Education expenditure

Expenditure on education is an investment that can foster economic growth, enhance productivity, contribute to personal and social development and reduce social inequality. The proportion of total financial resources devoted to education is one of the key choices made by governments, enterprises, students and their families.DefinitionThe indicator covers expenditure on schools, universities and other public and private institutions delivering or supporting educational services. Expenditure on institutions is not limited to expenditure on instruction services but includes public and private expenditure on ancillary services for students and their families, where these services are provided through educational institutions. At the tertiary level, spending on research and development can also be significant and is included in this indicator, to the extent that the research is performed by educational institutions.In principle, public expenditure includes both direct expenditure on educational institutions and educational-related public subsidies to households administered by educational institutions. Private expenditure is recorded net of these public subsidies attributable to educational institutions; it also excludes expenditure made outside educational institutions (such as textbooks purchased by families, private tutoring for students and student living cost).

The termeducation systemgenerally refers to public schooling, not private schooling, and more commonly to kindergarten through high school programs. Schools or school districts are typically the smallest recognized form of education system and countries are the largest. States are also considered to have education systems.Simply put, an education system comprises everything that goes into educating public-school students at the federal, state, or community levels: Laws, policies, and regulations Public funding, resource allocations, and procedures for determining funding levels State and district administrative offices, school facilities, and transportation vehicles Human resources, staffing, contracts, compensation, and employee benefits Books, computers, teaching resources, and other learning materials And, of course, countless other contributing elementsWhile the termeducation systemis widely and frequently used in news media and public discourse, it may be difficult to determine precisely what the term is referring to when it is used without qualification, specific examples, or additional explanation.