would need to be provided by the government in order to formulate a TVET strategy for the future. The World Bank is currently preparing a TVET project with the objective of linking skills provision to employment. Education Finance Public Spending on Education - Aggregate Trends and Distribution across Levels It is estimated that since 2004, spending for education has increased by “average real twenty six percent per (2008 PEMFAR) as shown in the figure below. Overall, the year” expenditure on education in 2007/08 corresponded to approximately 2.9 percent of GDP. Figure 5: Total Public Spending on Education 2004/05 2007/08 – Source: Ministry of Finance, Annual Fiscal Reports - 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 as in 2007 PEMFAR In the 2007/08 financial year, the government spent a total of US$22,794,473 (13.6 percent) of its recurrent expenditure on education. This figure is below the FTI benchmark of 20 percent and that of many other Sub-Saharan countries as the chart below shows. Figure 6: Public Recurrent Spending on Education of Selected Sub-Saharan Countries as a % of Total Recurrent Public Spending Source: World Bank Data The table below shows the distribution of public spending on education by level. Liberia is seemingly giving due attention to primary education and, in doing so, is meeting the EFA indicative target of approximately 50 percent of expenditures on primary education. Expenditure on secondary education is still of concern as the percentage expenditure observed is due to the adjustment upwards from 6 to 7 years of schooling and the contribution of expenditure for TVET which is larger than for general secondary education alone. With the ongoing increase in graduates from primary school, without increased expenditure at the secondary level, problems will arise. Table 22: Distribution of Public Spending on Education by Level after Adjustment to 6 Years Primary and 7 Years Secondary - 2007/08 Primary (+ Pre-Primary and Teacher Training) 50.60% Secondary (+ TVET) 31.40% Higher Education 18.00% Source: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and Budget Bureau Household Spending Despite the fact that the government has nominally declared primary education free, households still spend significant amounts of money on education relative to their earnings. The
would need to be provided by the government in order to formulate a TVET strategy for the future. The World Bank is currently preparing a TVET project with the objective of linking skills provision to employment. Education Finance Public Spending on Education - Aggregate Trends and Distribution across Levels It is estimated that since 2004, “average real spending for education has increased by twenty six percent per year” (2008 PEMFAR) as shown in the figure below. Overall, the expenditure on education in 2007/08 corresponded to approximately 2.9 percent of GDP. Figure 5: Total Public Spending on Education 2004/05 – 2007/08 Source: Ministry of Finance, Annual Fiscal Reports - 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 as in 2007 PEMFAR In the 2007/08 financial year, the government spent a total of US$22,794,473 (13.6 percent) of its recurrent expenditure on education. This figure is below the FTI benchmark of 20 percent and that of many other Sub-Saharan countries as the chart below shows. Figure 6: Public Recurrent Spending on Education of Selected Sub-Saharan Countries as a % of Total Recurrent Public Spending Source: World Bank Data The table below shows the distribution of public spending on education by level. Liberia is seemingly giving due attention to primary education and, in doing so, is meeting the EFA indicative target of approximately 50 percent of expenditures on primary education. Expenditure on secondary education is still of concern as the percentage expenditure observed is due to the adjustment upwards from 6 to 7 years of schooling and the contribution of expenditure for TVET which is larger than for general secondary education alone. With the ongoing increase in graduates from primary school, without increased expenditure at the secondary level, problems will arise. Table 22: Distribution of Public Spending on Education by Level after Adjustment to 6 Years Primary and 7 Years Secondary - 2007/08 Primary (+ Pre-Primary and Teacher Training) 50.60% Secondary (+ TVET) 31.40% Higher Education 18.00% Source: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and Budget Bureau Household Spending Despite the fact that the government has nominally declared primary education free, households still spend significant amounts of money on education relative to their earnings. The