An investigation by two NGOs has uncovered a network of Education Ministry officials stealing schoolbooks that were intended to be given free to students, and then either selling them back to schools or in local markets.
The investigation, conducted in December and January, found that officials at district education departments had intercepted the delivery of the official school textbooks, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and had created three revenue streams for personal enrichment.
The state publishing house “paid the district level [education] officials to deliver the books,” said San Chey, a representative of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, which carried out the investigation together with the Khmer Institute for National Development.