28
Figure 2.9: Government Expenditure as a Percentage Of GDP, Primary and Secondary
Education
Source: Authors’ calculations based on the WDI data.
However, countries that allocate a smaller share of available funds to education also spend it
poorly. Inefficiency in public education expenditure is a serious issue. It arises because of
misallocation, leakage as well as lack of accountability among key stakeholders. A survey of
primary schools in 17 low- and middle-income countries, for instance, found that on average
nearly 20 percent of teaching time is lost every year due to factors resulting in teachers being
away from school (GEC 2016). Nearly half of the sample for whom such data is available are OIC
countries -- Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Morocco,
Mozambique, and Uganda (see Figure 2.10 ). In a small number of cases, however, progress has
been made in improving accountability among teachers. For instance, Indonesia has succeeded
in reducing the absence of teachers from schools from 19 percent in 2003 to 9.8 percent in 2014
(Mckenzie et al 2014).
0
5
10
15
20
25
Government Expenditure As A Percentage Of GDP pc on Primary Education
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Government Expenditure As A Percentage Of GDP pc on Secondary Education