Public Expenditure Tracking Survey in Education

Mongolia has struggled throughout its transition to maintain the levels of education and literacy that were accomplishments of the previous centrally planned system. To cope with the new economic reality, the Government of Mongolia implemented a series of reforms during the 1990's and early 2000's. Mongolia centralized education finance in 2002 after an attempt to decentralize the sector.

Mongolia's education expenditure - as a percentage of total public expenditure - is among the highest of the transition countries. This is, at least in part, due to the high cost of delivering education services in a sparsely populated land with very harsh winters.

This study examines how resources are allocated across schools and how they are used within schools. The survey included detailed interviews with principals, accountants, education managers, teachers and parents from 118 schools in urban and rural areas. Representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and provincial education offices were also interviewed regarding school budgets.