All section Close
Image Credits: The Indian Express
'65% Low, Lower-Middle-Income Nations Cut Education Budgets': World Bank Report
Writer: Palak Agrawal
Palak a journalism graduate believes in simplifying the complicated and writing about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She calls herself a " hodophile" or in layman words- a person who loves to travel.
Others/World, 2 March 2021 5:05 AM GMT
Editor : Prateek Gautam |
A free soul who believes that journalism, apart from politics, should stand for social cause and the environment.
Creatives : Rajath
A free spirit who find meaning in life with the virtue of creativity and doing job par its excellence, animal lover and traveller by heart.
At a time when there is an urgent need for allocating adequate funds to allow schools and educational institutions to reopen safety and to function as per the guidelines, about half of the sample of 29 countries had cut their education budgets.
According to a report by the World Bank, the education budgets for the low and lower-middle-income countries were cut by a massive 65 per cent after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report which was prepared in collaboration with UNESCO's Global Monitoring (GEM) Report stated that the current levels of spending in such countries fell short of those required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2015, seventeen interlinked goals were adopted by the members of the United Nation. Collectively, these goals act as a blueprint for the member countries to address global challenges such as poverty, inequality and climate change.
The report was prepared to analyse and understand the short term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on education budgets. A sample size of 29 countries included three low-income countries ( Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Uganda); 14 lower-middle-income countries ( Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); 10 upper-middle-income nations (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Turkey); and two high-income countries (Chile, Panama).
"The following countries have education shares below 10 per cent and therefore are likely to have other main financing sources besides budget assigned by the central government: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia," the report stated.
"It is not clear that countries that have seen a decline in their education budget will be able to cover these costs increased during the pandemic alongside the regular increases in funding needed to support growing school-age populations," it added.
It further pointed out that at a time when there was an urgent need for allocating adequate funds to allow schools and educational institutions to reopen safety and to function as per the guidelines, about half of the countries in the sample size had cut their education budgets.
"This scarcely bodes well for the future, when macroeconomic conditions are expected to worsen," the report said.
Also Read: Odisha: Saving Cattle Is Life's Mission For This Retired Police Officer
Must Reads
We are an independent and public-spirited digital media platform for Indian millennials. We report news and issues that matter as well as give you the opportunity to take action.
