Project Staff

Un Leang
PhD researcher
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E-mail	lun@fmg.uva.nl
Title PhD research: *A comparative study of education and development in post-conflict Cambodia and Uganda*. Summary: Un Leang's research examines the role of education and education policy in the strong but inequitable, and perhaps still fragile, economic growth experienced in Cambodia and Uganda since the re-establishment of peace in those countries at the beginning of the 1990s. The aim is to compare the efficiency and effectiveness with which the governments of the two countries have supplied education to their citizens, and to assess the relevance of that education to the needs of the developing economy and the achivement of economic growth. Preliminary evidence from literature and statistics suggests that Uganda for a time performed better in terms of educational outreach at the primary level, but that Cambodia now leads in this as in other respects, which may help to explain why poverty levels continue to fall in Cambodia whereas in Uganda they are once again on the increase despite continued aggregate growth. Leang's fieldwork over the last six months in Cambodia, however, has documented shortcomings in the Cambodian education system at all levels, from weak policy and budgetary commitment to teacher corruption and lack of attention to technical and scientific training. It remains to be seen whether Uganda's more sophisticated tertiary sector and decentralized primary school system offer any positive contrasts.