Throughout this period the increase in education expenditure has not been uniform and there has been irregular rise and fall. To this if we include the private expenditure incurred by individuals and by philanthropic institutions, the total education expenditure should be much higher. Elementary education takes a major share of total education expenditure and the share of the higher/tertiary education (institutions of higher learning like colleges, polytechnics and universities) is the least. Though, on an average, the government spends less on tertiary education, ‘expenditure per student’ in tertiary education is higher than that of elementary.
This does not mean that financial resources should be transferred from tertiary education to elementary education. As we expand school education, we need more teachers who are trained in the higher educational institutions; therefore, expenditure on all levels of education should be increased. In - , the per capita education expenditure differs considerably across states from as high as Rs , in . E DUCATION S ECTOR IN I NDIA Growth in Government Expenditure on Education: Do you know how much the government spends on education?
This expenditure by the government is expressed in two ways (i) as a percentage of ‘total government expenditure’ (ii) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The percentage of ‘education expenditure of total government expenditure’ indicates the importance of education in the scheme of Work This Out Ø Identify the objectives and functions of NCERT, UGC, AICTE and ICMR. Himachal Pradesh to as low as Rs in Punjab. This leads to differences in educational opportunities and attainments across states.
One can understand the inadequacy of the expenditure on education if we compare it with the desired level of education expenditure as recommended by the various commissions. About years ago, the Education Commission ( – ) had recommended that at least per cent of GDP be spent on education so as to make a noticeable rate of growth in educational achievements. The Tapas Majumdar Committee, appointed by the Government of India in , estimated an expenditure of around Rs . lakh crore over years ( - to - )