The Transformation of Buddhist Education in Cambodia: A Case Study of Buddhist Educational Improvement from the Past to the Present

Buddhist education has expanded to increase Cambodia's human resources. By the way, it has been providing new curricula and policy-making for educational areas to ensure the quality of national Buddhist education studies. Essentially, it was distributed many centuries ago to bring knowledge to venerable monks and students and to develop their morality and intelligence cultivation. Cambodian Buddhist education has gone through many periods, but it has remained focused on the purpose of expanding knowledge for Cambodian citizens. On the other hand, Buddhist education is supported by the government budget and some sponsors from Cambodian citizens. And "Buddhist education is the backbone of Buddhism in Cambodia,” said Samdech Preah Mahāsumedhādhipati Kittipaṇḍita Am Limheng, who is the acting president of the General Inspectorate for National Buddhist Education of Cambodia. In fact, during the COVID-19 period, Buddhist education announced its educational policy to bring high-quality education to the venerable monks and students in all of Buddhist institutions. Online Learning has been used as the main policy to provide knowledge and lessons for students. To conclude, many venerable monks and students are studying and gaining knowledge from Buddhist institutions such as primary school, secondary school, high school, and university to grow their capacity and contribute to human resources in society. Currently, Buddhist education in Cambodia has introduced an elearning program to develop students’ capacity in the modern era.