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Funding: Counting the cost of Education for All

The commitment to basic education made at the World Conference on Education for All in 1990 had hard cash implications for all parties involved. Governments pledged to shift additional resources into basic education. Funding agencies were called upon to increase their financial and technical assistance. Underpinning this position was a growing awareness that basic education is a cost-effective investment and that economic development depends on the development of human resources.
"The World Bank's financing of education has grown rapidly. The Bank is now the single largest external source of finance for education in low and middle-income countries," said World Bank vice-president Armeane M. Choksi.

The bill for basic education

While the world spends approximately US$800 billion a year on weapons, only an additional US$6 billion per year is needed to put every child in school by the year 2000, according to some estimates. A mere 1 per cent decrease in global military expenditure would be sufficient to release the needed funds. At mid-decade, lack of reliable figures makes it hard to measure just how much more funding basic education has received globally since 1990.
"Funding cannot be altered overnight. Existing programmes have to be phased out, new programmes and measures need to be phased in and national parliaments and agency executive boards have to be consulted," explained Michael Lakin, executive secretary of the Education for All Forum.

Country spending

"The commitment to EFA must be expressed in dollars and cents," argues Fay Chung, head of UNICEF's Education Cluster. Bangladesh has done just that, increasing the share of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on education by nearly 3 per cent from 1994 to 1995. China has earmarked funds which will increase by US$110 million per annum for the next three years to universalize primary education in poverty-stricken areas, and India's allocations for education have doubled from US$286 million in 1991/92 to US$534 million in 1995/96.


In Upper Egypt, the Egyptian Government of Egypt, UNICEF
and local non-governmental organizations have launched an unique movement
to start community schools with a flexible daily schedule to give children,
and especially girls, a chance to attend classes. (UNICEF/Egypt)

However, many countries -- especially some of the least developed -- are squeezed by debt servicing and structural adjustment. "We are trapped," said Albert Mberio, minister of education in the Central African Republic, "On the one hand, the government borrows money to get our education system to work in order to obtain social and economic development, but on the other hand, the same donors expect the government to pay back borrowed money long before the country has achieved a certain level of development."

Doing more for basic education, often with the same or less funding, requires new partnerships and new initiatives. "The World Conference on Education for All really triggered fresh thinking. Most countries have done more to involve local communities," said Dieter Berstecher of UNESCO's Basic Education Division."Since 1990, involvement of non-governmental organizations has increased, bringing projects directly to learners at local level."

The role of donors

There is growing recognition that the worst-off countries, especially those emerging from long periods of war, cannot make it without major assistance. Sub-Saharan Africa pays more than US$20 billion each year in debt service charges, yet it has been estimated that the price tag for providing a place in school for all the continent's children is only US$2.5 billion.
"The international community and the developing world can and must invest in education, particularly in primary education, to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction," said the heads of UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Programme in a joint statement.

While governments are first and foremost responsible for financing their education systems, most bilateral and multilateral funding agencies have increased spending on EFA since 1990. Some recent rises in spending by bilateral donors are impressive. Germany's funding in this field went from US$41 million in 1992 to over US$243 million in 1994, while the Netherlands' expenditure went from US$11.4 million in 1992 to over US$18.6 million in 1993. Some donors have diversified their support to basic education, helping to fund early childhood services, vocational programmes, adult education, teacher training, development of learning materials, as well as primary schooling.

Overcoming obstacles

Faced with new commitments such as peacekeeping, protecting the environment and caring for refugees, and with declining total resources for development aid, some agencies have begun to treat basic education as a cross-sectoral theme, permeating rather than competing with other development concerns. This means that channelling increased aid into basic education requires more co-ordination. Leo Schellekens of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Burkina Faso co-ordinates the activities of twelve donors involved in education there. "This allows forward planning, ultimately leading to self-sufficiency. Before donors had no co-ordination and the education ministry did not have the capacity to deal with them all," he said. A country's absorptive capacity affects the rate at which EFA projects can be implemented and those needing assistance the most may be the least able to handle it.

Obstacles also emerge when donors' aid policies do not match host government priorities. For example, some countries continue to favour the production of a well-educated elite rather than promote mass education.
"For donors, it is easier to put funds into compact institutions of higher education whereas aid can seem like a tiny drop in the ocean of huge primary school systems," noted Lakin. "At best, the donor community provides 1 or 2 per cent of the total effort." When policies differ, donor preferences can become conditionalities, which may then be seen as undue external influence. "Whatever the obstacles, with political will and good technical management, universal primary enrolment can be achieved in five years. At the mid-decade, we must learn from those who have done it!" insists Chung.