The pupil-teacher ratio in primary education varies widely across the region and in some countries is over 40.

According to UNESCO, one of the single most important determinants of the quality of education is daily interaction between teachers and students. This not only improves learning but also has positive effects on a child's overall development. UNESCO states that a ratio of over 40 students per teacher makes it difficult to attain a minimum quality standard.

Data on pupil-teacher ratios is so scarce that subregional aggregates can hardly be assessed. However, pupil-teacher ratios in primary education are patently highest in the countries of South and South-West Asia. The countries of North and Central Asia, on the other hand, register the lowest ratios in primary schooling, at about 20 students per teacher.

Afghanistan, at 65, has one of the highest ratios of students per teacher, not only in Asia and the Pacific but in the world. India had a ratio of 40 pupils per teacher in 2004, up from 35 in 1999. Although 2004 data is not available for Bangladesh, in 2000 it had a ratio of 57 students per teacher, while in Nepal by 2005 there were 40 pupils per teacher at the primary level.

In South-East Asia, ratios in the Philippines, Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic surpass 30 students per teacher, but Cambodia had the second highest ratio in the Asian and the Pacific region, at 55 pupils per teacher in 2004.

Ratios of pupils per teacher at the secondary education level are lower than those for primary. In most countries/areas’ the ratio is below 20. The highest ratios are found in the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar, and India.

The vast majority of the financial resources for education, particularly in developing countries, is devoted to paying teachers' salaries. In some countries, those salaries represent over 75 per cent of public expenditure on education (UNESCO, 2006).

Figure 13.1 Pupil-teacher ratio in primary education in Asia and the Pacific, 1999 and 2004

Small island developing States devote a considerable part of their public expenditure to education relative to the size of their economies. In the Marshall Islands, public education accounts for 11.8 per cent of the country's GDP - the highest level in Asia and the Pacific. Public expenditure on education in the Maldives and Fiji accounted for 7.2 and 6.4 per cent of their GDP in 2004.

In South and South-West Asia, where the largest investment needs to be made, spending on education remain particularly low in Bangladesh and Pakistan, just over 2 per cent of GDP.

Figure 13.2 Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Asia and the Pacific, 1991 and 2004

When expenditure on education is measured as a percentage of total government expenditure, the picture changes; it shows the importance that Governments attach to education relative to overall public spending.

In Thailand and Malaysia, government spending on education represented one quarter of total public spending in 2004. In both cases, this represents a substantial increase - by 7 percentage points - from 1991 levels. Hong Kong, China, registered a rise in education spending as a proportion of total public expenditure from 17.4 per cent in 1991 to 23.3 per cent by 2004.

Tajikistan and the Republic of Korea were the countries that experienced the largest decline in educational spending relative to overall public expenditure, decreasing from 24.4 and 25.6 per cent, respectively, at the beginning of the 1990s, to a little over 16 per cent by 2004.