Dr. Hang Chuon Naron
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Education, Youth and Sport
Dr. Hang Chuon Naron serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of the Kingdom of Cambodia. He has held the ministerial portfolio since 2013 and is regarded as a principal architect of Cambodia's education reform. He leads an education sector serving millions of students and tens of thousands of teachers, with particular emphasis on rebuilding trust in educational outcomes through landmark reforms to examinations and the fight against cheating, and on developing the national skills system within Cambodia's broader vision for development. He launched the Education, Youth and Sport Reform Strategy 2018-2023, which served as a national framework for educational transformation, followed by the 2024-2028 strategy focused on inclusion, quality, and innovation. His priorities include expanding early-childhood education, strengthening school-feeding programmes, developing model school standards and the New Generation School initiative, reforming teacher training and digital education, advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and promoting student health and twenty-first-century skills. In recognition of his service, he has received the Sahametrei Gold Medal and multiple regional and international honours from development organisations. Dr. Naron holds Master's and PhD degrees in International Economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Russia, and a second PhD in Educational Administration from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, awarded in 2018. He also holds professional credentials from the Chartered Insurance Institute in the United Kingdom and the Malaysian Insurance Institute. Before assuming the education portfolio, he served as Secretary of State for Economy and Finance from 2004 to 2013 and as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 2004 to 2010, giving him a rare depth in combining macroeconomics with human-capital development.