The evolution of public investment in the
Ecuadorian educational system
In Ecuador, public investment in
both the social and education sectors have grown consistently, despite recent
decreases in total public spending. As shown in Figure 1, Ecuador increased government
spending until reaching a peak of $27,581 million (current prices) in 2012, 187%
more than 2006. After the 2013 restructure of public spending, due to
restrictions and deficits in the balance of trade, total government spending
decreased by 28.6%, following a declining tendency that reached $17,807 million
in 2015, exacerbated by the drop in oil prices and the dollar appreciation. However,
as shown in Figure 1, education and social investment were not affected by this
measure. Figure 2 shows that, as a percentage of GDP, social investment reached
9.7% and spending on education reached 4.5%[1] in 2015, having grown by
129.2% and 93.5% respectively, as compared to 2006. These steady increases
suggest the priority of the social and educational sectors to the government’s
agenda.
Figure 1. Evolution of total, social and educational government expenditure
Notes: Public investments measured in nominal terms
Source: BCE, 2016; Senplades, 2016
Figure 2. Evolution of public investment in the social and education
sectors, as a proportion of GDP
Notes: GDP and social and education public investments measured in
nominal terms
Source: BCE, 2016; Senplades, 2016
In regional terms, despite having an
average investment in education as a percentage of GDP, Ecuador shows the
largest increase of this indicator since 2006. Figure 3 illustrates that
Ecuador’s relative investment in education is identical to Chile’s and very
close to Colombia’s and the regional mean. However, while the Latin-American
average grew by 28.9% compared to 2006, the Ecuadorian grew by 94%, the largest
in the region.
Figure 3. Investment in education as a percentage of GDP, regional
comparison
Notes: Extrapolation of CEPAL (2016) data, applying moving averages of
order 3 (MA3) for 2015, except for Ecuador. Ecuador applies the complete data
from Senplades (2016). GDP and social and education public investments measured
in nominal terms.
Source: CEPAL, 2016; Senplades, 2016
In this context, Ecuador has outperformed in public
investment in education during the last decade, with important improvements in the
educational system. This has been achieved by a considerable number of
educational policies and regulations. Among the regulatory milestones reached, it
is important to highlight the creation of the ‘Plan
Decenal de Educación’ (2006) and the ‘Estándares de Calidad Educativa’ (2012),
which defined key educational goals and a roadmap for the improvement of the
educational system. Data from the Integrated Sistem of Social Indicators (SIISE)
(MCDS, 2016) provides evidence in favour of inclusive educational policies, with
universal primary education (EGB) having reached a net attendance rate of
96.3%, as well as substantial improvements of this indicator for the secondary
education (BGU), which increased by 55% compared to 2006, reaching a 68% net
attendance rate in 2015. Likewise, schooling years increased from 8.8 years in
2006 to 10,1 years in 2015, while the dropout rate decreased substantially,
reaching a 3% in EGB and a 5.6% in BGU by 2015. There have also been
considerable reductions in gender inequality in terms of educational access, as
well as reductions in the gender gap, as shown in the ‘Ser Bachiller’
standardized tests. Finally, the literacy rate increased substantially until
reaching a 94.5% in 2015.
In conclusion, despite the external shocks, the
policies towards education and social welfare have remained a priority in the
public investment agenda. Since 2006, the educational system has benefited from
sustained improvements in public investment, having increased by $3,419 million
and reaching $4,508 million in 2015, a 314% increase. As a percentage of GDP,
there has also been an increasing trend, reaching 4,5% of GDP in 2015, 94% more
than in 2006 (2.3% of GDP)[2].
Despite these achievements, it is recommended to study the quality of the investment
in education since, as some authors[3]
have noted through statistical analysis and econometric modelling, signs of inefficiency
and lack of equity of these investments have been found.
REFERENCES
Asamblea Nacional. (2008). Constitución de la República del Ecuador. Montecristi.
BCE. (2016). Cuentas
nacionales. Banco Central del Ecuador, Cuentas Nacionales, Quito.
CEPAL. (2016). Estadísticas
e indicadores. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe.
Recuperado el 10 de 10 de 2016, de
http://estadisticas.cepal.org/cepalstat/web_cepalstat/estadisticasIndicadores.asp?idioma=i
Jaramillo, J. (2016). Reformas educativas en Ecuador, su impacto
sobre la eficiencia y equidad. http://ecuanomica.blogspot.com/2016/11/reformas-educativas-en-ecuador-su.html
Krugman, P. The Uneducated American. The
New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/opinion/09krugman.html
MCDS. (2016). Sistema
Integrado de Indicadores Sociales del Ecuador. Ministerio Coordinador
de Desarrollo Social del Ecuador.
http://www.siise.gob.ec/agenda/index.html?serial=13
PNUD. (2015). Reporte
de Desarrollo Humano 2015. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el
Desarrollo. http://hdr.undp.org/en/2015-report
Senplades. (2016). Sistema
Nacional de Información (SNI). Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y
Desarrollo, Quito. http://app.sni.gob.ec/web/menu/
Stiglitz, J.E. (2000). Economics of the Public
Sector. Third Edition. New York, W.W. Norton.
Stiglitz, J.E. (2015). Inequality, Living Standards and Economic Growth. http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/sites/jstiglitz/files/2015%20Inequality,%20Living%20Standards.pdf
UNESCO. (2015). La
educación para todos 2000-2015: logros y desafíos. Organización de las
Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura. París: Unesco.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002325/232565s.pdf
[1] In
constant prices of 2007, the investment in education reached 5.23% of GDP in
2015. A 4.5% investment in education is also the average of ‘High Human
Development countries (PNUD, 2015).
[2] These
achievements in social and educational investment in Ecuador are the largest in
Latin America and are consistent with the main strategy of the Education for
All program: “Increasing considerably the public investment in basic education”
(UNESCO, 2015).
[3]
See, for example, Jaramillo (2016).