Economic Survey 2018 shows meagre 3% investment in education

Indicating further withdrawal of the government from the education sector, the Economic Survey for the year 2017-18 released this week shows that states and the Union government together have invested less than 3 per cent of India’s GDP in education.

Government expenditure on education, as a percentage of GDP, has been decreasing consistently even though public investment in social infrastructure is considered critical to economic progress, The Indian Express said in a report.

The survey shows that six years ago – in 2012-13 – education expenditure was 3.1 per cent of GDP. It fell in 2014-15 to 2.8 per cent and registered a further drop to 2.4 per cent in 2015-16. Although there have been some signs of recovery since 2016-17 (2.6 per cent), expenditure on education hasn’t been restored to the 2012-13 level.

The Economic Survey also mentions unimpressive investment in social infrastructure, including sports, arts and culture. “Being a developing economy, there is not enough fiscal space to increase the expenditure on critical social infrastructure like education and health in India. However, given the limited resources, the government has consistently prioritised strengthening the educational and health profile of the population,” the survey states.