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To achieve the goals of the global and continental agendas of repositioning access, equity, quality education and skills development as key drivers of inclusive growth and sustainable development, African governments must provide a level of predictable and sustainable investment in education.

With these strategic investments, African countries can change the status quo, accelerate the pace of catching up with the developed countries and be able to compete in an increasingly technology and knowledge-based world where skills have become the “global currency of the 21st century”.

Plan International in Middle East, Eastern and Southern Africa commissioned a study to assess the extent to which the Education Sector budget is adequate, gender-responsive and inclusive and to analyse education budget trends between 2019 and 2021. The focus was to generate concrete evidence regarding trends in education sector budget allocations and expenditure. Furthermore, due to the recent pandemic, the study aimed to compare current and previous allocations to detect trends/patterns in allocations and any reallocations due to COVID-19.

Specifically, the study sought to:

• Analyse allocations (and expenditure) to the education sector with a particular focus on initiatives aimed at supporting the provision of gender-responsive and disability-inclusive education in line with the country policies;
• Assess the efficiency of resource allocation and use against planned expenditure; and
• Recommend effective strategies for CSOs and citizens to advocate for education budget increase to or above 20% of the national budget and 6% of GDP.

The study focused on 10 countries in the region – Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Tanzania, Egypt, Somalia and Rwanda. With a multi-pronged research process of budget tracking and analysis, policy analysis, political economy analysis and varied data collection methods – the research findings and recommendations are ready for wider dissemination and use.