NEWS

The Centre of Excellence in Higher Education Teaching and Learning Innovations (CEHETLI) held its first policy dialogue on ‘Driving and Supporting Higher Education Teaching and Learning Innovations: Policy and Practices’ on 30 March 2021. The policy dialogue saw 43 participants from Cambodia and Hong Kong gathered virtually to discuss how universities could drive and support innovatives for inclusive and quality teaching and learning. CEHETLI is funded through the World Bank’s Higher Education Improvement Project (HEIP) in Cambodia. CEHETLI is situated in the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in partnership with The Education University of Hong Kong, the Directorate General of Higher Education (DGHE) and another five leading universities in Cambodia. The other five partner universities are: (in alphabetical order) the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC), the National University of Battambang (NUBB), the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), Svay Rieng University (SRU), and the University of Heng Samrin Thbongkhmum (UHST).

The event started with the opening keynote by Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, President of EdUHK, who shared the promising practices and lessons learnt of driving and supporting teaching and learning innovations at EdUHK. Prof. Cheung highlighted the pivotal role of university leaders in providing an ecosystem to support these innovatives.

In his opening remarks, His Excellency Mak Ngoy, Director General of Higher Education (DGHE) in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia hoped that the six universities could work closely through the CEHETLI to provide quality professional development for their teachers. He believed that the collaboration among six leading Cambodian universities and EdUHK would enhance inclusive and quality teaching and learning in Cambodian universities, and meet the demands of the transforming economy.

Next, Professor Lim Cher Ping, Chair Professor of Learning Technologies and Innovation of EdUHK, presented a holistic framework for building the capacity of universities; the framework was co-developed by EdUHK and UNESCO Asia Pacific, to facilitate the discussions and reflections of institutional capacity building for the inclusiveness and quality of teaching and learning of Cambodian universities.

Project coordinators and representatives from the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), the National University of Battambang (NUBB) and the Svay Rieng University (SRU) shared the policies, the issues and challenges, and suggestions to address the issues and challenges in their universities. The sharing was followed by an active and engaging discussion session chaired by Professor Allan Walker (Adjunct Chair Professor of International Educational Leadership of EdUHK). Dr Sok Say, the HEIP Technical Assistant from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport shared the importance of university teachers as change agents for better quality and more inclusive higher education in Cambodia. Likewise, Dr No Fata, the Education Specialist from the World Bank highlighted that incentives for university teachers are necessary to encourage them to implement teaching and learning innovations. The senior management staff from the five universities (ITC met the team face to face the next day) actively engaged in the discussions and shared their reflections.

Dr. Nith Bunlay, Deputy Director General for Higher Education, charting the next steps, said that this policy dialogue provided a platform for senior management staff from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, six Cambodian partner universities, EdUHK, and the World Bank to have a constructive discussion on the opportunities and challenges for innovative teaching and learning practices. He said that he expected more regular policy dialogues could be held in the future.

At the end of the event, Dr Souma Svay and Dr Sok Soth from the Faculty of Education at RUPP expressed their gratitude to the World Bank and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia, and the partner universities for their support. Dr Sok Soth said, “With the strong support from the university leaders, we look forward to the collaboration with the other five partner universities and EdUHK to enhance inclusive and quality teaching and learning in Cambodia.”

A one-to-one session was held on 31 March 2021 to share for the senior management staff at ITC. Prof Lim shared the discussions of the policy dialogue on how to build institutional capacity for inclusive and quality teaching and learning in Cambodian universities. His Excellency Dr Romny shared the promising practices of teaching and learning innovations at ITC.