Bridging the Digital Divide: Advancing Inclusive and Equitable Education in Cambodia
Key Messages
- Cambodia's digital transformation is crucial for fostering human capital development, but there are challenges in using EdTech and AI for inclusive and equitable education.
- Ethical AI and digital inclusion must prioritise human dignity, privacy, equity, and the protection of students’ autonomy, ensuring digital tools enhance rather than hinder learning.
- Digital education must be accessible, adaptable, and affordable for all, with well-equipped institutions, flexible curricula, and quality teaching programs to support diverse student needs.
- A strategic investment in digital infrastructure and education financing is needed to bridge the digital divide, with increased collaboration between the government, private sector, and educational institutions.
- Comprehensive policies and regulatory frameworks, including data protection laws, are essential for safeguarding privacy, ensuring ethical use of AI, and creating a safe digital learning environment.
- Cross-sector collaboration, public-private partnerships, and shared digital infrastructure are vital for building a sustainable and effective EdTech ecosystem to empower all learners and educators in Cambodia.
Introduction
Recognising the increasingly significant roles of technology for advancing economic growth and societal progress, digital transformation has been at the forefront of the national development agenda of Cambodia, particularly in response to the challenges posed by the digital age and the COVID-19 pandemic (Royal Government of Cambodia [RGC] 2023). Digital technologies have the potential to be the key driver for human capital development and serve as a bridge for fostering a skilled and digital workforce (CDRI 2025). Technology rapidly reshapes and transforms the educational landscape in Cambodia, yet little is known on how and to what extent technology can serve as a tool for fostering inclusive and equitable education and development, i.e. ensuring accessibility and affordability, and addressing learning disparities. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) has introduced policies and frameworks to drive digital education and facilitate the integration of technology at all levels of education in Cambodia, including the Education Strategic Plan 2024-2028, Inclusive Education Action Plan 2024-2028 and Digital Education Strategy for Schools (DESS). In addition, the EduTech Roadmap was also adopted in 2022 to foster technology-enhanced learning ecosystem by improving innovation and entrepreneurship skills (Ministry of Industry, Science and Innovation [MISTI] 2022). While making progress in increasing access to education, the quality gap remains wide and is not improving as needed (CDRI 2025). Despite efforts and progress in advancing digital education, Cambodia faces multiple challenges that hinder the effective integration of education technology (EdTech) to improve learning outcomes and enhance workforce readiness. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) may not equally benefit every learner, widening the educational gaps, especially for marginalised groups such as persons with disabilities, indigenous groups, low-income households, and rural communities. As Cambodia embraces these innovations, it is essential to ensure that EdTech and AI align with the core human values and serve as a tool for inclusive and equitable education, rather than a barrier to learners’ rights (Selwyn 2020). This blog explores the opportunities, challenges, and ethical considerations in harnessing AI and digital technologies for inclusive and quality education in Cambodia.
Guiding Principles for Inclusive and Quality Digital Education
Cambodia’s Education Law emphasises life-long learning to uphold human dignity. To ensure technology bridges education and social development rather than creating barriers, key principles must guide its adoption. First, digital education must be accessible and affordable for all, regardless of background, location and other attributes. Second, content and format should be adaptable to different contexts, evolving societal needs, and the specific requirements of students and educators. A standardised approach is ineffective—localised research and curriculum adaptation are essential for relevance and impact. Flexibility fosters innovation and personalised learning experiences, ensuring that education remains engaging and meaningful. Lastly, equitable access requires well-equipped institutions, quality teaching programmes, and adequate ICT infrastructure to support digital education (CESCR 1999). Without these, even the best digital tools cannot fulfill their potential to enhance learning and empower learners and educators to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.
Investing in Digital Infrastructure for Education
To promote digital inclusion, the government must invest in infrastructure that ensures universal access to digital learning tools (World Bank 2022). However, education financing remains a low priority in Cambodia, with total education expenditure at just 9.2 percent of the national budget amounting to only 2.7 percent of GDP in 2023 (MoEYS 2024). Digital literacy is also limited, with only 55.6 percent of students and educators have internet access, while under-resourced ICT infrastructure hampers EdTech adoption—only 22 percent of schools have functional computers (MISTI 2022). A significant skills gap exists, particularly in STEM fields that demand ICT and digital competencies, contributing to high unemployment or underemployment, especially in the digital and green economy sector (National Institute of Statistics 2021). To bridge the digital divide, Cambodia must adopt a long-term and predictable education financing, prioritise ICT infrastructure, and implement innovative funding strategies. Collaboration with private sector will also be crucial to ensure equitable access to reliable internet, modern devices, and interactive digital learning platforms. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure that technology empowers, rather than excludes, vulnerable and marginalised communities (OECD 2021).
Mainstreaming Inclusive Technology in Education and Training
Teachers and school administrators lack sufficient training and support to effectively integrate EdTech and AI into their lessons (Chea, Bo and Minami 2022). To address this, educators need up-to-date digital literacy and innovative pedagogical skills to utilise technology in teaching. Frameworks like Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which promotes equal access by offering multiple means of engagement should be prioritised. Technology can provide personalised learning experiences and conducive learning environment tailored to the unique needs of students and teachers regardless of their background or location but must respect their autonomy by minimising unnecessary surveillance and control (Sieng, Chea and Song 2023; EPRS 2020). Furthermore, supporting mental health and well-being of learners is crucial to improving learning outcomes (Dai et al 2020). Overcoming resistance to change is necessary to align the vision of transformative digital education with the current capabilities of educators and students. Strong school leadership is essential to foster innovation, ensure quality teacher capacity development, and maintain effective and accountable school management. Ethical considerations should be integrated into curricular and teacher training programmes to guide the responsible use of EdTech and AI, ensuing informed decisions and minimising risks. This approach should span across all levels of education, from general education to higher education, and technical and vocational training.
Adopting Comprehensive Policies and Regulatory Frameworks
The absence of a regulatory framework for AI governance, specifically in education, raise ethical concerns regarding privacy, data protection, and inequalities. Safeguarding privacy and data security is essential for ensuring transparency and accountability in automated systems. Comprehensive legal frameworks and guidelines are needed to regulate AI and EdTech, creating safe and conducive online learning environments while protecting student's well-being and learning outcomes (OECD 2021). Accelerating the adoption of Cybersecurity and Data Protection Law is crucial to prevent the arbitrary collection, storage and misuse of personal data, particularly for children and young people. These laws should define the rights of learners, educators, administrators, and EdTech companies, ensuring ethical AI use while balancing innovation and legal compliance. Clear legal standards will also enhance accessibility, quality assurance and intellectual property protections in digital education. A comprehensive national EdTech strategy that aligns government policies, private sector innovation, and academic goals is also necessary for effective, ethical and scalable solutions.
Promoting Public-Private Partnerships
There is a lack of synergy between the government, the private sector and education institutions, leading to fragmented and siloed EdTech initiatives. Cross-sector collaboration is essential for developing, implementing and sustaining inclusive and effective EdTech ecosystems. It enables meaningful engagement of EdTech developers, users and regulators while addressing funding challenges, improving infrastructure, and ensuring scalability and long-term impact. Cooperation allows stakeholders to share best practices, conduct evidence-based research and formulate actionable policies to enhance equitable and inclusive digital education. Through public-private partnerships, industry-academia cooperation, and shared digital infrastructure, a sustainable and effective EdTech ecosystem can be developed for the benefit for all.
Conclusion
EdTech and AI hold immense potential for transforming learning and teaching in Cambodia. However, to fully leverage these technologies, Cambodia must develop strategic and ethical policies focused on digital inclusion. Investment in education must increase to support teacher professional development, school management and infrastructure. A strong regulatory framework is needed to ensure ethical AI, data privacy, and long-term impact. By prioritising human dignity and ethical considerations, technology can become a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion. Achieving this requires active collaboration between policymakers, educators and private sector to foster inclusive, sustainable and digital growth and support Cambodia’s transition to a digital and green economy.
References
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