300,000

Young Cambodians

Some 300,000 young Cambodians enter the labor market every year (UNCT’s Common Advocacy Point 2011)
See detail

75 %

Businesses was unable to hire competent IT staff

75% of businesses interview was unable to hire competent IT staff due to significant shortage of qualification (Cambodian IT industry: Skills for a digital economy report)
See detail

63.84 % of 99,728

Students passed the exam in 2017

A total of 63.84% of the 99,728 students who sat the high school exam in 2017 scored above the minimum passing mark of 47%, up from 62% of students last year (Ministry of Education, 2017)
See detail

60 %

Major selection based on personal interest

Among those who passed high school exam, only 30% decided to choose their majors at the universities based on the market demand for employment while other 60% do based on their personal interest (Survey of University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2015).
See detail

3 % of 250,000

Out of the 250,000 post-secondary graduates in 2014, only 3% are from technical and vocational fields like agriculture, science and engineering (Report on Youth Well-being Policy Review of Cambodia, EU-OECD, 2017)
See detail

46 % Undereducated
23 % Overeducated
64 % Underqualified

The youth’s low education leads to skill shortages. Hence, it is a big challenge for the labour market. Employers cannot get the qualified workers. Only 31% of youth in Cambodia have jobs that match their qualifications, while 23% are overeducated and 46% are undereducated. Under-qualification is most severe in the industry sector, with 64% of youth underqualified for the job (EU-OECD, 2017)
See detail