Publication: Financing Our Future: How to Improve the Efficiency of Education Spending in North Macedonia
Loading...
Other Files
28 downloads
Date
2023-04-17
ISSN
Published
2023-04-17
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This policy brief aims to discuss North Macedonia’s key constraints and needed policy responses in the field of education financing, contributing to the debate on how to improve the efficiency of education system as a key investment for our future. It draws on the findings presented in the “North Macedonia Education Public Finance Review” prepared by the World Bank.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2023. Financing Our Future: How to Improve the Efficiency of Education Spending in North Macedonia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39700 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Gabon Public Expenditure Review : Better Management of Public Finance to Achieve Millennium Development Goals(Washington, DC, 2012-03)Although Gabon has witnessed a significant decline in oil production over the last fifteen years, it still generates significant oil revenue which, due to its small population enables the country to have a per capita gross national income that is among the highest in Africa (8643 USD in 2010) and to be classified as an upper-middle income country. Despite this high level of wealth, the country is ranked 106th out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index of the United Nations (0.674 in 2011). Consequently, the major challenge for Gabon remains the effective use of its oil resources to diversify its economy, improve its basic social services and infrastructure, while accumulating financial savings that will enable the country to avoid sudden and sharp cuts in public spending once the oil resources have been used up. The Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) that covered the period from 2006 to 2008 targeted the reversal of the downward trend of the main development indicators and a significant improvement in the living conditions of the population. It was prepared using a consultative approach, based on the broad participation of civil society, and results-oriented, with the ultimate goal of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It was structured around four strategy areas: (i) promoting strong, sustainable, high quality and pro-poor economic growth, (ii) significantly improving access of the entire population to basic social services, (iii) improving infrastructure, and (iv) promoting good governance. The analysis of budgetary expenditure in the priority sectors during the period 2006-08, shows that this expenditure was far below the envisaged envelopes. The achievement rates for road programs fluctuate between 0 percent and 55 percent. This may partly explain the slow progress towards achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs).Publication Financing the Environment : Ukraine's Road to Effective Environmental Management(Washington, DC, 2003-02)This study presents a detailed analysis of the system of environmental expenditure in Ukraine with a particular focus on public expenditures. It examines the extent to which the present system meets national environmental objectives and identifies ways in which it can be improved and made more cost-effective. Since environmental spending is closely tied to sources of environmental revenues (partly a result of earmarking and partly because of the regulatory role that pollution charges and fines play), this review also covers revenue issues. The study is based on international systems of environmental accounting established by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).Publication China - National Development and Sub-National Finance : A Review of Provincial Expenditures(Washington, DC, 2002-04-09)In China, the highly decentralized fiscal system undermines improvements in policy outcomes and contributes to increasing disparities among its regions. However, rather than re-centralizing, China would benefit from pursuing reforms to: improve expenditure and revenue assignments for the various levels of government; distribute fiscal resources more equally; and improve the use of these resources through better budget management at all levels of government. This report recommends a comprehensive reform effort that covers all the components of the inter-governmental fiscal system, arguing that selective interventions to address specific local financial problems such as defaults on pension and unemployment stipends, and payment arrears on teachers' salaries, have created some pervasive incentives. A piecemeal approach to inter-governmental fiscal reform is unlikely to succeed because it will not take into account the interdependence of transfers on revenue assignments or the role played by expenditure assignments on the adequacy of revenue assignments and transfers.Publication Kosovo Public Finance Review : Fiscal Policies for a Young Nation(Washington, DC, 2014-06)Kosovo is Europe s youngest country, both in terms of history and demographics. As part of the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo became a separate territory under United Nations administration in 1999, and declared its independence in 2008. By February 2014 it had been recognized by 106 UN member states including 23 out of 28 EU members. Kosovo is a potential candidate for European Union (EU) membership and is currently negotiating a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Commission. From 1999 Kosovo has been using the Deutsche Mark and, since 2002, its successor currency, the Euro, as legal tender. Kosovo is a landlocked country in South East Europe (SEE) with about 1.8 million inhabitants and a large migrant population based mainly in Western European countries. Kosovo has taken great strides to rebuild an economy destroyed by the collapse of Yugoslavia and the 1998-99 war, with sound fiscal numbers and budgets focused on capital expenditure. In general, Kosovo s headline macroeconomic indicators are also relatively sound. Growth has averaged over 4 percent since 2000 and remained positive after 2008 during the global crisis years. Household survey evidence for 2006-11 suggests that economic growth benefitted all sections of society but the poorest 40 percent of the population saw consumption rise faster than wealthier groups. Public and private investments have made large contributions toward economic growth over the last five years as efforts to rebuild the economy continued.Publication Pakistan : Reforming Punjab's Public Finances and Institutions(Washington, DC, 2001-08-21)Similarly to Pakistan's other provinces, and the country as a whole, Punjab Province - a macrocosm of the country, with more than half the population, and economic activity - is facing a crisis of public service delivery, government finances, public institutions, and governance. Hence, the resulting social, and infrastructure "deficits", have contributed to slower economic growth, slower poverty reduction, and poor social indicators in the province. Nevertheless, Punjab has the opportunity to turn around its public sector, for the provincial government seems determined to improve service delivery. This report is intended to provide an input for this process, and, puts forward recommendations for fiscal restructuring, institutional improvements - including civil service reform - and, sectoral reforms to improve service delivery in education, health, agriculture and irrigation, and roads. Fiscal restructuring needs to focus the public sector on essential core roles, to include improved financial management; revamping planning, and budgeting; mobilizing revenue from taxes, and user charges; and, implementing fiscal decentralization. Institutional improvements, and civil reform would include accountability, and strengthening key provincial economic management, regulatory, and sectoral institutions, while reforms in individual sectors should improve service delivery , and development outcomes. The Federal Government should play an important role in supporting, and facilitating provincial reforms, by guiding the devolution process, stabilizing federal revenues, and, working closely with the provinces in the reform process.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.