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UNESCO:
GLOBAL SPENDING ON EDUCATION CONCENTRATED IN JUST A HANDFUL OF COUNTRIES:
12/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 12 October 2007 -- The
education budget of a single country like France, Germany, Italy or the United
Kingdom outweighs education spending across the entire sub-Saharan African
region, according to a new report from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
(UIS).
The
Global Education Digest 2007* presents the latest education statistics from
primary to tertiary levels in more than 200 countries. This edition focuses on
the financing of education and provides a series of indicators to compare
spending patterns across countries and levels of education.
Governments in sub-Saharan Africa spend only 2.4% of the world’s public
education resources. Yet about 15% of the school-age population lives in these
countries, according to the new report.
In
contrast, the United States, which is home to just 4% of the world’s children
and young people, spends 28% of the global education budget. This is mainly due
to the large numbers of university students and the relatively high costs
associated with this level of education.
In fact, the U.S. is the single greatest investor in education. According to the
report, its public education budget is close to that of all governments in the
six regions combined: the Arab States, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia,
Latin America and the Caribbean, South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
East Asia and the Pacific has the second-highest share of global public spending
on education at 18% (after the North American and Western European
region).
Yet
governments in the region are investing considerably less than their share of
global wealth at 28% of GDP on 29% of the school-age population.
The opposite scenario is found in South and West Asia, where 7% of the world’s
public education resources are spent on 28% of children and young people.
A more balanced situation emerges in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region
which accounts for 8% to 9% of global education spending, the school-age
population and global wealth.
Public spending reflects one, albeit major, source of education funding. But
many countries, particularly those less developed, rely on student households
and communities to pay for diverse costs associated with schooling, such as
tuition, textbooks, uniforms as well as contributions to teacher salaries and
parent-student associations.
The
private sector must be taken into account to evaluate what society invests in
education.
“Private financing is often frowned on in policy debates but distinctions must
be made by the level of education,” says Hendrik van der Pol, UIS director.
“Many countries – both rich and poor – have relied on private funding and
partnerships to expand university education. The challenge lies in ensuring
access for disadvantaged students through mechanisms like scholarships or
interest-free loans.”
“But the dynamics are very different for primary and secondary education,
where serious questions about equity arise,” says van der Pol. “Should
governments rely on households to provide for the human right to basic education
of decent quality?”
India is a case in point. Households pay for more than one-quarter (28%) of the
costs to send their children to primary and secondary school. These fees pose a
very real barrier for the children of poor families. Yet at the same time,
households assume just 14% of the costs for university education, which
typically benefits better-off students.
According to the data, household expenditure is highest in Nicaragua, where
families assume almost half the costs of primary and secondary education. High
rates of private spending were also reported by Chile (31%), Indonesia (25%) and
the Lao People Democratic Republic (21%).
“Clearly, there is a real need for more data,” says van der Pol. “At
present, only about 60 countries can provide reliable information on private
spending for education. Without more data, we will continue to underestimate the
tremendous burden placed on families to send their children to school.”
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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