CHAPTER ALLOCATION AND SOURCES OFEDU C ATIONAL EXPENDITURES
3 Sources of Educational Expenditure
(5) Educational Expenditures Borne by Parents and Students
1. National income, total public expenditures and educational expenditures
It is difficult or even impossible to generalize about the appropriate
percent of national income a country should expend for education because this
involves the entire set of government policies. It is noteworthy here, however,
that the percent in Japan has tended to decline since 1955, while in the main
foreign countries the percent has as a whole risen rapidly, leaving Japan with
the lowest percent age expended among the leading countries in the world. Furthermore,
the percent of total public expenditures shared by education too, has shown as
slight decline in Japan, in the face of a rise in the percents for other categories
of public expenditures, such as expenditures for industry and commerce, for land
developments, for public construction works, etc. In conclusion, it can be pointed
out here that the weight of educational expenditure in Japan has shown a tendency
to decline, both as a percent of national income and that of total government
expenditure.