Pricing the Right to Education: The Cost of Reaching New Targets by 2030

This paper shows there is an annual financing gap of US$39 billion over 2015-2030 for reaching universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education of good quality in low and lower middle income countries.

Some of the key findings from the EFA Global Monitoring Report analysis of the cost of meeting key targets of the post-2015 education agenda can be summarized as follows:

• The annual total cost of achieving universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education in low and lower middle income countries is projected to increase from US$149 billion in 2012 to US$340 billion, on average, between 2015 and 2030. The total cost will more than triple in low income countries. The projected increase reflects a combination of greater numbers of students and higher per-student expenditure to improve quality and address marginalization.
• The total annual financing gap between available domestic resources and the amount necessary to reach the new education targets is projected to average $US39 billion between 2015 and 2030. The gap is particularly large in low income countries, where it constitutes 42% of annual total costs.
• Aid will thus remain a crucial source of education finance over the next 15 years if the targets are to be met. Across low and lower middle income countries, donor aid for pre-primary, primary and secondary education will need to increase by at least six times