Sereyrath Em, Sarom Mok, Rany Sam, Ganda Febri Kurniawan, Dina Pen
From the beginning until now, education has been a significant factor in the Cambodian setting. The current article examines the origins of education in Cambodia, which dates back to the prehistoric period. Throughout Cambodian history, education has played a variety of meaningful roles. Education played a significant role in shaping the lives of individuals throughout the many eras of Cambodian prehistory and history. In prehistory, children learned by doing and observing the people around them. Education in Cambodia peaked during the Angkor Empire, also known as the Khmer Empire. During that period, hundreds of educational institutions were located across the country, including more advanced educational establishments in the city that served as the capital of Angkor. Thousands of instructors were well-equipped to teach Khmer-speaking students. On the other hand, as the Angkor Empire collapsed, education in Cambodia gradually declined, a trend that persisted until the Khmer Rouge Regime finally eradicated education. During this period, the Khmer Rouge leaders targeted and killed the majority of instructors. Then the Cambodian government and other concerned education stakeholders have been working diligently to rebuild education in Cambodia since the end of that black period, and they have succeeded in doing so to the point where it is now. Finally, the article recommends that the concerned education stakeholders consider the past as the experiences for the present and improve the perspectives of future education. © 2025, Universitas Negeri Semarang. All rights reserved.
The University of Cambodia, Cambodia; National University of Battambang, Cambodia; Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia; Svay Rieng University, Cambodia
