Željko Mrnjavac

The education in South-East Europe and trade-off between efficiency and equity

The article analyses efficiency and equity trade-off in education in observed countries in South East Europe countries. Efficiency relates to how well an economy allocates scarce resources to meet the needs and wants of consumers, while equity deals with the distribution of resources and is related to fairness and social justice. The aim is to identify those circumstances under which equity and efficiency may not trade-off against each other. At least in theory, education is a means by which democracies attempt to equalize opportunities among citizens for economic success. Education and training policies could have a significant positive impact on economic and social outcomes, including sustainable development and social cohesion. It is commonly thought that opportunity equalization, in that dimension, is implemented by the provision of equal access to public resources to all citizens. However, very often this is not the case and often existing public services - like education systems - reproduce or even increase existing inequities .