Financing of education discussion

Sad to say many children are being left behind and funding is not equal. We Regarding refugees, please note there are 100 million of displaced people and a significant number are children. In Bangladesh, over half the Rohingya refugees are children and over the last five years the host government has been restricting education for younger children and blocking education for older children. This is cruel, and quite possibly a crime against humanity. Let the Summit acknowledge that there is a RIGHT to education. Our NGO is asking for a percentage of humanitarian donations to be reserved for education and for this to be enforced.

For education interventions to be viable in the long term and to be locally owned, they need to be deliverable within existing budget envelopes.
The case for increased national spending on education budgets is frequently rehearsed.
When students are better educated, the economy benefits significantly. History shows economic growth follows improved schooling. It is in the interest of both government Education Ministers and Finance Ministers to ensure children are not only attending school, but learning. It will not only enhance the opportunities for their nation’s youth, but also enhance the economy’s workforce.
A new independent academic study, led by the Nobel Prize-winning Economist Professor Michael Kremer into NewGlobe supported schools finds among the largest learning gains ever measured in international education; and the potential consequences for economic growth are impressive.
The learning gains demonstrated by Kremer and his co-authors could push Kenya - and countries like it - up education league tables to match countries with incomes three or four times greater per person, if replicated at scale across public education systems.Education scholars estimate education reforms resulting in a 25-point gain on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (0.25 standard deviation) will increase the GDP growth rate by 0.5% annually in lower and upper middle income countries. The projected present value of the GDP benefits from education reform resulting in a 25-point increase in PISA scores is estimated to be 340% of current GDP. This staggering return on investment (ROI) has tremendous implications for quality of life, economic opportunities for youth, and general welfare. Individual economic returns to improved schooling is not a Kenyan or even African phenomenon, but applicable to any economy where increased skills lead to better wages.
The path to higher PISA results begins with effective early childhood and primary instruction. When learning increases mirror the results found by Kremer and his co-authors, students can be expected to perform better on later assessments as well. This suggests there are significant returns to education interventions that transform education quality throughout early childhood and primary school, increasing the percentage of students academically qualified to successfully complete secondary school and positively contribute to the workforce, and economic growth.

Thematic Action Track 5: Financing of Education
There still remains a huge gap in data harmonization and processing in Kenya. We need more investments in this. especially progressively updating data across the country

Check out the Financing of Education Policy Brief from #APREMC2022

Finance-min.pdf595.42 KB

Echo above comment that it is great to see that much of what was discussed in the consultation is in the document. Would like to see:

Stronger recommendations (in discussion paper) on action on tax, including:
1) The design and implementation of a UN Tax Convention and the establishment of an intergovernmental tax body under the UN auspices, that have been long advocated for.
2) The reprogramming of national tax systems to prioritise the needs of all members using the 4Rs of Tax Justice: (first two included in some way, last two not included at all).
a) Revenue
b) Redistribution
c) Repricing: using tax to limit public ‘bads’ such as carbon emissions and other environmentally destructive profit-generating activities, in recognition of the fact that climate-related events drain financial resources for education and keep girls and boys out of school as mentioned above, and
d) Representation: to build healthier democratic processes, which include girls and boys, recognizing that a higher reliance on government spending is linked to higher quality of governance and representation.

I have carefully read the document and reviewed the consultation notes in light of it, and I post my main comments below:

1) Much of what was discussed in the consultation is in the document, which has a tone for public funding, fiscal justice and inclusion/equity as a criterion for funding - very positive.

2) The issue of regulating the performance of the private sector, including to resolve conflicts of interest, reviewing decision-making and governance spaces on financing in the international and national scenarios for education (which often favor the private for profit sector to the detriment of the participation of representative entities the educational community and the public sector), is not present in the document - very worrying.

3) On the progressive taxation and tax justice part, it does not mention the suggestion that donors and philanthropic foundations should contribute more to a progressive tax system.

4) This paragraph seems to me the most problematic, which advances in privatization and financialization:
"Action on deficit financing: The Public Development Banks or the Multilateral Development Banks with established concessional credit cycles (such as IDA from the WB) and established education financing facilities (such as GPE), bilateral partners, and private institutions stand to gain significantly from further improving alignment of combined funding, and joint implementation modalities, in support of national education investment priorities. This means concessional lending for education from available finance, matched with grants designed and delivered through debt relief mechanisms for creating longer term fiscal space in Government balance sheets, stimulating additionality from public resources allocated to education. Such a financing compact must build on existing operational modalities of the coordinating institutions, target the most marginalised countries where learning poverty is high and where households carry a disproportionate brunt of education spending fueling inequality. Public Development Banks are increasingly streamlining social investments in their investment portfolio17. Such mechanism would facilitate their inclusion in education policy dialogue and a greater share of their social investments in the sector. The International Financing Facility for Education is another example of a financing vehicle that aims at raising funds for supporting education, leveraging regional banks. Increasing concessional finance (as the ADB have also committed to, increasing the percentage of its portfolio for education from 5% to 10%) is an additional approach that could raise complementary funds for lower-middle income countries. New or reallocated Special Drawing Rights could provide relatively short- or medium-term boosts to financing of education and health."

Dear all, I would like to flag two aspects for consideration: 1. the relevance of adopting a twin-track approach to funding, by providing resources to strengthen inclusive education systems while also supporting strategies which address the specific barriers faced by the most marginalised learners, including children with disabilities. 2. the importance of tracking funding for inclusion and report against equity indicators (for example, earmarking using the “OECD-DAC" Markers on disability and on gender)

We have attracted over four hundred million signatures to a petition calling for mandatory, fully integrated climate literacy education, civic skill building, and jobs training so that everyone can participate in the creation of an equitable green economy. Our supporters include organizations, including teachers' union, labor unions, faith groups, mayors, corporations, including Microsoft, and NGOs along with individuals across the planet. A final document that does not explicitly include these issues will not prepare our students for the impacts and opportunities presented by the climate crisis. Donor countries must recognize the fairness of providing funding to create curricula and to train teachers. Without financial support we cannot build an educated engaged workforce to take advantage of the transition to the new economy.

Thematic Action Track 5: Financing of Education
Like action track 4, climate was not mentioned within the discussion paper. However, we know that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity and already pose a large drain on financial resources for education. The realities of climate change therefore enhance the need to increase government and donor funding for education. As action track 5’s paper noted, “finance underpins all other tracks” despite the recognition in action track 4 that public financing remains ‘tepid.’

The summit must recognize climate change as a major challenge for education financing and call for dialogue not only between ministers of education and finance, but also ministers of the environment, building upon coalition work from COP 26 in Glasgow.

Furthermore, CCE should be seen as a vehicle to galvanize both country governments, private sector, and the donor community as they create provisions to meet their nationally determined contributions in compliance with the Paris Accords.

TESSummitClimateChangeLetter Final_3.docx25.65 KB

Thanks a lot

Hello everyone, welcome to the discussion page for the TES action track 5 on education finance. I am looking forward to your contributions in this space and a useful discussion.