NewsWhore
09-09-2011, 03:40 PM
Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton analyzes government spending on public education during the past governments in an op-ed piece in today's Hoy newspaper. The article is well timed now that 10 presidential candidates pledged to comply with the law that establishes that the government should allocate 4% of the GDP to education.
In his analysis, Ceara Hatton says that government spending on education reached two peaks between 1978 and 2010. In 1979 (Antonio Guzman's government) it reached 2.43% of the GDP, but collapsed in the 1980s through 1990 with 0.76%. It reached a maximum in 2002 of 2.54% (Mejia's government), and then declined attributed to the banking crisis, to recover to 2.2% between 2007 and 2010 (Fernandez government). The budget specifically assigned to the Ministry of Education went from 1.95% of GDP in 1979 to 1.89% in 2009. He reports that in the past three years, it has been 1.86% of GDP. He concludes that to comply with the law that establishes 4% of GDP, the government would need to double its spending on education.
"It is also necessary to make administrative arrangements to improve efficiency of spending because the Dominican Republic is not only the country that spends least on education but is also the one with the lowest results in quality of spending per student," he writes.
He adds that if in 2012, the government allocates 3% of GDP to education, this means RD$69 billion and the Ministry would receive resources for RD$58 billion. In 2013, if the 4% would be reached, the total should be RD$100 billion, with the Ministry receiving approximately RD$85 billion.
"In conclusion there are two priorities: more spending in education, but also better spending," he writes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
In his analysis, Ceara Hatton says that government spending on education reached two peaks between 1978 and 2010. In 1979 (Antonio Guzman's government) it reached 2.43% of the GDP, but collapsed in the 1980s through 1990 with 0.76%. It reached a maximum in 2002 of 2.54% (Mejia's government), and then declined attributed to the banking crisis, to recover to 2.2% between 2007 and 2010 (Fernandez government). The budget specifically assigned to the Ministry of Education went from 1.95% of GDP in 1979 to 1.89% in 2009. He reports that in the past three years, it has been 1.86% of GDP. He concludes that to comply with the law that establishes 4% of GDP, the government would need to double its spending on education.
"It is also necessary to make administrative arrangements to improve efficiency of spending because the Dominican Republic is not only the country that spends least on education but is also the one with the lowest results in quality of spending per student," he writes.
He adds that if in 2012, the government allocates 3% of GDP to education, this means RD$69 billion and the Ministry would receive resources for RD$58 billion. In 2013, if the 4% would be reached, the total should be RD$100 billion, with the Ministry receiving approximately RD$85 billion.
"In conclusion there are two priorities: more spending in education, but also better spending," he writes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)