Education Accounts: A Tool for Managing Educational Finances Prototype for Discussion

A detailed picture of financing of any sector especially like education assumes prime importance especially in a country like India. We have been talking about spending 6% of the GDP on education for a long time but have not been able to do so. This question needs to be understood in a broader perspective. The efforts on financing education in the Indian context usually have considered the public financing with some sporadic attempts which have taken into account the private spending as well. The total resource envelop has not been given its due share. Thus, the resource flows to education from different sources like public, private (both for profit and not for profit), households, and the external sector need to be considered. In case of health sector, the researchers have developed a tool called ‘Health Accounts’ which tries to track resource flows into the health sector from such sources and would also tell us on what kind of services such flows would reach in the ultimate analysis. Such tool seems to be missing as far as education sector is concerned both within and outside India. In this background, it is the opportune time to consider the possibility of developing Education Accounts in the Indian context. Education Accounts would basically answer three set of questions, namely Who Pays?—Sources of Funding How Much?—Quantum of Funding and For What?—Functions on which such funding would be made The proposed paper would try to place the prototype of Education Accounts for discussion. The modalities of evolving Education Accounts can be discussed in the conference and once we firm up the methodology of such accounts, we can think of developing Education Accounts. In this background, the paper does not present any data but an attempt is made to present the tool of Education Accounts. Recently, UNESCO and IIEP Paris are keen in developing a methodology for arriving at the Education Accounts estimates across the globe. In this background, the proposed paper would be a pointer for such attempts in future.