THE educational funding by the national government in the country is within the international benchmark of 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday Minister of Education and Human Resources Development Lanelle Olandrea Tanangada said the ministry needs to strengthen a more sustainable public financing of education.
She said since 2015, UNESCO Member States agreed on a level of educational funding of 4 to 6 per cent of GDP or 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure.
“I am happy to inform this House that since 2016, the level of educational funding by the national government is within the international benchmark of 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure,” she said.
She said in fact, the SIG allocation to education is between 20 per cent and 30 per cent annually for the past three years.
Nevertheless, she said the demand for quality education is increasing due to increase in population and costs.
“Therefore, we need to conduct further studies to determine financing of our school system especially and determine the costs for quality education,” she concluded.
By FOLLET JOHN
Newsroom, Honiara
