Trends in the financial provision of the education sector in Ukraine: the basis for the formation of government financial rules

Анотація

Introduction. Financial aspect is one of the most problematic issues in education system. Insufficient funding directly affects other dimensions of this system. In many countries, including Ukraine, scientists, researchers, analysts and all those interested in education issues, are trying to find an answer on the questions: who has to finance education and what proportion of funding should come from different sources.

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main trends in funding of education to form a basis for the government financial rules.

Methods. In the research process, a set of research methods and approaches was used: systemic, structural-functional, analysis and synthesis, comparisons and others.

Results. The analysis of statistical data for 2004-2016 on the education sector funding demonstrates that in Ukraine there is a gradual increases in education expenditures, while its share in GDP is at the level of average indicator for the OECD countries, although this share tends to decrease reduce this share. At the same time, the share indicator will be another if taking into consideration the real GDP and the size of the shadow economy. In addition, these costs are used inefficiently. The main source of education funding is public funds, among which the largest share of funds comes from local budgets. The significant reduction of the households occurs share, in the structure of private sector education funding. The largest share of spending goes to the first-level higher education and primary education institutions. Preschool education is funded by the state and local budgets and partly by the private sector; funding for secondary and post-secondary education is mainly carried out at the expense of local budgets; higher and postgraduate education are financed by the government and individuals (households).

Conclusions. Priority actions in the education field should be aimed at ensuring a growth of expenditures on education and a significant increase in their efficiency. The issue of optimizing levels and sources of funding for all levels of education is acute. Establishing financial rules in education creates an environment that will not restrict competition in the educational services market. This establishes quantitative benchmarks for the government activities, control of these activities and basis for the formation of certain expectations.