EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Notes on Figures and Tables for Indicator 43

Austria

Seventy percent of full-time apprentices have been excluded from the total number of full-time equivalent enrollments. Subtracting this percentage that represents training in firms was required to adjust the figures to data on expenditure because figures on firms' expenditure were not available. It was assumed that apprentices spend about 30 percent of their training in public schools and 70 percent with the employers (these are approximate figures).

Canada

At the higher education level, for public institutions, expenditures are net of ancillary services.

Czech Republic

Costs per student cannot be calculated by distinguishing expenditures for primary and secondary levels because the data for lower secondary education have been included in primary and not in upper secondary education.

Data on expenditures for nonuniversity higher education have been included in expenditures for upper secondary education but these expenditures are small.

Denmark

Because adult education is included in the expenditure, the following figures for full-time equivalent enrollment have been used to calculate the participation indicators:

    Lower secondary education:     12,000
    Upper secondary education:     21,000
    Higher education:              15,000

Japan

Figures on expenditure by type of institution do not include expenditure for textbooks and scholarships.

Sweden

Enrollments and expenditure for adult education have not been taken into account.

Switzerland

Costs per student in secondary education and in primary-secondary education have not been calculated because figures on apprentices and vocational education students do not correspond to the figures for expenditure at this level.

For additional details on individual countries, see supplemental note for Indicator 42.

Technical Notes

Calculation of full-time equivalent enrollment

Enrollment is in all institutions, public and private, and is based on headcount estimates for preprimary through secondary education. For higher education, it is full-time equivalent enrollment.

Methodology used for adjusting inflation rates

Indicator 43 shows expenditure per student expressed in equivalent US dollars, converted at PPP rates. In cases where countries have reported expenditures for CY 1991, the calculation is simply Indicator 43 = (EXP/ENR)PPP91 where EXP/ENR is expenditure per student in units of national currency and PPP91 is the PPP exchange rate between 1992 units of national currency and 1992 US dollars. In cases where countries' fiscal years begin in 1991, however, this formula has to be adjusted to reflect inflation between 1991 and 1992. The adjusted formula, reflected in the tables for indicator 43, is

Indicator 43 = (EXP/ENR)/PPP ADJ

where the adjusted PPP rate, PPP is calculated as a weighted average of the PPPs applicable to 1991 and 1992 according to the equation,

PPP ADJ = W91 (PPP91) / (1 + rUS) + W92(PPP92).

In this expression, PPP90 is the PPP exchange rate between 1991 units of national currency and 1991 US dollars, rUS is the United States inflation rate between 1991 and 1992, and W91 and W92 are the weights applicable to 1991 and 1992, based on the starting and ending months of the country's school year. For example, W91 = 0.75 and W92 = 0.25 for a country with a financial year April 1991 to March 1992, but W91 = 0.50 and W92 = 0.50 for a country with a financial year July 1991 to June 1992).

Private expenditures

Per pupil expenditure is calculated as current public expenditure divided by enrollment in both public and private schools. Because it does not include investment from private sources, it is not a measure of the total resources students receive.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index

A Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was used in this indicator. PPP indices are calculated by comparing the cost of a fixed market basket of goods and services (e.g., living expenses, such as housing and food) in each country. This market basket of goods and services does not include educational expenses. Thus, in countries where the cost of education is higher relative to that of the living expenses reflected in a PPP, the PPP may underestimate the cost of education.