Cambodia Puts Teachers at the Heart of Reform as Training and Student Scores Improve

Cambodia has doubled initial training for primary teachers to a four-year bachelor-level programme, giving future teachers more time to develop their knowledge and teaching skills.

Cambodia is putting teachers at the centre of an education overhaul that connects classroom learning with its ambition to become a high-income country by 2050. Its Pentagonal Strategy, a roadmap for growth, employment, equity, efficiency and sustainability, places human capital development first, recognising that preparing young people for changing demands depends on the people who teach them.

That connection shaped Cambodia's World Teachers' Day celebration on 5 October 2026, when around 1,300 teachers, education leaders and development partners gathered at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh. Hosted by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the event was presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr Hang Chuon Naron and UNESCO Representative to Cambodia Flavio Bonetti. The national theme, "Teachers are the pillars of modern pedagogy for building 21st-century human resources," reflected the growing expectations placed on teachers and the support they need to meet them.

New routes into teaching raise the standard of preparation

Since 2018, the ministry and UNESCO have worked through the US$27.02 million Strengthening Teacher Education Programmes in Cambodia, known as STEPCam, financed by the Global Partnership for Education. The programme supports reforms across teachers' careers, beginning with their preparation for the classroom, and forms part of a shared effort to strengthen teacher education and raise the profession's status.

Cambodia has doubled initial training for primary teachers to a four-year bachelor-level programme, giving future teachers more time to develop their knowledge and teaching skills. STEPCam supported a new one-year teacher education programme for motivated university graduates, creating another route into the profession that recruited its first cohort of more than 5,000 primary teachers in 2025. At the Transforming Education Summit + 4 in July 2026, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General cited Cambodia's move towards degree-level teacher qualifications as an example of making education transformation possible.

Professional learning reaches beyond the first qualification

Teachers' learning needs change as classrooms, technology and students' expectations evolve, making access to practical professional development an essential part of the reform. Since STEPCam's first phase, the ministry and UNESCO have built and expanded a national Continuous Professional Development system for teachers and education staff, which now offers 84 accredited courses through 11 providers. Participants can earn credits that contribute to career advancement, connecting continued learning with opportunities to progress professionally.

The ministry is developing Cambodia's first National ICT and AI Competency Framework for Teachers to guide the effective and ethical use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. Hang Chuon Naron stressed that investment must continue throughout teachers' careers, with professional learning grounded in classroom needs and built around practical, collaborative work. The release reports encouraging student results in the 2025 PISA assessment, with scores rising by 18 points in reading, 30 in mathematics and 35 in science compared with 2022, presenting these gains as an early indication of progress.

Respect for teachers includes pay, voice and working conditions

The international World Teachers' Day theme, "Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures," marked six decades since the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. The instrument covers fair treatment, proper preparation and decent working conditions, and is being revised to reflect changes in the profession. Cambodia's reforms over the past decade have included higher teacher salaries, better teacher education and broader access to professional learning, linking expectations of professionalism with greater recognition and support.

Bonetti highlighted teachers' recognition, autonomy, voice and working conditions as central concerns of the Recommendation, emphasising its continuing relevance. As Cambodia marks 75 years of UNESCO membership, he reaffirmed the organisation's commitment to supporting the ministry's teacher reforms, whose promise rests on giving educators the preparation, respect and resources needed to help young people succeed.