India has indeed shown real interest in education by placing between 4.1 percent and 4.6 percent of its GDP between 2015 and 2024, according to one report that the UNESCO Institute for Statistics has indicated. The move is seen to be in alignment with global goals laid out by UNESCO in the ‘Education 2030 Framework for Action,’ which advises countries to commit between 4-6 percent of GDP to education.
Government expenditure on education was between 13.5% and 17.2% of total public spending; the average is clearly above the Education 2030 goal of allocating 15-20% of public spending to the sector. This strategic investment reflects India’s intent to improve its educational profile even as wider regional trends point to shrinking education spending.
According to the UNESCO report, India’s investment is far higher than all her Central and Southern Asian neighbors. Countries like Nepal and Bhutan also have a 4-6% allocation of their GDP to education, although countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan were in arrears with their funding for education systems. In the year 2022, only Bhutan (7.5%), Kazakhstan (7.2%), and some other countries follow the educational expenditure of India, showing extraordinary activeness toward education.
Against the global trend of decline in education spending from 13.2% in 2010 to 12.5% in 2020, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, India has maintained stable investment levels. This commitment reflects India’s pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which emphasizes inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all.
The Indian government’s commitment to education is further identified through attempts to strengthen the education structure; not long ago, calls have emerged from the University Grants Commission (UGC) for innovative programs to be conducted in higher educational institutions.
This will enable India to maintain its attention on funding as the educational environment continues to change, improves, and grows through its education system and positions it as a leader in regional educational investment and policy implementation.
