Essential components in planning multilingual education: a case study of Cambodia’s Multilingual Education National Action Plan

ABSTRACT Multilingual education (MLE) is increasingly recognized as a means to ensure equitable access to education for children with a nondominant first language and to retain endangered languages. UNESCO has championed MLE and identified 10 essential components in planning implementation of MLE implementation. This article examines these 10 components in Cambodia’s implementation of its first Multilingual National Action Plan (2014–2018), drawing on an independent in-country evaluation conducted by the authors in 2019. The findings suggest that UNESCO’s 10 essential components are a useful guide for planning MLE, but that three even more foundational components are missing from this formulation. Visible, collaborative national leadership is critical to assure stakeholders, especially teachers and parents, that MLE is authorized in government schools. Adequate financial and technical resources must be provided to subnational actors charged with ensuring quality education. The nondominant language speakers and advocates are at the root of MLE: without the language and proficient speakers, MLE is nearly impossible. These three elements – leadership, resources, and input from nondominant language speakers – are often missing in language planning and partnership development, and they account for many of the gaps in the implementation of MLE in Cambodia during its five-year term.