people and planet

20
middle income countries suggests that the vast majority
collect information on household education expenditure.
However, it is rarely used: either policy-makers are
unaware of its existence and importance or their
capacity to analyse it and draw relevant conclusions is
often limited.
Household surveys could be improved. It is possible for
information to be recorded for individual children and
easily linked to their education level and, in some cases,
the grade, school (with an EMIS number) or sector (i.e.
public or private). However, two-thirds of the countries
only collected aggregate information for educationrelated
expenditure incurred by the household. While
there are statistical methods to use this information
to estimate education expenditure per child and level
of education (Tiyab and Ndabananiye, 2013), it would
be preferable if household expenditure surveys were
designed to collect information separately for each child.
At least 99 of the 142 countries included questions
in a national expenditure survey between 2008 and
2014 on items related to education; deeper analysis
was possible for data from 82 countries. Of these 82
countries’ questionnaires, all but 15 included questions
on individual expenditure items. While the most common
question concerned school fees, 59 countries collected
information on textbooks, 49 countries on stationery
and 33 countries on private tuition. At least 29 countries
make survey data publicly available to the broader
research community.
In coming years, coordinated national action is needed
on two fronts. First, education ministries need to work
with national statistical agencies to build capacity,
analyse existing data and use them as part of an effort
to develop and improve NEAs. Second, survey questions
must be formulated in a way that would make them
more relevant for education policy. The establishment
of the Task Force on Standards for Education Spending
Estimates based on Household Survey Data under the
auspices of the UN Statistical Commission’s Inter-
Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys is a
step in that direction.
ENDNOTES
1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Indonesia, Jamaica,
Morocco, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Samoa and Sri Lanka.
b. Share of education in total humanitarian aid
c. Share of humanitarian aid requests funded
5
[value]
100
4
Target
80
3
Food
3
60
%
2
2
1
1
1
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
%
Total
40
20
Education
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 357