Chapter 1 - Stakeholder Views of Quality Assurance in Cambodian Higher Education

Abstract

Since the 2000s, Cambodia has seen a dramatic increase in the number and size of higher education institutions, reaching towards the stage of massification after almost three decades of political unrest. Some view this increase in the scale of higher education as a great achievement for Cambodia, having significantly widened access for students who wish to pursue their studies in higher education. However, critics describe some higher education institutions in Cambodia as little more than diploma mills, providing low-quality education that does not meet the national needs for the development of skills. This chapter outlines the strategy the Cambodian government has developed to ensure the quality of its higher education, and how the different stakeholder groups in Cambodia view the effectiveness of the government’s strategy to ensure the quality of higher education.