This panel (organized by UNESCO Institute for Statistics - at CIES 2017) will present the current status of available data on private spending on education, by discussing the methodological aspects, the data utilization and their limitations. We will explore possible solutions aimed at closing the data gap on private funding for education. These include the potential benefits offered by the National Education Account methodological framework, along with other complementary tools aimed at improving data quality and coverage. More information http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/data-revolution-measure-equity-education-sdgs-cies2017-3886

1. Private funding and equity in
education
Current data challenges and potential way
forward
CIES, Atlanta, March 6th, 2017
Jean Claude Ndabananiye
Education Policy Analyst
Jc.ndabananiye@iipe-poledakar.org

2. OUTLINE
I. Background and rationale : the
critical need for comprehensive
and better statistics on private
funding of education…
II. …but important challenges and
data gaps remain
III.Possible solutions and way
forward

3. I. THE CRITICAL NEED FOR BETTER STATISTICS
ON PRIVATE FUNDING OF EDUCATION…
With the newly enacted SDG4, the education 2030 Framework
for Action calls for specific indicators on equity-focused
education financing :
Education expenditure per student by level of education and sources
of funding :
will require data not only on public funding, but also private
expenditure on education
 Years of free and compulsory education (number of) : available data
show that even in a context of fee-free education, families continue to
be charged ‘hidden’ fees
 Scholarships : will require detailed statistics for better targeting of
beneficiaries

4.  faced with limited possibilities to substantially increase
their public resources to fund the expansion and quality of
education provision…
Private funding of education is also an increasingly key topic in
equity-related policy discussions in developing countries….
5.5
22.2
35.3
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
MIN (SOUTH
SUDAN)
SSA AVERAGE MAX (SENEGAL)
Education as % of total
recurrent governement
expenditure
63.0
29.7
7.8
MAX (GUINEA BISSAU) SSA AVERAGE MIN (SAO TOMÉ & P)
HH spending on education as
% of total (Public+HH)
spending on education
…increasing families’ contributions will be inevitable but the question
is how to better tap into private funding with regards to issues

5. Cape Verde
Mauritania
Togo
DRC Comoros
Malawi Sierra Leone
Rwanda
Gambia
Tanzania
Côte d'Ivoire
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
Parity indices (Q5/Q1) for access to education, selected SSA
countries
Access to primary Access to lower secondary Access to upper secondary
Several SSA countries are faced with huge wealth-based
inequalities in access to upper levels of education.. But that’s
where governments spend the most

6. 25.6%
20.0% 15.7%
2.4%
23.9%
20.7%
8.8%
7.1%
50.5%
59.3%
75.5%
90.5%
PRIMARY LOWER SECONDARY UPPER SECONDARY HIGHER EDUCATION
SHARE OF ENROLMENT NUMBERS BY WEALTH QUINTILES AND
LEVEL OF EDUCATION, MALI 2015
Q1-Q2 (poor)
Q3 (Middle)
Q4-5 (Rich)
2,2 M
pupils
647
000
184
000
80 000
student
s
Case of Mali, 2015

7. ... but that’s where, unexpectedly, Malian government
spends the most and HH contribute relatively less, (Mali
2015)
131 176
588
1 251
23%
22%
7%
10%
-
500
1 000
1 500
Primary Lower secondary Upper secondary Higher education
0%
25%
Total (public+HH) spending per student

8. As a consequence, large share of public
resources only benefits to portions of
(relatively) wealthy individuals, raising issues
of equity in the allocation of public resources.
Envisaged initiatives include:
 Fee-free primary & lower basic education for all
(SDG4)
 Wealth-based targetting of scholarship
beneficiaries,
Several policy implications

9. The extent and nature of household
contributions to education
At what extent do HH contribute at different levels of
education? What items do they finance by level of
education…?
At HH level, it is important to assess the
magnitude of education spending as compared
to other items (health, food, etc.)
The relative weight of education funding in total HH
spending (by income level…)
In this perspective, data on HH
education expenditure is essential to
effectively assess:

10. II. … BUT SERIOUS CHALLENGES AND DATA GAPS
REMAIN
Education finance statistics today face the biggest
challenges, and private expenditure appears to be in the
most severe situation.
According to UIS only 22% of countries globally report data
on private funding on education and 55% of ESA conducted
by IIEP/PDK (2010-2016) include data/analysis on
household expenditure
This situation results from many factors, the main which
are:
 weak statistical capacities to regularly collect and report
data on household (HH) and other private entities

11. III. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS AND WAY
FORWARDStandardized an comparable methodology: clear definitions
and boundaries taking into account developing countries’
context
Exhibit : NEA, a comprehensive and unified framework to
address finance data challenges
Development of a dedicated questionnaire on HH education
spending and …
… exploration of alternative sources of financial data such
as school censuses
Capacity building on the production and use of education
finance statistics on a regular basis though ESA, annual PER

12. NATIONAL EDUCATION ACCOUNTS (NEA)
NEA : A comprehensive data collection
and processing exercise on education
finance covering:
 Who finances education?
 How much do they spend?
 Where do the funds go?
 What are the funds being spent on?
Comprehensive : All education levels, all sources of
funding, all education providers
Integrated/coherent framework: Cohesive
financial flows and accounting framework
Comparable : Anchored within existing international
classifications (ISCED, SNA, GFS)

13. WITHOUT NEA EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION IS
VASTLY UNDERESTIMATED
2.2%
4.1%
3.0%
5.0%
3.8%
2.2%
3.5%
1.8%
2.0%
0.6% 0.2%
0%
5%
10%
Uganda Côte d'Ivoire Nepal Viet Nam
Total expenditure on education as % of
GDP
Other (Off-
budget
donors,
NGOs, …)
Households

14. IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS
 Data on private funding of education are critically
needed to measure and monitor progress towards
several equity-related SDGs targets and inform
equitable (re)-allocation of public resources and cost-
sharing between government and students’ families
 Considerable methodological challenges surround
the production and use of data on private funding
 NEA and (other tools) could provide countries with
regular and quality data to close the gap on education
finance statistics