New figures released by UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report has shown that India’s aid to basic education fell by 10 percent as financial help declined by USD 278 million between 2010 and 2012. The financial assistance from donor nations and organizations party declined due to nagging economic woes across the globe.
Also, global aid to education has declined by over 6 percent between 2010 and 2011 and a further by 3 percent in 2012. During this period India’s margin fell by 10 percent. India has witnessed the largest cuts in aid to basic education as it declined by US$ 278 million. In 2012, India was one of the top 10 countries to receive international aid on basic education. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Palestine were the top five countries for aid disbursements to basic education in 2012.
The top five donors to India, the UK, European Union (EU), World Bank, Germany and the UNICEF, slashed their aid flow. These figures were announced just ahead of the Global Partnership for Education’s Replenishment Pledging Conference in Brussels slated for June 25-25 2014. At Brussels conference, donors are being asked to raise an amount of US$ 3.5 billion for supporting education initiatives for under developed countries.
The reports revealed that financial aid is of absolute importance for many countries. India and Pakistan are the countries with the largest cuts in financial aid to basic education sector from 2010 to 2012. Ironically, both these countries are among the top five countries in the world with respect to most children out of the school. South and West Asian region is worst affected with disbursements falling by 26 percent between 2010 and 2012.
