Budgeting for the education emergency

News: Less resource allocation is seen in the education sector.

What is the public resource allocation in the education sector?

In the 2021-22 Budget, it was seen that the Centre’s allocation for the Education Department was slashed compared to the previous year. Delhi and eight major states reduced or just about maintained their budget allocation for education departments in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21. Only six States increased their allocation by more than 5%.

Even before the pandemic, public spending on education in most States was below than that of other middle-income countries. According to the Ministry of Education’s Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure on Education, most major States spent 2.5% to 3.1% of State income on education compared to 4.3% of GDP that lower-middle-income countries spent on their education between 2010-11 and 2018-19. Low-income countries increased their spending from 3.2% to 3.5% of GDP in the same period (World Bank, Education Finance Watch, 2021).

World Bank study also states that India spent 14.1 % of its budget on education, compared to 18.5% in Vietnam and 20.6% in Indonesia, countries with similar levels of GDP.

What is the difference in data observed from various surveys?

According to the Economic Survey of 2020-21, the combined central and State government spending on education was estimated to be 2.8% of GDP in 2018-19. This figure had remained at the same level since 2014-15. While, data from the Ministry of Education indicate that public spending on education had reached 4.3% of GDP in the same year, rising from 3.8% of GDP in 2011-12.

The difference is due to the inclusion of expenditure on education by departments other than the Education Department like the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment etc. These departments constitute one-quarter of the education expenditure by the States in 2018-19, and half of the Centre’s expenditure on education. However, the composition of these expenditures is done by rough estimates.

What is the impact of the pandemic on children?

What methods can be adopted to increase access to education?

1) Increase resource allocation especially in technology, 2) Back-to-school campaigns and re-enrollment drives, 3) Expanded nutrition programmes to address malnutrition, 4) Reorganisation of the curriculum to help children learn language and mathematics, 5) Support socio-emotional development, especially in early grades, 6) Teacher training and ongoing support; additional education programmes, 7) Increased instructional time during vacations and weekends, 8) Additional teachers and teaching aids, to cope with the transfer of students from private schools, 9) Collection and analysis of data.

Source: This post is based on the article “Budgeting for the education emergency” published in The Hindu on 24th January 2022.