The Japanese government will provide a $28 million grant for pedagogy institutes in Phnom Penh and Battambang provinces to train teachers in the Kingdom. Cambodia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn and Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia Hidehisa Horinouchi met yesterday to ink an agreement on the project.

The institutes will strengthen the Ministry of Education’s primary and secondary teachers’ training capacity to assist with the country’s development, Sokhonn said. Currently, teachers study for two years to become primary school teachers, but beginning in 2020 they will need to complete a four-year training program.

‘We recognise that improving human resources is our top priority [by] empowering the knowledge of teachers,’ he said. Horinouchi said both countries will also share technical assistance and curriculum development for the institutes.

‘I hope that students who receive education from those [future] teachers will contribute to the development of Cambodia,’ he added. One of the Education Ministry’s goals has been to improve the quality of teaching in the country, with the Ministry of Education pledging teacher reforms. Ministry spokesman Ros Salin didn’t respond to a request for comment.