Do you think the current level of education expenditure is inadequate? Why?

Yes, in a country like India which has the second largest population and the largest young population in the world, the expenditure on eduation is inadequate. In most countries basic education is nowadays perceived not only as a right, but also as a duty governments are typically expected to ensure access to basic education, while citizens are often required by law to attain education up to a certain basic level.

The Indian Government promises better educational facilities for the people. They try to increase the enrollment in schools through various schemes. But just enrollment is not enough which can be understood by the following facts:

i. As of 2011, the enrollment rate for pre-primary schools is 58 per cent and 93 per cent for primary schools. However, as per the studies, among rural children of age 10, half could not read at a basic level, despite the high overall enrollment rate for primary education. Also, over 60 per cent were unable to calculate division based sums, and half dropped out by the age 14years.

ii. Some of the reasons cited for the poor quality of education in schools include absence of around 25 per cent of teachers every day. Also, as per some online reports, the pupil to teacher ratio within the public school system for primary education is 35 : 1.

iii. A study of 188 government-run primary schools found that 59 per cent of the schools had no drinking water and 89 percent had no toilets.

iv. The data collected by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration for the year 2003-04 revealed that only 3.5 per cent of primary schools in Bihar and Chhattisgarh had toilets for girls.

v. The rates were 12-16 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

India’s almost universal enrollment in school hides these two major challenges of school education: High dropout and low attendance. Children dropping out or not attending school, has consequences: It results in loss in productivity of the education system as a high dropout rate increases per unit cost of school education, and reduces human resource development. Dropouts are likely to be engaged in semi-skilled and unskilled employment, according to a 2011 study by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration.

All the above problems can be attributed to constant reduction in expenditure on education in India.

Globally, 4.9% of GDP was spent on education in 2010 while India spent only 3.3%of GDP, according to World Bank data. Compared to BRICS nations, India's literacy rate is only 74% while that of these economies is equivalent to that of the developed world.

While the government is stressing on skill development, the spending on school education and literacy has been reduced by Rs 12,895.6 crore.

The Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley has promised a school within a 5 km radius of every child but the fall in allocation, it may be a difficult target to achieve.