Cambodia Development Institute

Title
University Students’ Awareness and Perception of Foreign Aids to Cambodia


Abstract
Foreign aid is an important issue in both developed and developing countries. The aim of this study is to assess the level of awareness and perception of university students on foreign aid in Cambodia. Self-completion questionnaires were given to university students chosen by non-random sampling method at the Institution of Foreign Languages (IFL) and Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) to measure awareness and perception on foreign aid.
Students also answered on their preference of how foreign aid should be spent in the
education sector: whether to improve in quantity education or quality education. Findings revealed that the level of awareness on foreign aid of Year 4 (senior) students was higher compared to that of Year 1 (freshmen) students in both universities. Also, the level of awareness on foreign aid of IFL students majoring in International Studies was higher than that of ITC students majoring in Engineering. Students’ perceptions varied, as IFL and ITC students had similar responses on some questions but different on others. Students from both institutions had similar opinion on the amount of foreign aid spent on quantity education and quality education. Our findings suggest that the level of awareness on foreign aid is generally high and that education is considered as a priority for foreign aid spending.