Financing Education and Its Role in Achieving Self-Development in Middle Eastern Countries

الملخص بالعربية

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the role of education financing in achieving self-development goals in Middle Eastern countries over the period 1980-2022. It examines the impact of various education financing variables, including government expenditure on education, expenditure per student at different levels, and household expenditure on education, on three key self-development indicators: employment rate, life expectancy, and income level. The study uses a quantitative strategy based on a multiple equation panel data model. The fixed effects and random effects models are the ones used to evaluate the relationships between the education financing variables and self-development indicators and the inflation, population growth, and openness of the country in the process. The evidences indicate the maximum positive impact of education finance on self-development indicators that are presented through the models. To be precise, government expenditure on education, expenditure per each student at the primary, the secondary and the tertiary levels, in addition to household’s expenditure on education, are shown to keep positive connections with the employment rates, life expectancy and income levels. The results direct attention to the especially strong impact of 3rd level education funding on unemployment rates, but also on the level of a citizen. These findings are noteworthy for policy makers because they stress the need to invest in a high percentage of the secondary and tertiary levels of education and that the communities contribute to education for human resource development thereby creating employment opportunities, improving health conditions and overall wellbeing in the middle eastern countries. Through the lens of the Middle Eastern region and the comprehensive usage of the education finance variables and the elements of self-development, this research presents a study that is distinct and delivers one of a kind value to the literature on the effects of education finance on sustainable development in an area that has been relatively starving in these regards..