It is very important to know that education is an act of receiving or giving systematic instructions to a group of persons of a particular class or age group, especially in a four-wall setting such as a preschool, college, or university. Education could also be known to be formal or informal in learning, which means it could be through a systematic curriculum or just on random knowledge.
It could also mean the process of gaining knowledge through learning or the acquisition of skills, values, and beliefs. Education is a life-long learning process and it can be acquired at different phases of life. As the saying goes, there is no age limit to education.
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Technology is the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society and the environment at large. Technology is known to cut across different areas and spheres of life while its application can also be found in different fields, ranging from science, art and management. Today, technology has advanced beyond the usual capacity. Its application in different fields most especially science makes it more obvious that the world is rapidly growing and also evolving technologically. The role and impact of technology in both our personal and working lives is ever-growing. Understanding how people shape technology and how technology shapes people’s interactions with each other and the natural world is important not only for those who research, develop and implement new technologies but also for all those people and organisations that have to use those technologies in their working, daily and personal lives.
Technology is hands-on, and can also be a profession where people have to be skilled in many of the following: engineering, communicating, designing, developing, innovating, managing, manufacturing, modelling, and systems thinking. Although, technology also gives us various products which can be used for good or ill or where the benefits are disputed and similarly the processes involved in producing and using technology means that we should all take an interest in whether it provides us and everyone else with a sustainable future. In other words, good as it is there are other inimical effects produced by technology. However, that is not to say it has more of a negative effect; in fact, technology has sharpened our lives more than its adverse effects. With this, technology has been applied in so many ways and consequently, its effects cannot be over emphasised most especially in the use and implementation of Education and educational systems in the world.
Just like every other national sector, every country has an allocation set aside out of their national budget earmarked solely for the educational sector. The educational budget is known as the sum total of money allocated over a specific period of time for the advancement and smooth running of a country’s educational system, be it at the preschool level, secondary or university and college levels. While some countries value education more than others, in fact, some country’s main source of income is mainly education. Education as it is believed, is a very important part of life, whether acquired in a formal or informal way of learning. Therefore, some countries devote a huge amount of their total budget to education because of the level of importance given to it. Education is still considered a government responsibility and one of its main items of expenditure.
Some countries such as Nigeria, in some parts of the states, make education compulsory and free from the age of pre-School to junior secondary level. This is done in order to enhance the importance of education and put up a high literacy level of the country. Education budgets, therefore, have to meet the ever-growing needs while the debt reduction policies are putting pressure on them to better target government intervention.
Globalization makes the situation even more complex, as governments are affected by numerous external factors beyond their control. Foreign aid becomes crucial to educational development, and most developing countries turn to decentralization, school-based management, and cost-sharing mechanisms. Generally, education has been getting fundings from different sources especially from different bodies. Some international bodies release a certain amount of money to sponsor the educational sector of different applicants in the form of grants or scholarship aids from different countries and consequently, relieving many countries of some of these burdens.
It is extremely important for the government to allocate resources wisely as there are various factors such as uplifting underprivileged sections of the society, facilitating financial inclusion, mitigating regional disparity, upgrading defence capabilities, providing proper educational facilities, and much more need to be focused on. Therefore, a well-planned budget is of utmost importance for any government to ensure economic stability and growth. The educational budget is of great importance to a country because it helps the country focus more on more critical issues affiliated with the sector.
In most countries basic education is nowadays perceived not only as a right but also as a duty – governments are typically expected to ensure access to basic education, while citizens are often required by law to attain education up to a certain basic level. Most countries around the world are governed by educated people and it is important to invest a quota of a country’s total budget into developing the sector actively to work to raise future leaders.
An educational budget allows for the smooth running of the school’s activities which include payment of staff’s salary to avoid disruption in the smooth running of the academic year. Where there is no sufficient or no budget allocated, workers resolve into going for a strike and other protests which can cause glitches in the effective running of the educational sector. Also, there should be enough budget allocated to fund capital projects and research within the school system.
When it comes to budgeting, identifying areas of weakness helps the government to allocate the nation’s resources in a useful and sustainable manner to areas that are in need of the country. A budget helps the government to know how to apportion the nation’s resources properly.
Any political party which forms the government at the Centre has certain social, political, and economic responsibilities towards its country and citizens. In countries with deep cultural, religious, and economic diversity, it is extremely important for the government to allocate resources wisely so that other parts of the nation would not suffer.
Various factors such as uplifting underprivileged sections of the society, facilitating financial inclusion, mitigating regional disparity, upgrading defence capabilities, providing proper educational facilities, and much more need to be focused on. Therefore, a well-planned budget is of utmost importance for any government to ensure economic stability and growth.
As technology continues to transform professional environments and modern workflows, the need for information technology budgeting grows increasingly important. Investing in the right technologies at the right time involves a lot of internal planning and strategic analysis. Waiting too long can lead to missed opportunities and detrimental inefficiencies. For instance, the case of pandemic diseases recorded around the world could explain some of the deficiencies in medical technological budgets.
Before an organization or countries invest in new technologies, they first assess whether the project is likely to be profitable, especially if it involves a lot of upfront expenditures. Therefore, there is a need to fund technology especially profitable technology related to IT and health. Advanced countries like China, have a lot of investments in technology and in fact technology remains one of their major sources of income, therefore there is a need to have the allocation for such a sector.
Governments everywhere should appreciate that a strong educational system is a foundation upon which a strong society stands. Investing in education will guarantee a better future for countries as a whole, as respecting fundamental human rights often best begins from the bottom working up, wherein improving the position of children, in school and elsewhere, is a great place to start. Here is a list of the top ten countries with the least investment in their educational system:
Countries on this list are ranked based on their allocation to education in comparison to their GDP. Although education is a priority across the globe, the level of spending varies, which means some countries have more commitment to education than others. Countries especially African countries are among the least of the top countries with little investment in education compared with their GDP.
With recent technological advancements we have seen in the last few decades, society has grown far from what it was years ago. Despite the massive advancement in technology, some countries have failed to avail themselves of the importance of technology to mankind. Some countries have failed to invest more in technology despite the apparent usefulness of technology to our society at large. Here is a list of the top ten countries with the least annual allocation to technology:
The educational budget in Africa has been increasing annually according to new and various reports online. A report reveals that in some countries in Africa, development aid accounts for about 50% of the government’s education budgets and over the last decade public spending on education in Africa has increased by about 6% each new year’s budget.
Most western countries are found on the list of countries with the most annual budget on education. Here are some of the countries with large educational expenditures:
Some of the reports published online by UNESCO are stated below:
Currently, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa spend at least 10 times more on a university student than on a primary school pupil, says the report. And on average, eight out of every $10 spent on university education in Africa is subsidized by country governments.
Unesco highlights the recent experience of Burundi, which brought the number of out-of-school children down from 723,000 in 1999 to just 10,000 in 2009. Over the same period, Burundi increased its investment in education from 3.2% of GDP to 8.3%. But what made the real difference, says the report, was the decision to dedicate a much larger chunk of the budget to primary education, effectively moving public money away from secondary schools and universities.
In Africa, although countries are faced with a plethora of issues and problems, ICT development is also high on the agenda as we look to keep up with developed countries in an attempt to improve tourism, trade, and of course the standard of living. Below are listed some of the countries that are ranked to have the highest annual budget set aside for technological advancements in their countries.
Generally, most African countries don’t put enough importance and emphasis on education and technology and as such, the countries literacy level diminishes. However, in recent times more and more countries and even people are beginning to appreciate the values of education and technology and are going all out to ensure that adequate investments and national budgets are been diverted into the educational sector. The level of importance attached to education and technology is reflected in their level of commitment to these sectors.
Developed countries such as the UK, the US, and other Asian countries even now go as far as offering scholarships and grants to both their students and also extend their generosity to other international students who wish to study in their country. This act not only helps the educational background of a country but also develops the good inter-relationship of these countries.
This post was last modified on June 14, 2023 10:40 am