Public Private Partnership Plan for Early Grade Learning Collaboration - ACL - Cambodia

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) has been working with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Partnership for Education to develop a strategy for piloting a national early grade learning program. The All Children Reading-Cambodia project, launched in 2017, has resources to support implementation of the pilot program in all of Kampong Thom Province. The goal of the MoEYS early grade learning program is to improve the learning outcomes of children in primary schools, including children with disabilities, focusing on grades 1 and 2. All Children Reading-Cambodia is designed to contribute to this goal by achieving the following results: developing tools to improve inclusive, evidence-based early grade literacy instruction; strengthening partnerships that promote collaboration, coordination, and synergies between partners supporting inclusive early grade learning; and supporting the MoEYS in developing and implementing a plan for piloting and scaling up a coordinated and harmonized, inclusive, evidence-based early grade learning program. The public private partnership plan is a complement to the work already being done across the three result areas above. The purpose of this plan is to outline the roles for private sector actors, identify potential private sector partners that are interested in supporting the work of All Children Reading-Cambodia, and identify opportunities for enlisting that support. The plan reflects a mix of financial and non-financial approaches to engaging the private sector, as outlined in the USAID Private Sector Engagement Strategy (2019). Emerging Markets Consulting (EMC) was contracted to do initial research on and outreach to private sector stakeholders on behalf of All Children Learning. EMC compiled a list of key contacts in the private sector, contacted those companies and organizations, and identified the most promising among them in terms of their degree of interest to support the work of All Children Reading-Cambodia. Based on this information, and in consultation with EMC, the strategy presented in this document was formulated. The public private partnership plan has two overarching goals: to enlist private sector actors and stakeholders in directly supporting and extending the work of All Children Reading-Cambodia, and to engage private sector actors and stakeholders in supporting the development and operationalization of the MoEYS plan to scale up its national early grade learning program. All Children Reading-Cambodia has successfully enlisted a broad cross-section of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community in supporting and extending the work of the project. The plan articulates the following potential roles for private sector actors: advocating for the project and the MoEYS goals through raising awareness and advocating in Cambodian society for improved, inclusive education in the early years of primary school. Private sector actors can make use of social media accounts to disseminate information about and advocate for the work of the project and MoEYS among a wider public. Additional and different strategies will be deployed to reach private sector stakeholders more directly. The plan also identifies potential roles for private sector actors in providing technical or operational advice and expertise, providing vital additional funding, and acting as powerful advocates within society for wise investment of public resources in a priority like basic education. The project has already been working with other stakeholders, such as other bilateral/multilateral donors, NGOs, and community or faith-based organizations, to leverage resources for the MoEYS program.