2014 National High School Examination

Following the July 2013 election where the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) gained a surprisingly narrow victory over the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), the newly formed government led by the ruling CPP promised a raft of new reforms. In one such reform effort, the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport (MoEYS) increased the monitoring of the annual national high school examination, which took place on August 4-5, 2014. About 90,000 high school students nationwide sat for the exam. With the increased monitoring, the passing rate fell to 25.7 percent from last year’s 86 percent. The low passing rate prompted MoEYS to announce a second exam scheduled for October 13-14. The introduction of MoEYS’ reform effort drew media debate over whether or not the increased monitoring was positive for both the government and for the improvement of education in Cambodia overall. In order to gauge public opinion, The Asia Foundation conducted a snap poll, which took place between September 13 and 19, 2014.