A Critical Analysis of Cambodia’s Policy for Integrating Information
Technology in Education using Human Capital Theory and
Globalization
Teri Jayun Ham
Institute of Education (IOE) at the University College London (UCL), United Kingdom (UK)
Keywords: ICT, Human Capital Theory, Globalization, Cambodia.
Abstract: The integration of information, communication, and technology (ICT) is a popular trend in contemporary
educational practices, but does this approach make sense for developing countries? This paper provides an in-
depth critique of the decision by the Cambodia Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) to become
an early adopter of ICT development in education. By employing the human capital theory (HCT) and
globalization perspectives, a critical analysis of Cambodia’s ICT in education policy design and approach was
conducted and used to ascertain key points that national policymakers may consider as they fine-tune future
policy revisions. The overall analysis advises policymakers to employ HCT modelling methods when
developing educational programming so that market needs are better met. Further recommendations include
leveraging globalization principles to counter the negative influences of globalization to ensure more effective
ICT programming.
1 INTRODUCTION
The integration of information, communication, and
technology (ICT) is a popular trend in contemporary
educational practices (Tsai and Chai, 2012), but does
this approach make sense for developing countries?
Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
(MOEYS) believes so and was an early adopter of
ICT development in education. In 2005, MOEYS
published a comprehensive ICT in Education policy
strategy document for their national roll-out plan and
stated the following vision regarding the new policy
move (MOEYS, 2005: p. 4):
• The long-term vision of Education for All in
Cambodia is to ensure equal access to quality
basic education for all…and [prepare citizens]
to play an active role in reconstructing the
country as well as integrating Cambodia into
the knowledge-based global community.
• [Introduce] various initiatives to facilitate
greater integration of [ICT] to improve the
effectiveness of education at all levels and to
produce the technologically literate, productive
and critically thinking workforce for the
country.
Has this focus on ICT in education yielded strong
results for Cambodia? Available country information
reveals mixed messages. For a post-conflict nation,
Cambodia has surprised economists with their fast
recovery with average annual growth rates of ~8
percent, but educational access and quality still
remain elusive (ADB, 2015; UNDP, n.d.). Although
an updated version of the 2005 National ICT in
Education Policy was under review in 2015, as of
April 2017 no official policy revision had been
uploaded to MOEYS’s English site. In order to
ascertain key points that national policymakers may
consider as they fine-tune future policy revisions, this
essay will employ the human capital theory (HCT)
and globalization perspectives to present a critical
analysis of Cambodia’s original policy design. The
structure will be as follows: (1) provide a snapshot of
Cambodia’s current educational landscape, (2)
introduce the theoretical perspectives that will be
applied, (3) critically analyse the original policy
design and its impact on educational objectives, and
(4) present insights for future policy revisions.
Ham, T.
A Critical Analysis of Cambodia’s Policy for Integrating Information Technology in Education using Human Capital Theory and Globalization.
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences (ICES 2017) - Volume 2, pages 91-100
ISBN: 978-989-758-314-8
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
91

2 CAMBODIA’S CURRENT
EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE
It is important to note that providing a current view of
Cambodia’s educational landscape and achievements
is not a straightforward exercise. Common world
statistical banks lacked consistent data over long-time
periods and MOEYS does not have a system for
measuring teaching and educational achievements
and outcomes (UNESCO, 2011). Therefore, I
collected data from various sources to help
contextualize the effectiveness of Cambodia’s policy
in relation to stated goals:
Table 1: Policy Goals.
Policy Goals Policy Effectiveness Gauge
Increased access
to basic
education
• In 2013, the total primary
completion rate was 89 percent
(UN Data, n.d.).
• From 2010-2014, 5 percent of
the primary school aged
population was not enrolled in
school (UNICEF, n.d.).
Improved quality
of basic
education
• 85 percent of teachers are seen
as unqualified (Richardson,
Nash, and Flora, 2014).
• In 2013, the total lower-
secondary enrolment rate was
60 percent and the completion
rate was 53 percent (UN Data,
n.d.
)
.
Availability of
workforce with
the ICT skills
needed for
employment…to
ensure that
Cambodia can
compete…in an
increasingly
interconnected
world
• In 2012, 19 percent of the
population was stated as living
below the poverty line and it is
estimated that >70 percent of
the population lives on <
$3/day (ADB, 2015).
• In 2013, ~60 percent of the
working population was self-
employed, unpaid family
workers (ADB, 2015).
• On average, most of
Cambodia’s workers are
considered unskilled (UNDP,
2016
)
.
(Policy Goals adapted from MOEYS, 2005: p. 4)
Unfortunately, Table 1 demonstrates that there
are serious gaps between the outlined policy goals
and educational outcomes, despite the fact that the
policy was implemented more than a decade ago.
3 ENGAGING WITH HCT AND
GLOBALIZATION AS
THEORETICAL LENSES
HCT and globalization were chosen as theoretical
lenses, as both theories can be seen as prompting the
reliance and spread of technology in education. This
discourse will provide a multi-faceted yet
concentrated analysis of the positive and negative
influences these theories have had on the
effectiveness of Cambodia’s national ICT
educational policy. Instead of taking a direct
approach by critiquing current ICT in education
interventions, this analysis will indirectly analyse
current educational outcomes by critically reflecting
on Cambodia’s first ICT in education policy. The
critique will examine how the theoretical influences
of HCT and globalization may have (1) impacted the
design and intention behind the policy, therefore
leading to certain outcomes, and (2) recognize such
influences, and assist policymakers in designing
future policy revisions.
3.1 Defining HCT
Academics agree that HCT can be a valuable lens for
crafting educational narratives and policies (Tan,
2014). Originally, the theory stems from economic
principles dating back two centuries (Mincer, 1984).
In the 1950s, HCT gained wide notoriety again due to
the contributions of two prominent economists,
Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker (Machlup, 1982).
They were recognized for reviving the theory by
bringing new perspectives to the field of study.
Schultz stressed linkages between education,
productivity, and economic growth, while Becker
focused on computing individual investment rates of
return related to education through schooling,
training, and skills development (Machlup, 1982). In
general terms, human capital can be defined as the
amassing of knowledge acquired by an individual
through schooling, training, skill development, and
other experiences (Machlup, 1982; Tan, 2014).
Therefore, HCT sees education as an investment in
oneself. Theory proponents view the acquisition of
education as leading to increased productivity levels
and economic returns for the individual, which in turn
extends and translates into greater market
productivity and economic growth for the country
(Tan, 2014). Below are some attributes of human
capital (HC) outlined by Schultz (1993):
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• HC has both private and social benefits which
lead individuals and the public sector to invest
in education.
• HC in developed countries is generally the result
of acquired, not genetic abilities.
• Internal effects and private individual benefits
are observed through the effects of schooling,
employment training and experiences,
productivity related information, and income
levels.
• External effects and residual benefits of having
a strong HC base leads to a pool of skilled
professionals who can contribute to national
development.
3.2 Defining Globalization
While HCT is a theory with a deep and long history,
globalization is a concept that gained its popularity in
the 1990s (Maguire, 2002). There is wide debate on
how to define globalization, but it generally
encompasses the changes in how the world interacts
and engages as a result of modernization (Boli and
Lechner, 2009). One way of understanding the
concept is to view it as the global phenomenon of an
increasingly information-based society that is
interconnected (with decreasing geographic
constraints), and that has created a highly-networked
system in terms of goods, information, and capital
(physical and human) (Boli and Lechner, 2009). In
economic terms, it has been related to capitalist and
neoliberalist principles (Boli and Lechner, 2009).
I have chosen globalization as a second lens for
this essay, as I see an inherent connection between
HCT, ICT, and globalization. As national economies
continue to expand and seek to develop further
through HCT principles, technology is the conduit for
bridging nations which were previously
disconnected, and has created a channel through
which ideas, commerce, goods, and people can easily
interact despite differences in location and
proximity—echoing globalization principles.
Therefore, this creates a system of refraction where
global markets increasingly engage and depend on
local markets, and vice versa (Kellner, 2009;
Maguire, 2002). In this way, globalization can be
interpreted as being a natural extension of the
intersection of technology and HCT.
More detailed definitions of how HCT and
globalization can be applied in educational contexts
will be explained in the following sections as part of
the analysis and critique.
4 ANALYSIS OF CAMBODIA’S
ICT EDUCATIONAL POLICY
USING THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
4.1 Contextual Background
Academics have highlighted the importance of
understanding Cambodia’s turbulent and tragic
history as key to understanding its modern day
educational challenges and development needs (Dy
and Ninomiya, 2003). Cambodia was occupied by the
French for 90 years until the Sihanouk regime came
into power in 1953 (Dy et al, 2003). The country
underwent another period of political unrest when the
Lon Nol regime took control from 1970-1975. Led by
Pol Pot, the communist Khumer Rouge regime took
control of the state from 1975-1979. During their
reign, it is estimated that approximately 2 million
Cambodians (a quarter of the population) either died
from starvation or were killed during the horrific
holocaust ordered by the ruling party (Tyner and
Henkin, 2014). Pol Pot’s disdain and fear of
Westernization, and therefore education, caused a
series of harrowing orders, including the elimination
and destruction of books, libraries, and universities,
and the mass slaughter of intellectuals, educated
professionals, and society elites (Dicklitch and Malik,
2010). The Vietnam-Cambodian war was successful
in removing the communist regime, but led to another
period of occupation by Vietnam from 1979-1989. It
was not until 1993 that the independent State of
Cambodia held its first democratic election (Dy et al,
2003). After 30 some years of occupation, genocide,
and war, the nation was left to virtually start over, and
this included their educational system (Richardson,
2011). But the country proved to be resilient and was
eager to rebuild their shattered educational system. In
less than a year after the Cambodia-Vietnam war,
total school enrolment reached 1 million students all
the way up to tertiary levels (Richardson, 2011).
One of the major side-effects of Pol Pot’s reign
was the depletion of post graduates, which in turn led
to a shortage of qualified educators—it was not
uncommon for teachers to only hold secondary
degrees and be grossly unqualified (Dicklitch and
Malik, 2010; Richardson et al, 2014). This led to a
nationwide educational reform movement in 2001
around ‘[improving the] access, quality, and
efficiency of the education sector’ (Hirosato and
Kitamura, 2009: p. 135). Also around this timeframe,
an educational movement emerged which was to
focus on ICT related capacity building and
A Critical Analysis of Cambodia’s Policy for Integrating Information Technology in Education using Human Capital Theory and
Globalization
93

strengthening teacher quality through various teacher
colleges and training programs. The trend gained
more momentum after the ‘Establishing the Effective
Use of ICTs in Education for All’ program that was
promoted to give teachers the basic ICT-related skills
they needed to train their students and become more
effective teachers (Richardson, 2011: p. 9). The
training included 96 hours of learning around basic
Internet skills, hardware and software usage, and
Microsoft Office training (Richardson, 2011).
The events leading up to the country’s 2005
(MOEYS) policy creates a narrative that appears to
be focused on addressing and fixing quality issues
through ICT and teacher training. However, as this
essay will suggest, the theoretical influences of HCT
and globalization on policy design, coupled with an
over-reliance on the assumption that ICT integration
would lead to improvements in educational quality
and a skilled workforce, may be contributing factors
as to why Cambodia continues to struggle with both
issues today.
Strong influences of HCT and globalization over
the policy design can be first noticed in the policy
language:
Educational ICT policy and strategies is a
practical path we have chosen to get along well
with the world trend of implementing the strategies
and the national goals of education for all…to
provide quality education for all, it may seem that
ICT should be low on its list of priorities. On the
other hand, unless action is taken soon, the country
will fall further behind its neighbours and its young
people will lack the skills they need for [the digital
age] (MOEYS, 2005: p. 2, 6).
The influences of both theories on policymakers is
not unlikely, as some academics view globalization
as intensifying the responsibility of the state to better
prepare their workforce, so that they can be
competitive in today’s highly skilled world economy,
and in line with HCT principles (Maguire, 2002).
4.2 HCT Perspectives
In the policy language used, HCT seems to be a strong
motivational factor as to how and why ICT is seen as
a critical component of the MOEYS’s educational
planning. The country’s heavy focus on economic
development through ICT educational policies and
the emphasis placed on cultivating a skilled, tech-
savvy workforce may be attributed to the nation’s
goal of desiring to be categorized as a lower-middle
income country, which was achieved as of July 2016
(UNDP, 2016; UNDP, n.d.). This supposition may be
further supported as the 2008 census revealed that
Cambodia has the youngest population among
Southeast Asian nations, and 33 percent of the
population is between the ages of 15-30 years old
making it a young labour force, with approximately
300,000 new professionals entering the workforce
every year (MOEYS, 2005; OECD, 2017; UNDP,
n.d.) Therefore, it is not unlikely that the government
wanted to take a human capital approach to education
by creating a pool of educated, skilled workers that
they hoped would stimulate economic development.
In fact, the lacking skills of graduates was cited as
one of the main motivations behind the government’s
high focus on ICT development within schools and
teacher training initiatives (MOEYS, 2005).
However, the effectiveness of the ICT policy in
achieving this appears suspect when taking a closer
look at Cambodia’s higher education landscape. The
UNDP in Cambodia (n.d.) findings cited that new
labour force entrants are often unskilled and not
prepared for job and market demands. HCT has three
main suppositions: (1) education will lead to higher
earning potential, (2) education will lead to market
efficiency and growth because employers need
skilled employees, and (3) to reap the benefits of an
educated workforce, companies will invest in
technology to increase earnings (Lauder, 2015).
However, HCT critiques may explain why these
tenets of HCT are not translating in Cambodia as
expected. Lauder (2015, p. 491) attributes the
‘information technology economic revolution’ to the
increasing popularity of using HCT principles to link
education with economic development. However,
there are opinions that see portions of the theory as
being naively optimistic and challenge the
oversimplification of correlating education to
economic growth as a result of assumed increased
productivity of the individual (Bae and Patterson,
2014; Lauder, 2015; Peou, 2017). Generally, the risk
in the over-reliance on ICT and HCT in education is
that it is hard for individuals to forecast the skills they
will need when they are ready to enter the workforce
(Bae and Patterson, 2014). Cultural or personal
factors, flux in the workforce and opportunities, and
the mismatch of skills and open jobs can all contribute
to returns on educational related investments being
lower than expected (Bae and Patterson, 2014). For
underlying assumptions of the HCT model to work
effectively, students need to anticipate the skills that
are in demand by the labour market, design their
educational paths accordingly, and receive a level of
education that allows them to be skilled enough to
meet market needs (Bae and Patterson, 2014; Lauder,
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2015). However, in the case of Cambodia, these are
all struggles tertiary graduates and employers are
facing, which will now be highlighted through the
below examples.
Example 1: Higher education (HE), whether in a
developed or developing context, is seen by
academics as a critical component of a country’s
development and economic prosperity (Barr, 2014).
Cambodian families have recognized the importance
of HE and are encouraging their children to pursue
post-secondary education (Peou, 2017). Students
themselves are also hopeful that university degrees
will provide them with security and individual
economic returns, which has led to an increase of
93,000 to 245,000 students entering HE from 2005-
2011 (ADB, 2015). Although the intention of the
policy was to build a strong pool of HE graduates to
take-on high skilled jobs, companies are dubious of
the quality of Cambodia’s university educational
system, and are choosing not to hire local graduates
for skilled positions (MOEYS, 2005; Peou, 2017;
Phnom Penh Post, 2011). It has been reported that
nearly half of young workers lack the education to
perform their jobs well (ADB, 2015; Baer, 2014).
This can be in part due to the rampant corruption in
the country, where it is not uncommon for students in
urban areas to bribe their teachers and cheat on exams
(ADB, 2015; Dicklitch and Malik, 2010).
Example 2: Issues with skills mismatch are also
exacerbating labour market supply challenges.
Although students are eager to capitalize upon
expected returns from university degrees, the degrees
they are obtaining are not in line with market needs
(Peou, 2017). Peou (2017) gives context to the issue
by stating that half of graduates are seeking business
related majors and only 1.5 percent of students are
majoring in civil engineering, and 0.1 percent in
science and technology. This unbalance has caused a
mismatch in skills attainment and market needs, as
Cambodia is an economy that is in need of a strongly
skilled science and technology-based workforce. This
lack of diversification among talent has stunted
economic growth potential and Cambodia’s ability to
move away from an agricultural based economy to an
industrial one (ADB, 2015). In a national
employment survey of 500 enterprises, it was
reported that 73 percent of respondents had skilled
positions that they could not fill, resulting in 65
percent of companies delaying business development
and 43 percent missing key opportunities (ADB,
2015). Some academics attribute this issue of skills
mismatch to national educational policies being
overly focused on HCT concepts (Peou, 2017).
Students are blindly pursuing HE degrees that appear
to yield the highest returns on investment, but are
given little guidance on actual market needs, trends,
and pertinent skills. Education itself does not
necessarily translate into economic gains for the
individual or country. As Peou (2017) draws attention
to through the above two examples, educational
quality and acknowledgement of market needs are
needed for HCT perspectives to work successfully.
Example 3: The effectiveness of the national
approach taken by MOEYS to develop a highly
trained, skilled, and educated ICT workforce has also
been questioned. In 2016 (UNDP), it was reported
that the nation faced a 39 percent oversupply in
unskilled workers and a shortage of 37 percent in
semi-skilled workers. Data indicates that the
economy is close to its saturation point of growth
through traditional employment sectors (garment
manufacturing, tourism, construction, and
agriculture) and needs to better prepare its graduates
for an industrialized economy (ADB, 2015; Baer,
2014). The intention of the 2005 ICT policy was most
likely to address this issue; however, the
government’s approach to addressing skills gaps may
not be enough. I would argue that the government’s
basic ICT training provided in schools is not a
comprehensive enough strategy to yield dramatic and
lasting results (Richardson, 2011). As the Asia
Development Bank’s study of Cambodia’s
educational and labour market (ADB, 2015)
indicates, more technical and vocational training is
needed to address pervasive workforce skill gaps.
Unfortunately, today technical education is only
available to a few thousand every year (UNDP,
2016). As this example illustrates, the type and
quality of education is important for economic
returns, not just the attainment of education.
It is hard to definitively argue if HCT perspectives
have failed in Cambodia, or if contextual
circumstances have interfered with the model’s
capacity to work efficiently—as this can be seen as a
matter of individual interpretation. However,
whatever one’s viewpoint, the application of HCT as
an analysis lens does provide valuable insights as to
how linkages between higher education and the
labour market need to be strengthened.
4.3 Globalization Perspectives
As mentioned previously, globalization is the concept
of diminishing constraints in movement and the
acceleration of transfer of capital (physical and
A Critical Analysis of Cambodia’s Policy for Integrating Information Technology in Education using Human Capital Theory and
Globalization
95

human), information, and goods and services between
nations (Little and Green, 2009). Globalization
intersects with education on many levels, including at
the individual, institutional, and national level, all of
which will be discussed in this essay (Jakobi and
Teltemann, 2011; Little and Green, 2009).
Quality has been proven to be a rampant and
systemic issue plaguing Cambodia’s educational
system. In the few instances where the educational
system is able to produce qualified, skilled
professionals who are able to fill needed job posts,
those individuals often choose not to contribute to the
local economy. Thus, globalization has facilitated the
depletion of human capital. It has been stated that
‘18–22% of the student stock becomes US permanent
immigrants each year’ (Rosenzweig, 2007, cited in
Hirosato and Kitamura, 2009: p. 104). It is also
estimated that over one million citizens work abroad
(ADB, 2015). Globalization has made the movement
of people, or human capital, not only a possibility, but
a reality. In the cases where HCT principles were set
to work, unfortunately globalization has interfered by
promoting brain drain.
In the policy excerpt highlighted at the beginning
of the essay, there appears to be a clear focus on
providing quality education as the main justification
for the ICT initiative. What is interesting about
globalization is that it can both be the cause of quality
issues, as evidenced by brain drain, but can also be
leveraged to improve quality by providing tools for
policymakers to formulate better policies.
Globalization has prompted the advent of the ‘global
knowledge society’ which has instigated the common
practice of countries sharing polices and best
practices through educational policy borrowing
and/or lending (Jakobi and Teltemann, 2011). The
pervasiveness of policy sharing can lead to what is
known as convergence, which describes the act of
policies, and in turn educational systems, of differing
countries becoming more similar in nature (Steiner-
Khamsi, 2004; Roudometof, 2014). Globalization
theorists have seen how the ‘global policy field’ has
spurred a trend away from how national policies were
traditionally developed, to one where global
standards, practices, and policies are increasingly
leveraged (Jakobi and Teltemann, 2011: p. 580).
In the opening of the policy document, the Senior
Minister of MOEYS (2005) recognizes the
involvement of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in
formulating the policy and in supplying the technical
and financial resources needed. UNESCO in
Cambodia has been credited with ‘building human
resources for the ministry of education and providing
a new conceptual framework for educational
development. It trained 1,200 administrative
education officials in educational planning and
management’ (Dy et al, 2003: p. 10). Organizations
like UNESCO and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) tend to engage in policy borrowing as it
provides a rationale for implementing best practices
and educational models from one country to another
(Gobbo, 2008). Despite the advantages for
developing countries, the danger and critique of
policy borrowing is that historical, political,
economic, and cultural contexts are either not
factored into policy design, or not to the extent that
they should be (Steiner-Khamsi, 2004). Furthermore,
there is a tendency for policies to be based on US
theories and for universal educational beliefs to
override national values and models (Gobbo, 2008;
Jakobi and Teltemann, 2011; Steiner-Khamsi, 2004).
MOEYS has been seen as succumbing to such
tendencies and is accused of ‘systematically
[formulating] education policies and goals…to
satisfy the [international community and donors]’
(Dy et al, 2003: p. 10, 11).
In Bennett’s (1991) outlook on policy
convergence, one country is not meant to emulate
another, but instead facilitate a country’s divergence
from an unfavourable point/level/set of
circumstances. But this approach is often under-
utilized. Instead of designing policies to move from a
less desirable state to a more favourable one by
targeting the individual educational issues of a
country, more traditional globalization forces tend to
dominate. In other words, global educational
initiatives are pushed onto countries who are
pressured to adopt them at local levels (Jakobi and
Teltemann, 2011). This may explain Cambodia’s
spotlight on ICT literacy and training and its
movement away from initiatives that were previously
focused on pedagogy (Richardson, 2011). Given that
Cambodia had just come out of more than 30 years of
conflict and was experiencing prevalent issues with
unqualified teachers, it is easy to question if the focus
on ICT was prudent and appropriate given the
country’s context at that time, especially given that
even today, secondary teachers only have an
equivalent of a twelfth-grade education or less
(Richardson, 2011). Globalization is driven by
technology (Henry and Springborg, 2010) and
whether it was a conscious decision or not, influences
of globalization may have caused international
partners who were assisting with policy design to
persuade local policy decision makers to prioritize
ICT educational initiatives before the country was
prepared to do so. This fear of losing international
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support and financial assistance can be seen as
another side-effect of globalization. Historical data
for 2005 was not available, but even 2015 figures for
Cambodia’s Network Readiness Index was not
favourable and ranked the country 110 out of 143
countries (Dutta, Geiger, and Lanvin, 2015).
The policy went on to further support its focus on
ICT by stating that it would help the country achieve
their goal of education for all (EFA) by 2015, which
ironically was another UNESCO initiative
(UNESCO, 2000). However, the policy never clearly
described how EFA would be accomplished through
ICT initiatives (MOEYS, 2005). In 2006, it was
reported that 110,687 children of primary school age
were out of school, and that figure actually jumped to
213,482 in 2015 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics,
2015). This calls into question if the MOEYS was
more concerned with increasing the overall quality of
basic education as stated in policy goals, or if they felt
the pressure of globalization and were more focused
on leveraging the concept of ICT to build human
capital and to please donors? In research conducted
by the UNDP (2016), it suggests the latter, as the
report encouraged Cambodia to coordinate
educational and industry policies in pursuit of
developing human capital and industry to reap the
benefits of and facilitate rapid economic growth. The
findings also support further influences of policy
borrowing as East Asian countries like Korea,
Malaysia, and Thailand were cited as successful
benchmarks, support, and models for promoting such
policy directives (UNDP, 2016). This
recommendation does hold more weight in this
instance however, as policy borrowing works best
when there are similarities between geographies,
countries, contexts, and systems (Halpin and Troyna,
1995). While all of the policy intentions are positive,
having one policy be the over-arching solution to
address diverse educational issues and needs can lead
to issues with focus and dilute outcomes (Haddad and
Demsky, 1995). This issue of scope creep can be seen
as a root cause of issues with Cambodia’s current
policy design and approach.
Even though much of the above discourse has
highlighted the negative theoretical impacts on
current policy, it is hard to fault policymakers for
succumbing to HCT and globalization influences.
Both are logical strategies given the country’s need to
rebuild and develop itself across all sectors (Halpin et
al, 1995; Roudometof, 2005). Therefore, the question
should be how can these theoretical perspectives aide
in strengthening future revisions of Cambodia’s ICT
in education policies? The next section will attempt
to provide suggestions on how globalization and HCT
can be used to overcome identified policy gaps.
5 FUTURE POLICY REVISIONS
A common criticism of globalization/policy sharing
has been the lack of local contextualization or the
‘McDonaldization’ of education where Western
influences dominate local thinking (Francois, 2015).
One way of countering this is through a principle
called globalization, which injects cultural and local
perspectives into global policies and programming
(Francois, 2015; Roudometof, 2014). Globalization
recognizes when global principles are counter to local
needs and creates spaces of compromise. Many of the
policy perspectives underscored throughout the essay
demonstrate the need and importance of localizing
and contextualizing policies if principles of
globalization are meant to be successfully translated
from international to national levels.
While Cambodia’s policy laid out a much broader
ICT plan spanning all levels of education (MOEYS,
2005), in actuality much of the programming has been
centred around ICT training and resources for
teachers (ADB, 2015; Elwood and MacLean, 2009;
Richardson, 2011). Why the focus on teacher
training? Globalization influences may have played a
factor. The more difficult task for developing
countries may not be in creating good policies, but in
how to implement new-to-country, large-scale
initiatives (Haddad and Demsky, 1995). When
countries lack the know-how and resources to do so,
this can lead to an over-reliance on international
partners for assistance in execution. In a 2011 survey
on the effectiveness of international aid in Cambodia,
it was noted that official development assistance
totalled 722 million USD, or 10 percent of the
country’s gross national income (OECD, 2012). This
is of particular concern as MOEYS has already been
prone to indiscriminately adopt directives and
guidance from international partners and donors as
cited earlier in the essay (Dy et al, 2003). The survey
went on to attribute the following issues with project
implementation since 2005 to: lack of coordination
and cooperation between aid donors, overlap in
mission and implementation between organizations,
and overambitious global targets—all of which can be
seen as the after-effects of globalization and the blind
acceptance of policy sharing (OECD, 2012). In such
instances, globalization can become critically
important to creating successful outcomes. In fact, as
part of the final recommendation of the survey results,
it was proposed that co-development, greater
A Critical Analysis of Cambodia’s Policy for Integrating Information Technology in Education using Human Capital Theory and
Globalization
97

cooperation among all parties, and joint monitoring
indicators be promoted to address the aforementioned
issues.
HCT perspectives may be useful in helping
Cambodia to globalize ICT policies. One of the major
issues surrounding the implementation of ICT in
education in Cambodia has been the lack of
congruence between intended goals and the country’s
educational needs (Richardson, 2011). As stated
earlier, MOEYS has not yet developed a system for
measuring educational achievements and outcomes
and should therefore consider lessons learned
provided by HCT perspectives (UNESCO, 2011).
Critiques of HCT have called out the shortcomings of
using school attainment as a way to measure human
capital, especially in global contexts (Hanushek,
2013). In the case of Cambodia, higher education
attainment has not always successfully translated into
human capital. If the purpose of Cambodia’s ICT in
education initiatives were and are to improve
educational quality and stimulate economic growth,
then Hanushek’s (2013) alternative model for
measuring human capital through skills achievement,
rather than via traditional methods of school
attainment, may be a more sensible approach. The
measurement of HC via skills achievement over
attainment places the focus on the absorption and
quality of learning instead of participation and
graduation. This can give governments a more
accurate picture of how quality levels are impacting
economic growth and provide policymakers with the
data they need (by age, school level, and academic
subject) to develop specific interventions. ICT related
programming and implementation in education
requires a large financial investment that often results
in low success rates (Elwood and MacLean, 2009).
This is why monitoring and evaluation of policies is
of vital importance and a focus on quality over access
is also key (Hanushek, 2013). Regular assessment of
whether outcomes and objectives are being met can
help policymakers quickly respond to deficiencies
and globalize policies ad hoc, as required (Haddad
and Demsky, 1995).
An example of how globalization can support
HCT principles might be for Cambodia to develop
interventions to reduce the importation of talent to
manage and run the country’s largest industry sectors
(ADB, 2015). Currently the policy is focused on
empowering tertiary graduates with the education and
ICT skills they need to participate in the global
economy (MOEYS, 2005). However, this approach
does not consider and address the large amount of key
middle-management jobs that are going to foreigners
as a result of skill deficiencies within the local talent
pool (ADB, 2015). By creating ad hoc interventions
around adult education for workers in need of
specialized training, HCT principles can be promoted
and lead to stimulated economic growth through
education.
6 CONCLUSION
There are many ways to critically reflect on the
impact and success of Cambodia’s integration of
educational information technology. However, I
chose to take a unique approach by analysing
Cambodia’s first ICT educational policy, rather than
directly focusing on present day interventions and
programming. I felt that it was important to examine
the root of the ICT movement in Cambodia to provide
a better understanding of the role that context and
design can play in policy effectiveness.
The adage of hindsight being 20/20 is true and this
essay was not intended to be overly critical of
Cambodia’s policy integration of information
technology in education, but rather to examine the
policy through the theoretical lenses of HCT and
globalization, so that policymakers could be
cognizant of such influences. In doing so, the hope is
that policymakers can make use of those same
perspectives to design better, more effective policies.
In the case of HCT, policymakers are encouraged to
recognize the circumstances in which HCT works,
and employ HCT modelling methods that help
identify quality gaps so that tailored educational
programming can be delivered to meet market needs.
To counter the negative influences of globalization,
Cambodia should consider using another facet of the
theory called globalization to ensure more effective
programming design and implementation.
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