# Education and research: Chokepoints and risks

Schools, universities, training providers and public or corporate labs building skills

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/risks/

#### Chokepoints and risks

- Funding inequality: low-income countries account for only 0.45% of global education spending, and households pay 44% of costs in lower-middle-income countries^[1](https://www.education-progress.org/articles/finance).
- Helium supply: research magnets and cryogenics rely on a gas produced in only a few countries, with sharp price spikes in shortages.
- Concentration of research capacity: China and the US each spend about US$ 0.78 trillion on R&D, against about US$ 75.7 billion for India^[2](https://www.wipo.int/en/web/global-innovation-index/w/blogs/2025/end-of-year-edition).
- Exam integrity and data failures at single national testing bodies can delay admissions for millions.
- Weak learning pipeline in India: school enrolment is drifting down and secondary retention was only 47.2% in 2024-25^[3](https://educationforallinindia.com/udiseplus-2025-26-analysis-by-aruncmehta-educationforallinindia/)^,^[7](https://dsel.education.gov.in/sites/default/files/update/PIB2161543.pdf).

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/index.md)
- [Where ₹100 goes](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/cost-mix/index.md)
- [Price links with suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/price-links/index.md)
- [Example story](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/story/index.md)
- [Linked industries](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/linked-industries/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/value-chain/index.md)
- [Materials drawn on](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/materials/index.md)
- [Sources](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/education_research/sources/index.md)