PHNOM PENH - Demand for English-language international schools is surging among Cambodia's wealthy as families seek better educational opportunities in a country whose economy depends heavily on foreign investment and tourism.
More than 80 international schools already operate in the capital Phnom Penh, where growing contact with foreigners has increased the value placed on English-language education.
Japanese companies are also entering the market, promoting elements of Japan's education system.
In September, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for JISPP, a new international school offering Japanese-style education in a developing area on the outskirts of Phnom Penh that is also home to a Japanese-owned shopping mall.
Tokyo-based Wonderfy will lead the project, with investment totaling about 3 billion yen ($18.9 million) and funding also coming from companies in other countries.
Scheduled to open next summer, the school will offer a curriculum based on the International Baccalaureate program used around the world.
One unusual feature is that the Japanese School of Phnom Penh, attended by children of Japanese expatriates, will relocate to the same campus.
At the ceremony, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said he highly valued Japanese education for fostering discipline and cooperation, and expressed hope that students at the schools would become a "bridge" between Cambodia and Japan.
Koji Tezuka, president of the Japanese Association of Cambodia, which operates the Japanese School, said it currently has about 50 students. Its existing building has deteriorated with age, prompting the school to move to the new campus as a tenant.
Most students at JISPP are expected to be Cambodian.
Although lessons at the two schools will be held separately, Moe Funamizu, principal of the international school's elementary division, said students would have opportunities to take part in activities together.
"We want them to join in club activities and school events together, and also introduce some of the good aspects of Japanese education, such as students taking part in cleaning and school lunches," she said.
English ability can have a major impact on salaries in Cambodia, which relies heavily on foreign investment and tourism.
Prime Minister Hun Manet graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and completed postgraduate studies in the United States and Britain. Many senior government officials have also studied abroad.
But English instruction at public schools is limited to only a few hours a week, and Cambodia ranks near the bottom among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The divide is also financial.
Annual tuition at the most expensive international schools can reach $30,000, while JISPP will charge about $10,000.
A local reporter said the education system is "clearly divided" between wealthy families able to afford international schooling and middle- and lower-income households whose options are largely limited to public schools.
The intense demand for education also has roots in Cambodia's painful history.
During the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s, intellectuals, including teachers, were massacred and the country's public education system was devastated.
Half a century later, the effects are still being felt.
A diplomatic source said Cambodia still has a relatively small pool of people with higher education, including teachers.
Against that backdrop, parents with the means to do so continue to spend heavily as they search for a higher standard of education for their children.
