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Vietnam's low level of research productivity is especially pronounced in the humanities and social sciences. Though previous research has suggested various possible explanations, to date there has been no detailed investigation of the topic. This investigation explored the publishing experiences of a selected sample group of 20 high-achieving and well-regarded Vietnamese scholars from the humanities and social sciences. For these participants, a commitment to research and publishing derived mainly from a personal sense of academic identity, a desire to complement their teaching role by doing research, and a wish to contribute to Vietnam's social and economic development through their research. Few of them reported feeling institutional pressure to publish, though some reported that their university was now providing financial incentives for publishing in high-impact journals. Disincentives to publishing included funding limitations, and especially limitations associated with approval mechanisms within universities. Interference with the freedom to publish was reported to occur, but none of the participants appeared to be too concerned about political censorship. It was widely considered to be easier to have research reported in national than in international peer-reviewed journals because of the difference in academic standards. A lack of confidence with writing in English was also reported by some participants to be a constraint on publishing in international journals.

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Myanmar's education system is in a very weakened state. The physical condition and human resource capacity of the system is poor by any standard, and teachers, whether in schools, colleges or universities, have few opportunities and little incentive for professional development. A process of recovery is getting underway, but it will take years before significant improvements are evident. Major cultural change is required in the style of leadership and management at all levels of government, and there is also a desperate need for more financial resources. This paper documents the current state of the education system in Myanmar and advances three priority areas for immediate attention. The SettingMyanmar is in the World Bank's 'least developed nations' category. It has a population of about 60 million, a large landmass (the second largest in Southeast Asia), and a level of GDP per capita a Correspondence can be directed to:

statements made by the Cambodian Higher Education Association (CHEA), a supposedly independent representative body for all institutions of higher education, denounced the leader of the opposition party. These statements were unrelated to higher education and in conflict with CHEA's bylaws. Another indication of how politicized the sector has become is the recent appointments of senior positions in the ministry and public higher education institutions according to a powersharing formula between the two ruling parties that had little reference to competence and expanded an already bloated and inefficient civil service bureaucracy.Alternatively, optimists tend to see how far higher education in Cambodia has progressed in such a short time. They see increased international linkages, cooperation, and assistance-such as investment by US Cambodian communities and the recent US$3 million World Bank grant to higher education. They see as cause for celebration rising numbers of returnees from graduate study overseas injecting new ideas into the system, increasing competence in management and quality assurance in some private institutions, the annual Education Sector Review conducted this year for the first time without foreign technical assistance, a growing body of graduate research being produced by the better higher education institutions, the establishment of at least one private institution as a nonprofit university, diversification of course offerings and even preparation of an "open university" by one private university, and the very existence of CHEA and the ACC.Then there are the unashamedly probusiness types, who have great faith in the belief that universities run as commercial enterprises, "like bread shops," will automatically deliver quality or else fail as businesses, as evidenced already. They tend to see a majority of the private institutions being run by businessmen committed to educational quality and are dismissive of the public institutions as being so crippled by government control. On the other hand, there are those who see that the commercial drive to "pack 'em in" in the private institutions is crippling their administrations and is encouraging them to accept unqualified students, employ under-or unqualified teachers, and pass students after minimal evaluation.There are also the idealists who focus on educational quality and social justice. They see the dangers of a future in which higher education becomes a preserve of the rich and are concerned with such things as the low participation rate of women (33 percent) and the disabled; the number of government "scholarship" places for the brightest students, which are static in absolute terms but declining in relative terms and are still in fact unfunded; the inequitable access to higher education in rural areas; and the effect of corruption on entrance procedures, the conduct of exams, and the issuing of degrees. ConclusionThe state of Cambodian higher education is a tricky elephant to describe. There are many causes for concern but also for hope. Th...