Optimal Allocation of Resources to the Educational Sector in a System of Regions

Abstract

After a review of different approaches to educational planning, the usefulness of various optimization models for regional educational planning is examined. These models are criticized for not making a distinction between education as an investment and education as a consumption good. Also they do not distinguish between supply of and demand for education, which leads to serious problems. In optimization models for the whole economy the solution depends on a large number of coefficient matrices. Each of these matrices is subject to errors of measurement. These can lead to very large errors in the variables concerning the educational system.

The probability of error is drastically reduced if we limit ourselves to a sectoral model of the educational system, in which the future manpower requirement is an exogenous variable. The optimization model presented in this paper is an attempt along these lines, and takes into account a regional decision structure.

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