Advice and Technical Assistance for Strengthening Teacher Education Programmes in Cambodia (STEPCam) in partnership with UNESCO
Development of a school-based continuous professional development (CPD) system for education personnel in alignment with revised teacher career pathway
APPROACH
As part of the GPE3 grant for Cambodia, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and UNESCO formulated Strengthening Teacher Education Programmes in Cambodia (STEPCam) to formalise continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers, school leaders, and education specialists. UNESCO contracted Simone to provide technical assistance to the MoEYS in developing and implementing a school-based CPD system in alignment with other teacher policies and incorporating a revised teacher career pathway. Using methods previously developed in Mozambique and since used successfully in many other countries, Simone first worked closely with a national counterpart, developing national capacity and supporting the creation of the necessary organisations, systems, processes and instruments. These included establishing a CPD Management Office and supporting the team to write their own terms of reference and revise their organigram. She also supported the creation of a human resources management information system (HRMIS) with a CPD component and a CPD credit attribution system, allowing accumulated credit to contribute to career progression and mechanisms for accreditation of CPD providers. Following the initial 7-week visit, and whilst international travel is restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, she continues to work closely with her national counterpart to provide ongoing distance support to various departments within the MoEYS to develop CPD, working on producing relevant documentation and liaising with MoEYS officials. This approach serves to build capacity at the national level and promotes ownership of the tailor-made CPD system.
OUTCOMES
At present, education outcomes in Cambodia are poor; the objective of STEPCam is to improve the quality of teaching in order to improve student learning. The CPD framework aims to make teachers into lifelong learners and reflective practitioners through school-based professional learning, enhancing the competencies of in-service teachers. It is anticipated that a functional CPD system will be piloted in 2020 and 2021, with the CPD credits contributing to career pathway advancement for individual educators. It is hoped that these credits will also contribute to their appraisals, enabling teachers with positive appraisal to receive increased salary. The CPD system, including the Management Office and HRMIS, will be ongoing, leading to enhanced teacher quality, professionalism and commitment and ultimately to improved educational outcomes.