ABSTRACT
All governments support education. In 1995 public expenditure on education amounted to 5.2 per cent of world GNP and, in most countries, took between 10 and 20 per cent of government budgets. The exceptions, with figures above 20 per cent, include Costa Rica, which had no army, Singapore, and the countries of the former second world. These countries in transition saw public expenditure on education fall along with communism, from 7.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent of GNP between 1990 and 1995 (UNESCO 1998:38). Governments fund and manage education for a mixture of reasons: because education is a human right, because it brings social and economic benefits, because of public demand. The weight given to the different purposes of education and the balance of expenditure within budgets respond to national priorities and expectations. Singapore’s high overall expenditure, with 34.8 per cent of that going on tertiary education, a proportion exceeded only by Hong Kong, illustrates a particular view about education and economic development that would not be politically acceptable in many countries. At the same time, the process of globalisation means that there is a homogeneity about educational policy; many countries are pursuing similar educational ends, for their citizens and their economies (Ramirez 1997:49).
