India spending least on higher education among BRIC nations

In spite of a booming economy, India's public spending on higher education per student is the lowest among developing and developed countries.

Though the Central Government has announced an expected 150 percent increase in central spending on higher education in 2007–08 (at Rs. 6,354 crore over Rs. 2,550.50 crore this year), the fact remains that India will continue to lag behind, compared to its asian counterparts.

At the moment, public spending on higher education per student in India stands at US$ 400 (Rs. 18,000) and this is expected to improve to around US$ 1,000 (Rs. 45,000).

According to figures released by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), at US$ 400, India had the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student among developing and developed countries.

In comparison, the United States spends US$ 9,629, the United Kingdom US$ 8502 and Japan US$ 4830, on higher education per student.

Even among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, India is at the bottom of the pile. While China, Russia and Brazil spend US$ 2,728, US$ 1,024 and US$ 3,986 respectively on higher education per student, another developing country Malayasia's expenditure under the same head is quite high at US$ 11,790.

"An increase in allocations will obviously translate into an increase in the public spending per student. But this may not benefit students. An increased spend could mean the government is hiring more teachers and faculty, but if these teachers do not turn up in colleges, then the entire effort goes wasted," noted economist Bibek Debroy, said.

Again, in primary education, India was at the bottom of public spending per student. India is a notch above China at US$ 7.2 per student.

Surprisingly, in China, though the public expenditure on higher education is high, the country lags behind India at US$ 6.1 per student in primary education.

According to analysts, Budget 2007–08 is expected to have nothing major for primary education. Instead of an increased government spend, indications are ripe that primary education may see a reduction in central support by around 6 percentage points to Rs. 16,026 crore, from Rs. 17,128 crore in the current fiscal year.