Higher and More Effective Spending on Education and Health Chapter 26: Higher and More Effective Spending on Education and Health The level of human development is not only a critical factor in determining the level of labor productivity and, thereby, economic growth but also in ensuring that the benefits of growth are equitably distributed leading thereby to a lower incidence of poverty in the population. The UNDP has developed a Human Development Index(HDI). This index has three components – per capita income, level of education and the level of health. This chapter focuses especially on the education and health indices. Initially, a comparison is made of Pakistan with other South Asian countries and the trend in the magnitude of HDI. 26.1. Level and Trend in the HDI The latest magnitude of the HDI in 2019 and the key HDI indicators are given in Table 26.1 for South Asian countries. The unfortunate finding is that Pakistan has the lowest HDI among the five major South Asian countries. The level in each indicator is also the lowest, with the solitary exception of per capita income where Pakistan does better than Bangladesh and Nepal. Table 26.1: Human Development Index Ranking Among South Asian Countries, 2019 Country Level of HDI HDI Value (2019) Rank* Life Expectancy at Birth (SDG 3) Expected Years of Schooling (SDG 4.3) Mean Years of Schooling (SDG 4.6) GNI per Capita (PPP$) (SDG 8.5) Sri Lanka High 0.782 72 77.0 14.1 10.6 12,707 India Medium 0.651 131 69.7 12.2 6.5 6,681 Bangladesh Medium 0.632 133 72.6 11.6 6.2 4,976 Nepal Medium 0.602 142 70.8 12.8 5.0 3,457 Pakistan Medium 0.557 154 67.3 8.3 5.2 5,005 *Out of 189 countries Source: UNDP, Global HDR From the average for the other four South Asian countries, the extent of deviation in an indicator by Pakistan has been derived. The level of Pakistan is the lowest in expected 265