Say Yes, Autumn 2007: Educational spending: still room for improvement
Educational spending in Turkey has recovered by comparison with the years of economic crisis. But how does it compare with other countries?
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published its annual Education at a Glance report in September. The publication of the report drew attention to educational spending ahead of the new school year and the submission to Parliament of the budget bill for 2008.
The OECD, which is regarded as a club of rich nations, calculates annual expenditure per primary school pupil in Turkey at US$1,120 (Exchange rates are adjusted for purchasing power parity). This compares to spending of US$5–7,000 in most West European countries. In this respect, Turkey also lags all other OECD member countries including Mexico (US$1,694) and even some non–OECD countries (E.g.: Brazil, with US$1,159).
Annual expenditure per secondary school student is US$1,808, according to the OECD. This is well below the US$6–9,000 spent by West European countries but higher than the amounts spent by Brazil (US$1,033) and Russia (US$1,615).
Adjusting for GDP
The figures are more meaningful — and less unflattering — when adjusted to take account of the very different levels of production and consumption in the various countries. The report puts the ratio of annual expenditure per schoolchild in Turkey to per capita GDP at 16% for primary education and 25% for secondary. For most OECD countries, these ratios work out at 17–25% in primary and 22–30% in secondary education.
In other words, Turkey is still under–spending, relative to its economic capacity, on its primary school pupils, whereas secondary school students are getting a fairer slice of the cake. All in all, when adjusted for Turkey’s lower national income, expenditure per schoolchild is similar to the level recorded in countries like Ireland and Greece, but still significantly less than in the majority of OECD countries.
Growing needs
The figures are not without their drawbacks. Some of the data on Turkey relates only to public spending. Moreover, the OECD’s statistics date back to 2004, and do not take account of any further increases in educational spending since then. At the same time, it is worth noting that Turkey has still not achieved 100% primary school enrolment. In addition, Turkish boys and — especially — girls are much less likely to complete secondary education than their counterparts in all other OECD countries except Mexico. Even those children who do complete secondary education in Turkey receive fewer years of schooling (11 years) than in all other OECD countries (12–13 years). Spending on education needs to go rising as compulsory education is extended and participation rates increase.
| Country | 1995 | 2000 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: OECD. Figures for countries marked * are from public sources only. | ||||
| Germany | 3.7 | – | 3.5 | |
| Greece | 1.8 | 2.3 | 2.2 | |
| Italy | – | 3.2 | 3.4 | |
| Japan | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.9 | |
| Korea | – | 4.0 | 4.4 | |
| Mexico | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.3 | |
| Poland | – | 3.9 | 3.8 | |
| Slovakia | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.0 | |
| Spain | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.0 | |
| Sweden | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | |
| Switzerland | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.5 | |
| Turkey | 1.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | |
| United Kingdom | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.4 | |
| United States | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.1 | |
| Brazil* | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.9 | |
| Israel | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.7 | |
| Russian Federation* | – | 1.7 | 2.0 | |
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SAY YES, AUTUMN 2007
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