News

First General Meeting – Phnom Penh, 22-25 June 2026

START Cambodia partners met together for the first time during the four intense working days of General Meeting 1, hosted by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

On 22-24 June, students and higher education professionals worked together on the three project lines:

1) More equitable access since upper secondary education stage,
2) First-year courses revision for stronger retention and academic success, and
3) University schemes and structures for more inclusive transition to higher education.

On 25 June 2026, the first working session of the START Cambodia Policy Board took place to start discussing actions necessary to reach institution and nation-wide impact and ensure sustainability of the structural reform launched by the project.

The START Cambodia General Meeting 1 was opened by His Excellency Mak Ngoy, Director General of the Directorate General of Higher Education, MoEYS. Opening remark was delivered by Mr. Bryan Fornari, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to The Kingdom of Cambodia, who joined the Opening Plenary together with Ms. Flora Bertizzolo.

February 2026 - Kick-Off Sessions

In February 2026, all the project teams were formed: Student Success Institutional Teams at RUPP, ITC, SRU and UHST, Teacher Professional Development for Inclusive Transition Unit (ITU) at NIE, “Structural Reform for Inclusive Transition” Policy Board led by MoEYS, START Cambodia Steering Committee and START Cambodia Dissemination Team.

On 17-20 February 2026, START Cambodia Online Kick-Off Meeting sessions were conducted, focusing on:

1) General project presentation,
2) First Academic Tasks,
3) Project Financial & Administrative Management, and
4) First Dissemination Team actions 

The Kick-Off sessions brought together 89 representatives of all the project partner institutions, and counted with participation of the project officer Ms. Petronela Burceag, – a great start of the START Cambodia 4-year journey!

START Cambodia Erasmus+ project: 101235749