Abstract:

Investments in education are very profitable, ensuring a skilled, competent, and more productive workforce. These investments contribute to a country's development process, including economic growth. The more educated a country's population is, the more the future progress of that nation is ensured. We then discuss about better working conditions, better wages, job satisfaction, more significant equity in income distribution, and increased well-being. We consider that educational investment has a higher rate of return than physical investment in other fields. But to cope with an increasingly competitive environment, continuously increasing the workforce's quality is necessary. It is also essential to reform the education system, as it can contribute to economic growth and well-being.
The article also focuses on the share of education expenses in GDP from OECD countries, showing which countries have the highest percentage, respectively, and the lowest. We keep in mind that the level of education spending in a country is important for its long-term development. We are also interested in the ratio between public and private expenditures on education in OECD countries taking into account that in some countries there are difficulties in supporting the demand for education only from public funds.
Following this analysis, we can see that the share of public and private expenses varies significantly between countries. Public funds predominate in primary and secondary education, while in tertiary education financing through the private system receives significant weights.
Finally, public spending on education can produce better technological performance, which explains how spending on education contributes to the growth of countries' performance. These are seen as investments in education with positive effects on that economy. Therefore, developed countries can attract more technological projects and support research and development efforts, benefiting economic development. Consequently, widening access to education and increasing the share of education expenses is desirable, especially where they have low values. However, from the perspective of growth, simply expanding access to education is insufficient. Therefore, countries must not neglect the quality of education and make efforts to improve its quality to ensure the chances of future development.

Keywords:

Education, progress, economic development.