TB2_7

2.7 Education policy and infrastructure See Table 2.7 here

About the data

Statistics on education are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from official replies to surveys and from reports provided by education authorities in each country. Because coverage, definitions, and data collection methods differ across countries and may change over time within a country, caution should be exercised when using education statistics. Although exceptions are noted in the table, it is advisable to consult the country- and indicator-specific notes in the source cited below. See Behrman and Rosenzweig (1994) for a general discussion of the reliability of data on education.

For many countries the primary school starting age and duration of primary education changed between 1980 and 1993 (see the notes to table 2.8 for definitions of primary, secondary, and tertiary levels). As a result the relative size of public spending on education by level and primary pupil-teacher ratios also may have changed. These changes also may affect the comparability of school enrollment ratios over time and across countries (see table 2.8).

The data on public spending on education exclude foreign aid received for education. They may also exclude expenditures by religious schools, which play a significant role in many developing countries. Data for some countries and for some years refer to expenditures of the ministry of education only (excluding education expenditures by other ministries and departments, local authorities, and so on). Data for a few countries include private expenditures (all such cases are noted), although national practices vary with respect to whether parents or schools pay for books, uniforms, and other supplies.

The comparability of pupil-teacher ratios is affected by differences in whether both full- and part-time teachers are included and in whether teachers are assigned nonteaching duties and by differences in class size by grade and in number of hours taught. Moreover, the underlying enrollment levels are subject to a variety of reporting errors (see About the data for table 2.8 for further discussion of enrollment data). While the pupil-teacher ratio is often used to compare the quality of schooling across countries, it is not strongly related to the value added of schooling systems (Behrman and Rosenzweig 1994).

Table 2.7a Public education spending per pupil, by level of schooling, 1985 and 1992
percentage of per capita GNP

Region or group	All levels 1985	Pre-primary and Primary 1985	Secondary 1985	Tertiary 1985	All levels 1992	Pre-primary and Primary 1992	Secondary 1992	Tertiary 1992
East Asia, including Oceania	14.3	7.6	18.1	129.2	14.4	8.2	18.9	90.1
Latin America and the Caribbean	12.2	6.3	12.7	43.5	14.2	8.2	12.9	48.6
Middle East and North Africa	23.6	17.2a		115.1	18.8	15.0a		75.7
South Asia	18.3	10.9	18.2	79.8	19.6	10.7	22.9	76.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	23.5	14.0	42.0	423.7	27.9	15.1	53.7	507.8
Least developed countries	18.3	10.6	27.9	155.3	18.1	10.1	32.3	142.8
Developing countries	16.4	11.3a		98.1	18.0	13.0a		84.9
Developed countries	20.7	16.8a		34.1	21.4	17.7a		29.4

Note: The regional groupings are based on the United Nations country classification. Bulgaria, the former Czechoslovakia, Romania, and the former Soviet Union are included with developed countries. a. Data are for preprimary, primary, and secondary levels.

Source: UNESCO 1995b.

Definitions

• Primary school starting age is the age at which children are officially accepted for primary school education.

• Duration of primary education is the minimum number of grades (years) a child is expected to cover in primary schooling.

• Public spending on education is the ratio of public expenditures on public education plus subsidies to private education at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels to current GDP.

• Spending on teaching materials is the ratio of public expenditure on teaching materials to total public expenditure on primary or secondary education. Expenditure on teaching materials includes purchases of textbooks, books, and other scholastic supplies.

• Primary school pupil-teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).

Data sources

International statistics on education are compiled by UNESCO's Division of Statistics, in cooperation with the National Commissions for UNESCO and national statistical services. Data reported in this table were compiled using a UNESCO electronic database corresponding to various tables in UNESCO's Statistical Yearbook 1995.