Assessing the Costs of Education previous page | next page The question of financing education can no longer be limited simply to spending by the ministries of education. The involvement of families, communities and in some cases local government has joined contributions from external donors to become part of the landscape of education financing in Africa. But how can the total cost of education be assessed? The approach taken by two studies aimed at assessing education costs in Mali and Madagascar offers an answer to this question. These studies, undertaken with the support of IIEP, were presented at the Dakar Seminar on the Financing and Financial Management of Education. A weak link in the information chain It is rare for information on education spending to be complete. Most often it is limited strictly to public spending, or even to nothing more than the budgets of the ministers responsible for the education sector. This is a result of the often wide dispersal of financial information. In general, public education institutions are not financially independent. They serve instead as points of convergence for the human, physical and financial resources placed at their disposal by central or local government, families, or even other economic agents. These diverse funding entities often provide their own financial management of the resources they contribute. In addition, school surveys derived from questionnaires sent to principals yield only very sketchy information on education spending. This diffuse structure makes it difficult to get an overview of spending on education. A meaningful approach to the issue of education financing requires an information system that is capable of measuring two factors: (a) the contribution made by each economic agent; and (b) the costs for each level of instruction and for each type of school (public or private). More accurate information on the cost of education will also be useful in developing better cost controls. Using national accounting methods The first step in accurately assessing total education spending is to assemble the information held by the many administrators and participants at various levels of the system: within central and local government, within agencies administering externally funded projects, and within educational institutions and families. Financial data from the various sources of accounting and statistical information are often presented in different forms, however, so the second step is to translate the basic information collected from these sources into homogeneous data in order to organize and consolidate it into a coherent whole. This methodology relies on a structured approach to the area of education and the economic agents that finance it. Two examples: Mali and Madagascar This method of cost analysis was implemented in Mali to assess the costs of basic education, which totaled CFA 24 billion in 1994. The Malian government contributes 52.5% of total funding, while families and communities provide 15.9%. External funding accounts for 9.6% in the form of loans and 15.8% in the form of subsidies. Other funding comes from local development committees and NGOs. The study also shows the costs associated with various types of schools: public schools, catholic schools, non-religious private schools, community schools, and the Muslim religious schools known as medersas. The results of the study have been published in IIEP Research Report No. 106, Fonctionnement et financement de lâenseignement fondamental malien. In Madagascar, work focused on primary and secondary education between 1990 and 1993. For 1992, the study made it possible to assess education spending for each of the countryâs eight regions. Spending for primary and secondary education represented 196 billion Madagascan francs in 1993, with 51.8% contributed by the government and 27.2% by parents. External donors accounted for 4.1% in the form of loans and 7% in the form of subsidies. The study also assessed the costs associated with public and private institutions at various levels. The results have been published in IIEP Research Report No. 108, Le financement de lâenseignement primaire et secondaire malgache. Building an information system capable of regular assessment The methods put into place must allow for a yearly assessment of education spending in order to be able to analyze cost trends and to integrate the data into statistics published by the ministries of education. The financial data will enhance the systems of indicators established to monitor and supervise education system, thus becoming a part of the education information system that is no less important than statistics on institutions, students, staff, facilities and equipment. Serge Péano International Institute for Education Planning For copies of the IIEP Research Reports, please contact: Publications Department International Institute for Education Planning (IIEP) 7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix 75116 Paris, France

About ADEA | Working Groups | Programs | Publications | Newsletter | Databases | Calendar | Site Map | En français Association for the Development of Education in Africa 7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix 75116 Paris, France Tel: + 33/ (0) 145.03.77.57 Fax: + 33/ (0) 145.03.39.65 adea@iiep.unesco.org Last modified: March 14, 2001