History of Mathematics Instruction in Colonial and Early Post-colonial Cambodia

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the history of mathematics education in Cambodia, which reflected the history of the country and is difficult to explore due to the destruction of the available sources during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979). In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate (a colony) of France, and gained independence in 1953. Prior to the colonial period, Cambodian culture shared a number of features with other states of Southeast Asia whose religion, science, technology and educational systems, historically, were influenced by respective Indian traditions; unfortunately, the documents related to mathematics instruction during this period of history are either extremely rare or lost. During the colonial period, an attempt was made to introduce to Cambodia a Western (more specifically, French) system of education. The paper will focus on mathematics education during the last years of Cambodian colonial era and first years of independent Cambodia based mainly upon a series of interviews conducted with individuals who were schoolchildren during the period from the late 1940s to 1960s.