Skip to main content

EdUHK Contributes to Educational Transformation in Belt and Road Countries

President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung hosted a Spring Reception today (9 February), in which he briefed the media on the latest developments at the University. Joining Professor Cheung were three distinguished guests from Cambodia: His Excellency Mak Ngoy, Director General of Higher Education; Dr Nith Bunlay, Deputy Director General of Higher Education; and Dr Sok Soth, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. They are EdUHK’s partners in a knowledge transfer project, which aims to build higher education teacher capacity in Cambodia.


Since 2020, EdUHK has collaborated with six leading Cambodian universities* to enhance the professional competencies of higher education teachers and foster collaborative research and knowledge transfer in Cambodia. Under the project, the Centre of Excellence in Higher Education Teaching and Learning and Innovations (CEHETLI) has been established to develop effective pedagogy, improve classroom learning, and build the capacity of higher education teachers there. One of the key initiatives is the development of a graduate certificate programme in teaching and learning for higher education teachers. To date, 37 Cambodian teachers have obtained the certificates and are qualified to serve as Master Teachers in their respective institutions. Using a co-developed set of resources in both English and Khmer, the project will benefit at least 1,000 university teachers and 10,000 students by June 2024.

 

Under the project, six Master Teachers have been enrolled in EdUHK’s Doctor of Education programme. Upon graduation, these Master Teachers will become core members of the CEHETLI and lead local institutions to further improve the quality of higher education in their home country.

 

His Excellency Mak Ngoy said, “For the past decade, we have been delighted to see that our strong and well-established partnership with EdUHK has had a significant impact in enhancing quality and inclusive higher education in Cambodia. We look forward to our ongoing and future collaboration.”


Professor Cheung said, "As a leading university in education in Asia, EdUHK has leveraged its expertise to support educational transformation in the region. Following the completion of a nationwide project in Vietnam, we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with our peers in Cambodia for the advancement of higher education. This is a win-win situation for all, and talent from Belt and Road countries has helped foster a more diversified learning environment on the EdUHK campus.”


Since its establishment, the University’s Graduate School has admitted 81 students from Belt and Road countries for its master’s and doctoral programmes, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Uganda and Vietnam.


On the same occasion, Professor Cheung also looked back on his decade-long tenure, saying that the University had made great strides in enhancing its learning and teaching, research, and knowledge-transfer capacity. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the University community, EdUHK has ranked among the top three in Asia and the top 20 in the world in education for eight consecutive years, and has garnered over 110 prestigious awards in international innovation competitions over the years. 

 

*Institute of Technology of Cambodia, National University of Battambang, Royal University of Agriculture, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Svay Rieng University, and University of Heng Samrin Thbongkhmum