people and planet

20
A young girl
stands and writes
on the blackboard
in Germany.
CREDIT: Fotolia
KEY MESSAGES
A lack of adequate and equitable finance was a key reason why the world fell short of achieving the Education for All goals
between 2000 and 2015. Yet no SDG 4 target specifically relates to education finance.
Reporting on education spending rarely combines funds from governments, external donors and households. National
education accounts look at all three sources simultaneously and give a more accurate picture.
On average worldwide, public expenditure on education passes the two minimum thresholds proposed in the Education 2030
Framework for Action, but at least 35 countries spent less than the recommended 4% of GDP on education and less than 15% of
total public expenditure.
Data are incomplete, as only 60% of countries report total education expenditure as a percentage of GDP for any given year;
they are also out of date, as they become available with a three-year reporting lag.
Monitoring of government spending must track whether funds go to those most in need. Countries should establish regional
peer review mechanisms to learn from each other in promoting equity.
Aid needs to increase at least sixfold to fill the US$39 billion annual gap to reach the new targets. But in 2014, aid levels were 8%
lower than at their peak in 2010. The gap could be filled if donors dedicated 0.7% of gross national income to aid and allocated
10% of their aid to basic and secondary education.
Poorer countries should be prioritized in aid, yet low income countries received 28% of total aid to basic education in 2014 while
accounting for 36% of all out-of-school children.
Levels of humanitarian aid need to be tracked as well. In 2015, education received US$198 million, or less than 1.9% of total
humanitarian aid.
Households still pick up a lot of the cost of education. In the poorest countries, their share of total education spending was
almost triple that in the richest countries. New analysis shows that information on household spending is available in most
countries but rarely used.
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CHAPTER 20 | FINANCE