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Inspite of global downturn, International education aid to India grew 100% to $806 million
The World Bank leads the pack of donors supporting India, followed by the European Union institutions, the UK and Germany. Aid received in 2014 saw a 100% rise from 2013, this at a time when donors are reducing aid to other countries
A global education aid monitoring report compiled by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reveals that India received $806 million in 2014, almost a 100% increase from the $421 million it received in 2013.
“Aid to India is bucking the global trend; it rose dramatically between 2013 and 2014,” said Kate Redman, a member of the team that prepared the aid monitoring report. She added that the jump reiterated the commitment of global donor countries to the cause of education in India.
In absolute numbers, the World Bank is at the top of the pecking order of donors supporting India, followed by EU institutions, the UK and Germany. What’s more, all the 4 top donors increased their education aid to India. Though the global report was released on 25 April, India-specific data was released 2 days later on April 27.
According to a 2015 UNESCO report, 124 million children and adolescents worldwide are out of school of which 17.7 million—or a staggering 14% are Indians. However, official figures from India peg this number at less than 10 million.
It is disheartening to see that while funds to India doubled, globally international aid to education dropped some $500 million from $13.6 billion in 2013 to $13.1 billion in 2014.
The global trend for increasing educational aid started in 2002, when donor countries and agencies gave $6.5 billion and continued its upswing until 2007, when the aid was a hefty $12.1 billion. The bursting of the economic bubble in 2008 pulled it down for the first time to $11.9 billion. Since then, aid flow has fluctuated as donors have been conservative in the face of economic turmoil.
In fact, between 2013 and 2014, 4 donors—France, Japan, the Netherlands and Spain—actually reduced aid to basic education by 40% or more, according to the same UNESCO report.
Aaron Benavot, director of the team that prepared the report, said: “It is disheartening to see that international aid to education is going in totally the wrong direction. This will make education progress extremely difficult, if not impossible, for many countries still reliant on financial support from donors.”
On India bucking the trend for receiving increasing education aid, a HRD ministry official, on condition of anonymity, said that the government is “happy, but not gung-ho” about the situation. “International aid is not even a fraction of what India spends on education. The education aid amount is not even 10% of what Union budget 2016-17 has pegged for the sector, not to mention the state expenditure,” the official said.