Strategic Pathways for Transforming Cambodia's Education System toward Quality, Equity, and Future Readiness

Abstract Cambodia has expanded education access over recent decades, yet persistent challenges remain in learning quality, equity across socio-economic and geographic groups, and readiness for a fast-changing labor market and digital economy. This narrative review synthesizes ScienceDirect/Elsevier scholarship relevant to Cambodia and comparable Southeast Asian contexts to propose strategic pathways for system transformation toward quality, equity, and future readiness. Evidence highlights: (i) uneven distribution of educational opportunity and persistent socio-economic and spatial inequities in higher education access, (ii) regional concerns about foundational literacy/numeracy and heterogeneous reform effectiveness, (iii) the importance—and uneven uptake—of digital learning adoption, including motivational and usability factors among Cambodian university students, (iv) the role of vocational education and “learning while earning” models for disadvantaged youth alongside equity and cultural tensions, and (v) institutional challenges to strengthening research and development in higher education as a foundation for national innovation capacity. Drawing on these findings and innovation-systems perspectives, the review proposes an integrated reform agenda: strengthen teacher quality and instructional leadership; align curriculum, assessment, and remediation to foundational learning; target equity with data-driven financing and multi-dimensional inclusion; build resilient digital and blended learning ecosystems; modernize TVET and school-to-work transitions; and improve higher education quality assurance and research capacity. The paper concludes with a practical implementation roadmap and monitoring indicators aligned with SDG4. Keywords: Cambodia; education reform; equity; learning quality; teacher development; digital learning; TVET; higher education; quality assurance; future-ready skills.