New Delhi: India has earmarked between 4.1 per cent to 4.6 per cent of its GDP between 2015 and 2024 to boost education which is comparatively higher than many other countries. The government’s allocation and expenditure on education is higher compared with other Central and Southern Asian countries, the report noted.
The country’s GDP of 4.6 per cent in education is as per with global benchmarks set by the UN ‘Education 2030 Framework for Action’ that recommends countries should allocate nearly 6 per cent of their GDP to education.
UNESCO report in detail
The country’s expenditure on education is between 13.5 per cent and 17.2 per cent from 2015 to 2024 which is comparatively more from other Central and Southern Asian countries. The UNESCO report highlighted that the world average is decline as a percentage of total expenditure. While, the investment in education sector is comparatively more in Central and South Asian countries, a decline is noted in other regions. “As a percentage of total expenditure, the world average is in decline. Central and Southern Asia countries invest more in comparison with investment in the 2010s. A decline is noted in other regions,” it mentioned.
GDP allocation of other countries at a glance
While the South Asian Countries like Nepal and Bhutan allocate 4 to 6 per cent of their GDP to education, countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan are behind in terms of expenditure and resource allocation. In 2022, India’s expenditure on education as a GDP percentage in lower in comparison to Bhutan (7.5 per cent), Kazakhstan (7.2 per cent ), Maldives (4.7 per cent ), Tajikistan (5.7 per cent) and Uzbekistan (5.2 per cent). Meanwhile, the expenditure on education is higher than countries like China and Japan.
Also, the world average on expenditure on education has witnessed a decline from 13.2 per cent in 2010 to 12.5 per cent in 2020.