Expenditure on school books and teaching material as % of total expenditure in public institutions

Definition

Expenditure on school books and teaching material expressed as a percentage of direct expenditure in public educational institutions (instructional and non-instructional) of the specified level of education. Financial aid to students and other transfers are excluded from direct expenditure.

Data source

Data on education expenditure are collected through the UIS' Annual Survey on Formal Education which compiles national statistics from annual financial reports from the Ministry of Finance and/or Ministries of Education and/or national accounts from the National Statistical Office.

Source definition

UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Calculation method

Divide expenditure on school books and teaching material in public institutions of a given level of education (ex. primary, secondary, or all levels combined) by total expenditure (current and capital) in public institutions of the same level of education, and multiply by 100.

Limitations

Although countries responding to the UIS questionnaire on educational expenditure are required to follow common definitions, in some cases government budget classifications may differ. It is also often difficult to identify expenditure on school books and teaching material, as not all accounting systems include such a classification. In some poorer countries, foreign donors and/or households may fund a large portion of expenditure on school books and teaching material, and where country respondents only have data on government expenditure, the amounts may be underestimated or missing entirely.

Purpose

To assess how funds for education are spent between different types of expenditure (ex. current vs capital, staff vs other current).

Types of disaggregation

By level of education.