(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Education sector is one of the focus areas for the GCC governments with a growing share spending being channelled to build new schools, colleges, and universities, said a report by the Kuwait Finance House here Friday.
According to the report, sector data shows that the total students in GCC region is expected to grow by 1.8 percent to reach 11.3 million in 2020 from 9.
5 million in 2010. The number of tertiary students is expected to grow by 5.5 percent. The share of tertiary education students is expected to rise from 11 percent in 2010 to 15 percent in 2020, while primary education share would decline from 46 percent to 43 percent during the same period. Enrolment in private education sector is estimated to grow from 1.3 million students in 2010 to 1.9 million students in 2020, by 3.3 percent during the period.
The total number of schools that are expected to grow by 1.2 percent during 2010 to 2020. Due to its huge student population, over 80 percent of total schools are estimated to be located in Saudi Arabia.
Private schools growth rate is expected to outpace that of public schools with the number of private schools in the region estimated to increase at a CAGR of 3.2 percent during 2010 to 2020, while public schools are projected to grow at a significantly lower rate of 0.9 percent during the same period.
Although this private-school market is relatively large in absolute terms, it nonetheless comprises a small percentage of the overall GCC education system, which has roughly 6.3 million students in 35,000 schools, dominated by Saudi Arabia.
By spending, private education represents about 14 percent of the USD 36 billion education market in the GCC, despite a relatively high share of private-school enrolment. This discrepancy is due to public schools' high cost of operation. Public schools spend nearly twice the amount per student of their private counterparts.
In regards to Kuwait, the report indicated that the GCC country's population pyramid indicated that the youth population represents an overwhelmingly large share in the total population. The largest age group population is dominated by "0-25 years old' group, equivalent to 42.2 percent of the total population.
Realising the importance of education, the Kuwaiti government has embarked on various initiatives to develop the education sector including investment in education to enhance economic growth. The Kuwait government has outlined plans to make large investments in education, healthcare, transport and energy.
