Dr HENG Kimkong
Former PhD Fellow
Mr. Heng Kimkong is currently an Australia Awards scholar and a PhD candidate in the School of Education
at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is co-founder and chief editor
of the Cambodian Education Forum and the Cambodian Journal of Educational Research. He also serves as a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia
Development Center. Prior to this, he was a visiting senior fellow at the
Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, an assistant dean of the School
of Graduate Studies, the University of Cambodia and an English lecturer at
several Cambodian universities. His PhD research examines Cambodian academics’
research practices with the aim to find ways to promote a research culture in
Cambodia. He is deeply interested in Cambodia’s social, political and
educational development and have published a number of journal articles and
book chapters, and over 100 commentaries and analysis pieces in local and
international outlets. His main research interests
include TESOL, research engagement and academic publishing.


This study explores Cambodian university students’ perspectives on the country’s aspirations to become a knowledge-based society, a goal aligned with Cambodia’s vision to achieve upper-middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2050. Using qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews with 20 students from public and private...