Than Pok Secretary of State, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport His Excellency Than Pok is currently serving as the senior Secretary of State of the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sport in Cambodia, since 1998. He has been instrumental in initiating a sector-wide approach to education reform, including enabling growing private sector and NGO partnership in TVET and higher education. Previously, he served as a member of the National Assembly in Cambodia and President/Chief Executive of the Center for Social Development in Cambodia and Executive Director of the Coalition for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia. While living in the United States, he established and ran an NGO for resettlement and education of Cambodian refugees, with extensive U.S. State Department and corporate foundation funding. He has Masters and other post-graduate qualifications in education, social welfare and community economic development from the Universities of California and Southern California. He is also a professionally trained school director and teacher.

Quality Education for All Young People: Challenges, Trends and Priorities

On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I wish to offer my congratulations to UNESCO for organizing the 47th session of the International Conference on Education. I am also passed on my regards to all participants, especially my fellow Ministers of Education from around the world. I feel reassured that the opportunity to share experiences of this kind will help us all to face the important challenges of providing high quality education for our young people.

In the past 25 years, Cambodia has made strenuous efforts to both restore and develop the education system. The current phase of reform, based on a sector-wide approach, is showing significant success. Achieving Education for All and related Millennium Development Goals is our guiding principle. The Ministry is confident that EFA is achievable, thanks to strong Government and international community support.

I am pleased to report that my Ministry is about to finalize its new Education Strategic Plan 2004-2008, which is designed to take a further step towards EFA. As part of our partnership development process, the Ministry is currently undertaking a joint appraisal of this plan with all partners. We believe that under the Ministry's leadership, joint understanding of and commitment to the proposed reforms is ever strengthening.

I wish to extend an open invitation to fellow Ministers and members of the international community to visit Cambodia at the earliest opportunity. I believe that sharing lessons learned about both our successes and difficulties can enrich the process of education development in an ever more global world.