Public Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of Total Government Expenditure
Definition: Total public expenditure on education (current and capital) expressed as a percentage of total government expenditure in a given financial year.
Purpose: To assess a government's policy emphasis on education relative to the perceived value of other public investments. It reflects also the commitment of a government to invest in human capital development.
Calculation method: Divide total public expenditure on education incurred by all government agencies/departments in a given financial year by the total government expenditure for the same financial year and multiply by 100.
Data required: Total public expenditure on education; and total government expenditure.
Data sources: Annual financial reports prepared by the ministry of finance; national accounts reports by the central statistical office and financial reports from the various government departments engaged in education activities especially the ministry of education.
Data disaggregation: By level of administration, geographical location (region, urban/rural), and by purpose of expenditure (salaries, infrastructure, teaching materials).
Interpretation: A higher percentage of government expenditure on education shows a high government policy priority for education relative to the perceived value of other public investments, including defense and security, health care, social security for unemployment and elderly, and other social or economic sectors.
Quality standards: Total public expenditure on education should include those incurred by all concerned ministries and levels of administration. This indicator can never be 100% since the latter includes expenditure on many economic and social sectors, besides education. The fact that the fiscal year and educational year budget periods may be different should also be taken into consideration. Generally this indicator is lower than 25%.
Limitations: In some instances data on total public expenditure on education refers only to the ministry of education, excluding other ministries that spend a part of their budget on educational activities