book1

Table 7.1: Public investment in educa� on: increasing budget priori� zing
primary educa� on
Year
1950's a
1960's a
1970's a
1980's a
1990's a
2006/07 b
2007/08 b
2008/09 b
During Rana regime, with very few public schools, educa� on was not
government’s priority. Alltogether there were 321 primary and 11 secondary
schools in 1951 (Bha� a, 2009). A� er the establishment of Ministry
of Educa� on in 1951, the government’s role regarding educa� on slowly
increased. The role accelerated from 1970s, along with New Educa� on
Plan (1971), as government took the total responsibility of educa� on
system of the country. The government expenditure also proves the
increasing involvement of government over the period (see adjoining
box). At present years, government is alloca� ng around 16 percent budget
in educa� on sector in its na� onal budget. But the data of past years, the
actual expenditure in educa� on sector is about one fi � h of the total annual
government expenditure. The government had allocated 47.53 billion of
rupees in educa� on sector.
The distribu� on of educa� on expenditure in diff erent sectors is the
mirror of educa� on policy of a country that shows a country’s priority.
Looking at the distribu� on fi gure of educa� on expenditure over the period,
the expenditure pa� ern is shi� ing in the same direc� on.
The share of primary educa� on is con� nuously increasing over the
period while that of higher educa� on is decreasing. The high decrease in
primary educa� on in 2009/10 budget is due to the entry of new program
– School Sector Reform Project (SSRP). In this FY, 27 percent of the budget
is allocated under the educa� onal development heading where most of
the budget is for SSRP. So one can consider this budget is also for primary
educa� on. It is worth to note that in an average 90 percent of the primary
budget goes for teacher salaries. Unlike, primary and higher educa� on, the
share of secondary educa� on in total educa� on is somewhat constant.
130
As a % of
Gov. Exp.
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal
As a % of
GDP
4.22 NA
6.76 NA
9.53 1.3
10.18 1.72
12.53 1.93
19.46 3.09
20.25 3.47
22.10 3.79
2009/10 b 21.18 4.19
Source: a Koirala and Acharya (2000),
b Economic Survey 2009/10