Government to increase investment in education

by Manjula Fernando

Education Secretary Dr. Tara De Mel said the Government has planned increased public investment in the future noting that Sri Lanka is spending comparatively a very modest figure in education compared to most countries in the region.

"The 8%-9% expenditure from the Budget and three per cent allocation from the GDP is, we must admit, only a very modest figure for a developing country," she said.

A report recently launched by the World Bank, a comprehensive analysis of the country's entire education system, has pointed out that Sri Lanka, spending only 2.9 % out of national income on education is behind even the lowest income generating countries that spend an average of 3.2 % on education.

The Secretary said the Government, acutely aware of this, has taken the initiative to increase public funding on education, starting with an increased budgetary allocation for education from this year.

In line with this policy the Treasury raised its education budget by 30 per cent (Rs.9,084 million) for 2005 against last year.

According to the report authored by Dr. Harsha Aturupane, a senior economist at the World Bank, countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, which act as models for Sri Lankan policy makers, devote 18% to 31 % of government expenditure to education.

It says the group of lower-middle income countries, to which Sri Lanka is expected to belong in the near future allocate about 4 % of their national income to public education, nearly 1 per cent higher than Sri Lanka.

However, in contrast, Sri Lanka ranks high in the region with regard to spending on university education.

The report highlights that we spend 100 % per student as a proportion of national income. This is slightly higher than India (93%) and far better than other East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.

The report attributes the broad range of free public services, high defense expenditure, low teacher salaries compared to other countries and low public revenue as some of the factors contributing to the modest public expenditures on this sector.

It has however, commended the fair distribution of state funding among the provinces under the Government policy of emphasising more on poorer provinces. "The North-East enjoys the highest proportionate government expenditure per student on education while the richest province with the highest education outcomes, the Western experiences the lowest," it reveals.

The report also notes that households account for 21 per cent of education financing while the Central Government's contribution is around 65 per cent. Provincial councils chip in with 8 per cent and donor assistance accounts for six per cent of education financing.

A major part of the household funding goes to tuition fees which is about 45 per cent followed by 28 per cent for stationary and equipment, the report disclosed.