationalization. In the case of higher education it is defined as the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions [teaching, research and community service] or delivery of higher education at the institutional and national levels (Knight 2008, p. 21) 4. Hence, globalization and internationalization are distinct, but interconnected and interdependent processes. It is not the purpose of this study, and this section in particular, to discuss the differences between the two processes. Rather, the intention is to open the discussion about Cambodia s lack of adequate policy response to either internationalization or globalization. The internationalization process in Cambodia, albeit limited and small in comparison to other countries, has so far played an important role in upgrading the quality of higher education. Especially within this globalized world, Cambodian higher education needs to learn from other countries 4 Jane Knight (2008), Hans de Wit (2002) and Phillip Altbach (2006b) provide detailed discussions about the differences between internationalization and globalization processes.

19 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 17 and participate in the world knowledge system. On the other hand, this should not necessarily translate into emulating what other countries are doing without taking into account the local realities. As Altbach (2006a) argues, developing nations should focus their attention more on serving the needs of local people than on just trying to adopt the higher education models of advanced nations. In the case of Cambodia, however, many higher education institutions, especially within the private sector, have so far tried to follow the models of American higher education and those of other developed nations, with little regard for the needs of Cambodians and the society as a whole. Several studies by Ford (2006), MoEYS (2009) and UNESCO (2010) have indicated that there is a huge mismatch between educational provision and the skills needed for the development of the country. For instance, business-related programs are currently the most popular programs, enrolling more than 40% of the total undergraduate students and 54% of the 5,184 Master s students in (MoEYS 2009). Regardless of the quality of education received, the knowledge and skills acquired through such programs are not essential for the development of Cambodian society at present. More than 80% of the country s population consists of farmers living in rural areas (ADB 2010). As a consequence of the mismatch, Cambodian higher education is only exacerbating the already serious unemployment problem. The rate is as high as 90% among first year graduates from private and 30% from public institutions (Ford 2006). Hence, it is not an exaggeration to conclude that the direction Cambodian higher education has taken departs significantly from the realities of the local community. There was a similar discrepancy back in the 1950s and 1960s, when the university curriculum was also greatly influenced by the state s adoption of the modernization or development theory, which Ayres (2000) and Huon (1974) associated with the Westernization concept. In response to growing capitalism at that time, many developing countries, including Cambodia, adopted modernization and human resource development theories (Ayres 2000). This led to discrepancies between promises and reality, between educational delivery and social needs, and

20 18 Phirom Leng between the rising costs of educational provision and the funds available to meet those costs (Ayres 2000, p. 443). For instance, in the case of Cambodia, an educational system with modern ideas and knowledge of capitalism was not only bewildering to Cambodian students, but they also did not work for the local predominantly agrarian society (Ayres 2000; Huon 1974). In other words, such Western knowledge was too new, and moreover irrelevant in practice, for Cambodians, the vast majority of whom were (and still are) farmers. Not surprisingly, there was little return on investments in higher education, because a prevailing number of university graduates failed to find jobs. The past, therefore, teaches that the current mismatch between educational provision and the needs of the country should be treated as a priority issue for Cambodia s higher education programs. In addition, the conflict between the belief systems of foreigners, or foreign-educated Cambodians and local people has recently come into the spotlight. As stated earlier, the lack of qualified experts on higher education has kept international agencies, including the World Bank, playing a pivotal role in policy planning and consultation at both the system and the institutional levels. Their participation, according to Pit & Ford (2004), is normally at cross-purposes with the (hierarchical) Confucian tradition, which they see as particularly influential in Cambodia. These authors point out that many Cambodians still follow it, believing that those of lower social status have to revere and obey those above them. However, contrary to tradition (this time not so much Buddhist/ Confucian as colonial) when the government established the Accreditation Committee of Cambodia (ACC) 5 in 2003, it disregarded foreign 5 The Accreditation Committee of Cambodia (ACC) was established in March 2003 in order to administer the accreditation of higher education for all higher educational institutions (HEIs) to ensure the promot[ion of] academic quality [for] greater effectiveness and quality consistent with international standards and to determine the organization of structur[e]s, roles, functions and duties regarding the administration of the accreditation process of higher education for all HEIs which grant degrees in the Kingdom of Cambodia. (ACC 2003, n.p.)

21 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 19 policies and declined loan agreements coordinated by the World Bank (Ford 2003). According to Ford: [o]n the one hand, the World Bank loan might not have represented an incentive to the Cambodian government, who may have been unwilling to increase the national debt to finance developments in a sector that serves the wealthiest two quintiles of the population. On the other hand, the notion of an independent ACC challenged some well-established traditions of hierarchy and power [in Cambodia]. (Ford 2003, p. 13) Also, all the staff of the ACC have thus far been appointed by the government which, again, is contrary to the World Bank s initial plans. In 2001, the World Bank had recommended the establishment of an accreditation body, independent of the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia], and consisting of ASEAN membership and representatives from government, commerce and industry, together with the rectorate, teaching and student bodies (Innes-Brown 2006, p. 13). The reaction of the Cambodian government indicates that the conflict between local and foreign belief systems has so far been a big issue within the higher education system. Predictably, in a way similar to the ideological conflict between French-educated Cambodians and local Cambodians during the French colonial era, there have also emerged conflicting ideologies between old and new foreign-trained Cambodian scholars. This has created asymmetries not only between categories of faculty members, but also between the institutions in which they are employed, public vs private, respectively. In the 1980s, many Cambodians who had a chance to further their education abroad went either to Vietnam or to the Eastern Bloc countries. Most of them returned and are now working mostly within the public education sector, at both the ministry and institutional levels, forming the category of old scholars (Pit & Ford 2004). The current educational policies and ways of teaching and learning in the public sector have, to a great extent, been modeled on systems from those Eastern Bloc countries.

22 20 Phirom Leng More recently, there has been a new wave of graduates from universities in developed Western countries, who hold different beliefs from those of graduates from the Eastern Bloc countries. As Pit & Ford describe it, [y]oung newly qualified lecturers returning to public institutions from egalitarian Western countries have not always been welcomed by their older, less qualified colleagues in Cambodia s traditional hierarchical society (Pit & Ford, 2004, p. 345). Most of the new scholars are usually sought after and offered jobs at newly formed private higher education institutions. That, according to Pit & Ford, is one of the major factors that have contributed to the rapid growth of the private higher education sector, given that public institutions have their positions filled with the older brand of foreign-trained Cambodian scholars. Another issue has been the growing spread of English as a medium of instruction at the higher education level since the early 1990s. This choice has been influenced by the changing world geopolitics after 1989, which marked the end of the Cold War and represented a big shift in world powers toward a new international system dominated by Anglophone countries. The growing political and economic domination of the United States, along with the increasing pace of globalization, as discussed above, has made English a preferred language for communication, including in higher education, around the world. Hence, offering English an international lingua franca as part of the curriculum has undoubtedly created opportunities for Cambodia s higher education, and for the country at large. In particular, the use of English in higher education would likely help Cambodian institutions better collaborate with universities worldwide, smoothing the path for integration into the world knowledge system. On the downside, the popularity and dominance of English seems to threaten phasing out Khmer (the national language), not only as the one and only, but even as one of the languages of higher education instruction. A monopoly of the English language would have far-reaching implications beyond the language itself, because, as Knight explains, [l]earning a language is an introduction to learning about another culture, another way of thinking, another perspective on the

23 Foreign Influence on Cambodian Higher Education since the 1990s 21 world, or at least a deeper understanding of how other cultures perceive the world (Knight 2008, p. 8). Hence, the loss of the primacy of the Khmer language would eventually lead to the disappearance of the Cambodian culture the country's national identity. As things are at present, the use of English as a medium of instruction could also impact the quality of teaching and learning in countries like Cambodia, where the official language is not English. As Hughes (2008) points out, non-anglophone developing countries are usually short of scholars with foreign language proficiency. She notes that many local teachers and professors who are teaching or doing research in English do not have in-situ experience in the English speaking world. Moreover, these countries lack sufficient and proper academic resources to help students learn the language. All this could easily affect the quality of teaching, learning and research when higher education institutions opt for the English language as a medium of instruction. The case of Cambodia is even more problematic, largely due to the fact that many high school students do not have proper language training prior to commencing postsecondary studies. The provision of quality English language training, like other foreign languages, at most public schools throughout the country remains largely unavailable. Also, the recent growth of private English schools is concentrated in the capital Phnom Penh and other major towns, leaving the country at large unequipped. Hence, the adoption of the English language at the higher education level could easily impact the quality of learning of the majority of students lacking the requisite preparation. The trend towards adopting English at the higher education level would put students from financially privileged families and/or those living in the capital and other major towns in a better position than those from poor families living in remote areas. The majority of the former group would do better in universities than the latter group, and would thus have better job opportunities upon graduation. Hence, asymmetries in postsecondary English language education could aggravate the social inequity in Cambodian society in the future.

24 22 Phirom Leng Similar benefit/detriment tensions exist for other languages such as Korean, Japanese and Chinese, whose growing influence is not to be ignored. According to Clayton (2006), they are currently growing roots in Cambodian soil. Does this mean that the language policy the government introduced in the mid-1990s to protect the Khmer language in higher education, as discussed in section 2 above, is losing ground? If yes, how detrimental is that to traditional culture and beliefs, especially as language use and choice reflect the opposing influences of market economy and globalization, on the one hand, and agrarian tradition and regional needs, on the other hand? 6. Conclusion and Questions for Future Research This study has examined various modes of foreign influence on the Cambodian higher education system since the early 1990s up to the present time. Those forms include (financial) foreign assistance, adoption of international educational reforms, Cambodian scholars educated abroad, foreign scholars working in Cambodia, foreign languages, and adoption of Western higher education models, the most popular of which at present is the American one. The resulting issues include the lack of institutional autonomy, the disappearance of the primacy of the Khmer language in higher education, the mismatch between educational provision and the needs of the country, and conflicting ideologies between groups of foreign or foreign-trained scholars and local scholars. Although the government has so far developed some compensatory strategies, such as language policies, the need for foreign assistance, as well as the impact of the regionalism/globalization conflict has kept Cambodian higher education to a great extent vulnerable to the unavoidable foreign influence. The cumulative effect has by now contributed to the fragmentation of the higher education system, with multiple historically acquired models coexisting and challenging any degree of consistent national standardization. Hence, Cambodian scholars and the government should be more aware of the negative impact of foreign influence if current and future challenges are to be addressed appropriately.