From the beginning until the present day, education has been a significant factor in the Cambodian setting. The current article presents an examination of the origins of education in Cambodia, which dates back to the prehistoric period. Throughout Cambodian history, education has played a variety of meaningful roles. Education played a significant role in shaping the lives of individuals throughout the many eras of Cambodian prehistory and history. In prehistory, children learned by doing and observing the people around them. Education in Cambodia once reached its peak during the Angkor Empire, also known as the Khmer Empire. During that period, there were hundreds of educational institutions located all across the country, including more advanced educational establishments in the city that served as the capital of Angkor. Thousands of instructors were all well-equipped to teach Khmer-speaking students. On the other hand, as the Angkor Empire collapsed, education in Cambodia gradually declined, a trend that persisted until the Khmer Rouge Regime finally eradicated education. During this period, the Khmer Rouge leaders targeted and killed the majority of instructors. Then the Cambodian government and other concerned education stakeholders have been working diligently to rebuild education in Cambodia since the end of that black period, and they have succeeded in doing so to the point where it is now. Finally, the article recommends the concerned education stakeholders consider the past as the experiences for the present and improve the perspectives of future education.

English conspicuously occupies the position of an international lingua franca, imputing itself as a prevailing medium through which a plethora of academic discourses are expounded. Observationally, within the Cambodian academic sphere over the decadal stretch, there multiplies a palpable trend delineating a heightened proclivity amongst tertiary education toward the acquisition of English as a Foreign Language. The essence of this study endeavor pivots around elucidating the underpinning catalysts propelling such motivation among learners relative to reading and subsequently to canvass potential methodologies aimed at the amplification of motivation concerning the reading of English. The study involved 507 students ranging from first to fourth year from 31 universities across 19 provinces and the capital city of Cambodia. The findings emphasize their inclination toward external motivation and provide various recommended strategies for educators to enhance students' motivation for reading. Furthermore, an examination of gender-based differences through an independent-sample t-test showed that male students exhibited a higher likelihood of being motivated to read in English compared to females. Therefore, this study enhances our understanding of the English reading motivation dynamics by advocating for a comprehensive examination of the specific classroom activities chosen by students to enhance their motivation for reading in English.