The Education System in Malawi
35
compared to 2001/02 (16 percent of total public recurrent expenditure and 3.7 percent of GDP), which shows an increase in the priority given to education in budget allocation. Nevertheless, it will be important to follow up in the coming years because the first data available for the 2008/09 budget seems to show a decrease from 2007/08. Table 3.1 Education Public Recurrent Expenditure Education Recurrent Expenditure (MK millions) as a % of total recurrent expenditure as a % of GDP
Ministry of Education Only
All Ministries with Education Activities
14,520
22,311
12.6
19.4
3.1
4.8
Source: Calculations from the revised 07/08 Ministry of Finance budget
When compared to other SADC countries, Malawi positions itself as a median country in terms of budget priority for the education sector (see table 3.2). Out of the 12 countries with recent available data, Malawi ranks 6th for its share of recurrent expenditures devoted to education. Malawi is slightly below the SADC countries average (19.4 percent versus 20.8 percent) and the SSA average (20.3 percent). The budget priority for education in Malawi is still much smaller than what is observed in countries like Madagascar, Tanzania, Lesotho, or Kenya where the share for education is around 30 percent or above. Table 3.2: Percentages for Education in Public Recurrent Expenditure, SADC countries Percentages for Education in Public Recurrent Expenditures Lesotho
31.5
Tanzania
29.7
Madagascar
28.7
Botswana
27.6
Mozambique
25.6
Malawi
19.4
South Africa
18.6
Swaziland
17.7
Zambia
16.8
Seychelles
13.5
Mauritius
13.0
Congo, Dem. Rep.
7.1
Average SADC countries
20.8
Average SSA countries
20.3
Sources: Calculations from the revised 07/08 Ministry of Finance budget for Malawi and the World Bank for the other countries. Note: Data are from 2008 or thereabouts.