6533b854fe1ef96bd12af064

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Public financing of education systems and economic growth in underdeveloped countries: a case study of West African Monetary and Economic Union (WAMEU) countries

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description

At the World Education Forum of Dakar in 2000, international aid institutions committed to massive financial aid to the educational systems in developing countries because these sectors' performed poorly during the 1990s. These international aid institutions promised that no country that demonstrated a serious commitment for education, especially primary education, would lack financial resources. Participants in the forum stressed the necessity for governments to work toward the goal of primary education for all. Implementing the funding strategies that the Dakar commitment called for may have a negative impact on those developing countries. Using West African Monetary and Economic Union (WAMEU) data and international comparisons, we show the limits of these funding strategies. Contrary to our hypothesis, the analysis suggests that human capital of university level negatively affects economic growth of these countries. The types of higher education trainings available in those countries as well as issues of quantity and quality may explain those results. The evaluation of the role of human capital of university level through its effects on technological progress suggests condition for its positive effect on economic growth. This analysis stressed the idea that public funds should promote a proportional expansion of each educational level at every stage of development in those countries. This seems to be the condition to reap the fruits of educational system.