Education Public Expenditure Review Guidelines

Public expenditure reviews are one of the World Bank’s core diagnostic tools for informing various stakeholders about the state of education financing in a country. Such reviews assess the efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of expenditures on education and their adequacy and sustainability relative to the country’s educational goals. All education systems rely on financing to function. Education finance systems pay for the inputs required to implement education policies, such as teachers, school buildings, and learning materials. Governments are under increasing pressure to use education resources efficiently, but often lack guidance on the optimal ways to invest and manage their school finance systems. Meeting the World Bank’s twin goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity in the education sector implies the need to use country and donor resources effectively, efficiently, and equitably. A sound Public expenditure review (PER) assesses how resources are used relative to these goals. This PER is arranged as follows: (i) Part one has the Checklist for education per steps; (ii) Part two provides Checklist for an education per analysis; and (iii) Part three concludes with examples.