Costing and financing of SDG 4.2 in Cambodia

There is a wide recognition that Early Childhood Education (ECE) lays the foundation for lifelong learning: children’s early experiences and environments have lasting influences on their future success in education and life. Because of its importance, expanding ECE has been one of the main global targets in Education for All goals, and then in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, of which Target 4.2 states, 'By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.'

Investing in ECE programmes is one of the most efficient ways to address inequality, break the cycle of poverty, and improve development and learning outcomes later in life. Asia-Pacific regional and international action plans, the Kathmandu Statement of Action (2018) and the Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action for Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education (2022) have further identified increasing investment in ECE as one of their priority areas. However, despite the positive benefits and advantages of investing in the ECE sub-sector and improved regional cooperation to expand equitable access to quality ECE, it is still a sub-sector that is seriously underfunded in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Cambodia.

In Cambodia, the ECE sub-sector has made significant progress in terms of expanded access to ECE as a result of policy implementations and targeted interventions. For example, according to the Education Congress Report 2023, the enrolment rate of five-year-old children in any type of ECE increased from 59.9% in 2013 to 64.8% in 2022. However, further efforts are required for improving the quality of ECE and providing ECE services for children in rural areas, disadvantaged children, and children from low socio-economic status. The Royal Government of Cambodia estimates that planned budget allocation for the ECE sub-sector for the next five years (Education Strategic Plan 2019–2023) is around 6.4%. However this is lower than the international benchmark of at least 10% of public education expenditure.

Against this backdrop, systematic costing and financing mechanisms are essential to secure sufficient funds to successfully sustain and expand quality ECE programmes in Cambodia. In order to strengthen national capacities for systematic review and analysis of costing and financing to increase investments on ECE from government and all development partners, the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok), with financial support from Korea Funds-in-Trust, has developed the 'Cambodia SDG 4.2 Costing Model” under the project “Strengthening Costing and Financing of SDG 4.2 in the Asia-Pacific Region.'

The main purpose of this paper is to advocate for sufficient investment in ECE in Cambodia for the country to achieve its national and SDG 4.2 targets. More specifically, the paper aims to (i) provide a better understanding of the development of the ECE sub-sector in Cambodia; (ii) analyse and determine the resources needed to achieve SDG 4.2 in Cambodia using the Cambodia SDG 4.2 Costing Model; and (iii) facilitate policy discussion for sustainable resource mobilization of ECE in Cambodia.

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