Higher Education and Its Research in Cambodia: For What and for Whom?

Cambodian higher education and its research were developed not only recently, but also unevenly. The first modern university was established only in 1960, and higher education and its research were expanded briefly focusing on Cambodianization within the larger nation-building project after the independent in 1953. This process was interrupted by the first civil war (1970-1975), a war that spilled over from Vietnam War and was completely shut down by the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). Higher education remained underdeveloped during the second civil war (1979-1991). Thus, only fairly recently has higher education and its research become an important pillar of Cambodia’s development strategy, a connection forged under the influence of the logical correlation between innovative knowledge of higher education and its research and the construction of a knowledge-based economy and society. This paper will explore the development of higher education and its research in Cambodia after the end of the second civil war, focusing on how that affects the indicator of innovative knowledge and development in term of for what and for whom. This paper will be divided into six sections. 1) briefly presenting the historical background of Cambodia, 2) outlining the current situation of Cambodian higher education and its research, 3) exploring the relationship between Cambodian higher education, including its research, and its development by trying to answer: what and who is Cambodian higher education and its research for?, 4) attempting to answer how did Cambodian higher education and its research arrive at their current status, 5) examining what is the future direction of Cambodian higher education and its research might be, and finally, 6) providing personal concluding remarks that suggests an alternative future direction of Cambodian higher education and its research.