1. Role of Government and Household Expenditure
Financing Education
Role of Government and Household Expenditure
Mark Bray
University of Hong Kong

2. Four main sources of finance for education
Government (national, subnational, local)
Private sector (for-profit and not-for-profit)
Households
External assistance

3. The Jomtien and Dakar frameworks

4. WCEFA 1990:
National, regional and local educational authorities have a unique obligation to provide basic education for all, but they cannot be expected to supply every … requirement.
New and revitalised partnerships at all levels will be necessary … [including] partnerships between government and non- governmental organizations, the private sector, local communities, religious groups, and families.

5. WEF 2000:
All states must fulfill their obligation to offer free and compulsory education…
There must be an unequivocal commitment that education be free of tuition and other fees, and …to reduce or eliminate costs such as those for learning materials, uniforms, school meals and transport.
Wider social policies … should be used to mitigate indirect opportunity costs of attending school.

6. 1. Government financing
Public expenditures on education are typically % of GDP, and 14-20% of government budget
But of course in real terms huge variations between rich and poor countries.
And as UPE moves to USE and UTE, unit costs rise.

7. 2. Private schools
In global terms, South Asia has particularly high percentages of enrolments in private schools.
And they are also significant in other parts of the region.
Not only elite but also low-cost private schools.

8. 3. Household financing
Dakar statement noted the costs of learning materials, uniforms, school meals and transport.
It omitted recognition of the ‘shadow education system’ of private supplementary tutoring.

9. Scale of Shadow Education
Azerbaijan: 92% of senior secondary
China: 29% lower secondary
Egypt: 52% in rural primary; 64% in urban primary
Hong Kong: 45% primary, 80% upper secondary
India: West Bengal, 57% primary; Kerala, 72% secondary
Japan: 16% Primary 1; 65% Secondary 3
Korea: 88% elementary, 72% middle, 60% high
Sri Lanka: 92% Grade 10; 98% Grade 12

10. Costs
Bangladesh: 41.9% of household costs of primary education were consumed by tutoring.
India (West Bengal): tutoring consumed 21.5% of total cost of educating a child in a govt. primary school.
Korea: Household expenditures on tutoring equivalent to 80% of govt. expenditure on primary and secondary education
Myanmar: Tutoring consumed 12.6% of household costs of Grade 1 schooling.
Sri Lanka: 24% of households spent 1-5% of their total incomes on tutoring 10

11. Further reading --------------------------- 2009; Global focus
Multiple languages:
Already published:
Arabic, Armenian, Azeri, Bangla, English, French, Georgian, Hindi, Korean, Mongolian, Sinhala, Urdu
In the pipeline: Chinese, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
So far, only English
2009;
Global focus
May 2012;
Asian focus

12. 4. External aid Has expanded significantly, but not enough
Some Asian countries are donors, some are recipients
New horizons, e.g. Myanmar

13. Conclusions
Look carefully at financing: don’t just take it for granted
Avoid simplistic views on fee-free education and the role of the private sector
Get ready for pressures to intensify as education expands at higher levels and at pre-school