Local Public Services Performance and Unofficial ... - Pact Cambodia

Figure 3.1: Annual Unofficial Payment per Commune (Average in US$)
8000
8,000
6000
5,500
4000
3,100
2000
1,700
0
Phnom Penh Commune Provincial Commune District Commune Rural Commune
Source: EIC’s Survey, July-August 2006.
Paid as additional sources to the commune offices, unofficial fees generally
did not generate any loss to the commune budget. Nevertheless, the practice of
unofficial fees creates a bad image, affects people’s honesty, and results in distrust
towards the local governing authority.
3.1.2. Unofficial Fees for Primary Schooling 24
According to government regulation, primary education is free of charge.
However, from the survey’s findings, unofficial fees exist within the public
primary school sector, mostly occurring in Phnom Penh and provincial towns.
Unofficial payments in rural primary schools seem not to occur for three main
reasons. Firstly, rural families are generally poor and cannot afford unofficial
fees. Secondly, rural teachers are also farmers, which provide them with
additional income and food. Thirdly, the relationship between teachers and
people in rural areas seems to be stronger than in urban areas due to the small
population size. To confirm this point, teachers in most FGDs stated that “Most
of our pupils are very poor and not willing to go school, if we take money from them today,
they will not go to school tomorrow.”
24 These results for primary schooling are not directly comparable to the CSD 2005 results for public education which
cover everything from primary to tertiary levels.
Local Public Services: Performance and Unofficial Fees – November 2006 25