To facilitate the transition, the monastic schools were initially incorporated into the national system, but during the 1950s and 1960s they were gradually replaced by secular state schools. By 1967, monastic schools constituted only 10% of all schools in Cambodia. During this period, enrolments increased rapidly, and by 1966, primary education was available to the majority of the school-age population (Keyes, 1995:293). By 1969, there were 5,275 primary schools, 146 secondary schools, and nine institutes of higher education (Clayton, 1998:5), as compared to the 107 elementary schools, 19 full course schools, and one college operating under the French in 1939 (Bilodeau, 1955: 19). Drop out rates were high, and approximately one quarter of the students enrolled in primary school dropped out after one year (Keyes, 1995: 293). In the 1960s, the government began to provide basic education to the indigenous peoples with the objectives of spreading literacy, stimulating development, and promoting fuller integration into the nation-state. However, many factors, including poverty, language barriers, lack of teaching and learning materials, and distance to schools, discouraged children from attending the schools (Sokhom, 2004). Even though the Government of Cambodia made significant advancements with the expansion of primary education, there continued to be a cultural rift between urban and rural populations because secondary and higher education were still oriented toward the French system. Progress in education was further stalled by the civil war which began in 1970 with Lon Nol’s overthrow of Sihanouk and the creation of the Khmer Republic. Schools in areas controlled by forces loyal to Lon Nol were most severely affected, and by 1975 most primary schools were closed. Schools in the rest of the country were being run by the National United Front of Cambodia, which had modelled its educational system on the Vietnamese system (Keyes, 1995: 294).
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Before the 1960s, the only institution of higher education was the National Institute of Legal, Political, and Economic studies. A small proportion of the population pursued university education abroad. By 1970, there was a total enrolment of 9,000 students in universities across the country. The University of Phnom Penh, which was the largest, had an enrolment of 4,570 male students and 730 female students in eight departments (Ross, 1987). Lon Nol was in turn overthrown in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge, and Democratic Kampuchea (DK) was created. During the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979), the foundations laid in primary education and literacy during the two decades following independence were completely destroyed. Under the Khmer Rouge, all schools were closed, and educated people were targeted as enemies of the revolution. At the beginning of the 1970s, there were more than 20,000 teachers in Cambodia, but after ten years only about 5,000 of these teachers remained. Of the 725 university instructors, only 50 were left, and of the 2,300 secondary teachers, only 207 survived. Of the 21,311 primary school teachers only 2,717 survived (Ross, 1987). According to the records of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS), 75% of teachers, 96% of tertiary students, and 67% of all elementary and secondary students died during the Khmer Rouge era, 90% of the schools were demolished, and books from libraries were burned (Clayton, 1998:5-8). The educational policies of Democratic Kamphuchea were laid out in the 1976 Four-Year Plan to Build Socialism in All Fields. The plan proposed that three years of primary education would be provided by the regime. Rather than taking place in schools, however, basic education would be provided in “factories, cooperatives, and revolutionary establishments” (Clayton, 1998:9). In reality, there was little uniformity to the DK educational system, and while some parts of the country offered one or two hours of schooling per day, in other regions none was available (Clayton, 1998:9). Although children during this period did receive some education, it was centred on revolutionary rhetoric at the expense of other subjects, and literacy was neglected. By the time the Khmer Rouge were ousted in 1979, the educational system had to be completely rebuilt. Most people under the age of 14 lacked any basic education, and the illiteracy rate was more than 40% (Ross, 1987).