A Comparison of Asian Bilateral Agencies’ Education Aid to Cambodia: Convergence and Divergence in Japanese, South Korean, and Chinese Donor Agencies

 

Walter P. Dawson

 

Full Length Research Paper I Published December,2017

 

Research Journal of Educational Studies and Review Vol. 3 (1), pp. 27-31.

ABSTRACT

Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea, and China pursue development projects in Southeast Asia with the aim of extending their influence for political and economic purposes. This study is the product of a research project which seeks to examine the development of each nation’s bilateral aid agencies in terms of organization and policies while at the same time discussing this development in relation to the current theoretical debate on globalization of education between Neo-Institutional and Systems theorists in the field of sociology. Fieldwork was conducted in Cambodia as a case study to research the policy documents and interview officials in Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in order to compare the degree to which these agencies converge or diverge in their structure with each other and more traditional Western development agencies (such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) to test the hypotheses of convergence and divergence as it relates to globalization of education in Neo-Institutionalist and Systems Theories. It was found that there is a significant convergence between Japanese and Korean institutions in terms of structure and policy priorities while China seems to be pursuing a divergent path.

Key Words: Cambodia, development, aid, South Korea, Japan, China.

 

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