Capital expenditure expressed as a percentage of direct expenditure in public educational institutions (instructional and non-instructional) of the specified level of education. Financial aid to students and other transfers are excluded from direct expenditure. Capital expenditure is for education goods or assets that yield benefits for a period of more than one year. It includes expenditure for construction, renovation and major repairs of buildings and the purchase of heavy equipment or vehicles.
Divide capital expenditure in public institutions of a given level of education (ex. primary, secondary, or all levels combined) by total expenditure (current and capital) in public institutions of the same level of education, and multiply by 100.
Both items used for this indicator come from data received by country governments responding to UIS's annual survey on formal education. The data used to fill the questionnaire on education expenditure may come from annual financial reports by the Ministry of Finance and/or the Ministry of Education, and/or national accounts reports by the National Statistical Office.
A large share of capital expenditure vs current expenditure will normally show that the country is spending more funds on infrastructure than on running costs (such as salaries, or materials). When interpreting this indicator, one should be careful when looking at only one year, since this share can be volatile from one year to another.
Although countries responding to the UIS questionnaire on educational expenditure are required to follow common definitions for current and capital expenditure, in some cases government budget classifications may differ.
To assess how funds for education are spent between different types of expenditure (ex. current vs capital, staff vs other current).
By level of education.