Oversight: Underdeveloped districts receive smaller share of education budget

Better allocation of funds required to improve education standards

PESHAWAR: The underdeveloped districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been allocated a smaller portion of the education budget as compared to the urban areas of the province.

This can be deduced from a report, titled Public Financing of Education in Pakistan Analysis (2010-11 to 2015-16).  According to the report, Rs71.66 billion was allocated as the expenditure for the districts.

Around 90% of the 2014-15 budget for the districts was spent on salaries and related expenditures. However, only 10% was left for non-salary heads and other expenses.

Discrepancies

As per the report, Mardan, Peshawar, Mansehra, Swat, Abbottabad, Lower Dir and DI Khan spent more than Rs4 billion in 2014-15, which is more than 32% of K-P’s total provincial budget. On the other hand, Hangu and Torghar had an education expenditure below Rs1 billion.



The report indicates Chitral, Tank, Karak, Abbottabad, Bannu, DI Khan and Haripur spent more than Rs20,000 per student during 2014-15. On the contrary, Torghar, Hangu and Upper Dir spent less than Rs13,000 per student during the year.

This shows a huge discrepancy among the districts in terms of spending on education. Furthermore, it points towards the need of a more rational budget allocation formula based on the actual needs of each district.

The way forward

Abdullah Alam, an education financing expert, told The Express Tribune the annual expenditure per student by K-P in 2014-15 shows some districts are disadvantaged in terms of education funding that they receive.

He added Chitral received more than Rs24,000 per student in 2014-15 while less than Rs12,000 was spent per student in Upper Dir. He said the government should focus on underdeveloped districts as the level of education remains low in these areas. According to Alam, the allocation of a larger budget for these districts would help improve the standard of education.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2016.