FUNDING FLAW
Principals press again for review of per-student financing formula for schools after years without increase
Published:Tuesday | December 30, 2025 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With the 2026 Easter term set to begin next week, school administrators are again calling on the Ministry of Education to review its funding model, arguing that the current per-student allocation is no longer adequate to meet their operational needs.
The appeal was made by Linvern Wright, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), and Lynton Weir, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals and Vice-Principals (JAPVP), during an online forum on Saturday evening that examined the challenges faced by educators in 2025.
Wright noted that high school administrators continue to struggle to operate on an annual allocation of approximately $17,000 per student. He pointed out that this figure has remained unchanged for nearly a decade, aside from a social premium provided for students enrolled in the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).
“I do not know of any organisation in any country in the world that is operating on the same budget from its funders as it did 10 years ago, but that is what high schools have had to be doing,” explained Wright.
“It just seems as if we cannot get anywhere, and that is where the challenge is. I think that in an era when we are being asked to do so much more, the funding is significantly low,” continued Wright. “We have had to fight the disingenuous posture of the Government, suggesting that Jamaica is spending more than other persons, in regard to their stature on education, and we should be satisfied with that. If we do not understand that a huge part of the matter is about funding and improving teaching, we are going to continue to have issues.”
Weir echoed these concerns, suggesting that there has been insufficient dialogue and assessment of the true cost of educating a child in Jamaica. He noted that the per-student allocation has not been increased since 2017, despite rising costs for resources and materials.
“I remember when the former Education Minister Ruel Reid was there in 2016. He was the one who facilitated the [2017] increase in the per capita ratio that we received, and we are now at $17,000. Before, we were at $11,500,” said Weir, who is the headmaster at Old Harbour High School.
“We have not had an increase since, and when you look at resources and materials within our institutions, those have been increasing daily; but we still will have to operate and run our schools effectively on the same budget that we started out with in 2017,” he added.
Weir added that it was critical for those within the education ministry who provide support to closely examine the true cost of educating a Jamaican child and to assess whether the $17,000 allocation was sufficient to effectively operate schools.
In August 2017, the ministry dismissed claims that it was only providing between $17,000 and $19,000 per student to cover schools’ operational expenses. At the same time, it noted that there was no noticeable increase in the amount of support given to schools during the 2012-2016 period.