27
Figure 2.8: Percentage of Trained Teachers, Primary and Secondary Education
Source: Authors’ calculations based on the WDI data.
A large proportion of OIC countries also lack qualified teachers (Figure 2.8). High income Arab
countries such as Saudi Arabia along with upper-middle income countries such as Malaysia,
Lebanon, and Kazakhstan have favorable PTR compared to economically poor member states
such as Bangladesh. One exception is Qatar, which despite being the richest in terms of GDP per
capita has a low percentage of trained teachers in secondary education. To formally explore the
positive link between resources and expenditure, Figure 2.9 plots data on government
expenditure on education as a % of GDP. The majority of the OIC countries spend well below
20% of the GDP per capita on education compared to OECD countries. Upper middle (or high)
income member countries such as Kuwait, Oman and Malaysia spend between 15%-20% while
expenditure share is very low in income poor countries such as Afghanistan.
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