Two-thirds of Jersey's schools went overbudget in 2024 with more than £2 million overspent
It comes as the number of children needing additional support has more than doubled since 2017, with the island's largest teaching union branding the situation "dire" and "unsustainable".
Jersey's Education Minister, Deputy Rob Ward, says: "The reason for this is that the need is increasing.
"For example, records of needs have gone from 212 in 2017 to over 500 last year and those require support: that support is expensive and we have to spend that money."
The data from a Freedom of Information request revealed Grainville Secondary School had the highest overspend of £553,315 in 2024, while Grouville was the highest primary school with a deficit of £262,964.
Victoria College went overbudget by £128,867 last year and has sent a letter to parents to notify them about an above-inflation 6.5% increase in fees from the Autumn term.
It says the rise is necessary due to staffing expenses and funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs, stating: "These costs are driven in part by an increase in staff costs based on existing delivery models and influenced by Government of Jersey pay agreements; and in part due to an increase in non-pay related costs of running a school.
"Grant funding allocation from the Government of Jersey is not sufficient. Essentially, the Government should fund 47% of the average cost of a pupil at another GoJ school – we do not believe this funding model is currently being met.
"Funding for some of our pupils with Special Educational Needs is insufficient. Some students have their support prorated to 47% while others receive 100%."
Deputy Ward explains the budget overspends will be sorted: "The deficits will be dealt with over the term of the year, that's why those figures which look good in the press are somewhat misleading.
"We are doing everything we can, I am an advocate for funding of schools, and we need to look into the future in what way we are going to meet the growing need across our estate.
"I would always like to see the budget increased, that's my role, I'd like us to see more opportunity to do the best that we can for every child in this island.
"We need an intelligent and informed discussion about funding, rather than conflating lots of different figures, which I think can be quite disappointing for schools when one school is paid off against another, so I'd like that to end and let's have an intelligent conversation."
Arguing schools are not prioritised, Marina Mauger from the NASUWT teachers' union says: "I just think that if we are going to truly live on an island that puts children first, then education should get the bulk of funding, not the minority.
"The thing that is going wrong is that schools historically have been grossly underfunded by the Government.
"When I have teachers ringing me and saying, 'We are not allowed to print, we are not allowed to photocopy, the school can't afford it', something is drastically wrong to get to that place on a very wealthy island."
Also commenting on the figures, Deputy Jonathan Renouf adds: "The minister says that it is largely driven by an increase in Special Educational Needs, and I think what we would like to see is a little bit of accounting to show where the money has actually gone and how much of it.
"He is asking for more, he says education has been underfunded, so we need to understand before we can go down that road, I think, we just need to see what has happened to that money so far."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
44 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Social media ads for Channel crossings to be banned under new offence
Ministers are seeking to create a new offence that would also outlaw the promise of illegal working being promoted online and could carry a large fine. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also said she plans to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, with the aim to turn around decisions within weeks. The Government is under pressure to speed up asylum processing and bring down small boat crossings, with arrivals passing more than 25,000 for 2025 so far on Wednesday – a record for this point in the year. Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe a new offence will give more powers to police and other agencies to disrupt criminal gangs. Around 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat told officials they used social media during their journey, including to contact agents linked to people smuggling gangs, according to analysis by the Home Office. 'Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country – whether on or offline – simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,' the Home Secretary said. 'These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate.' She told The Sunday Times that Labour was planning a 'major overhaul' of the asylum appeal process in the hope it would help to make a significant dent in the numbers. 'We need a major overhaul of the appeal [process] and that's what we are going to do in the autumn… If we speed up the decision-making appeal system and also then keep increasing returns, we hope to be able to make quite a big reduction in the overall numbers in the asylum system, because that is the best way to actually restore order and control,' Ms Cooper said. The aim would be to compress the process so decisions and returns could happen 'within weeks', the newspaper reported, citing a source familiar with the plans. Ms Cooper had previously said she wanted to put a 'fast-track' system for decisions and appeals in place so that people from countries considered safe would not sit in the asylum system for a long time. 'That would mean a fast-track system alongside the main asylum system, I think that would be really important in terms of making sure that the system is fair,' she told the Home Affairs committee in June. 'That will require legislation in order to be able to do that, as well as a new system design.' The plans to tackle the online promotion of Channel crossings would see a new offence created under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament. The National Crime Agency (NCA) already works with social media companies to remove posts promoting crossings, with more than 8,000 taken offline in 2024. But the proposed new offence will give them more options of how to target gangs and their business models, NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said. The case of a Preston-based smuggler jailed for 17 years for posting videos of migrants thanking him for his help could have been targeted under the proposed offence. Albanian smugglers who used social media to promote £12,000 'package deals' for accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival would also be in scope. The Conservatives said it was 'too little, too late' and that only their proposal to automatically deport people who enter Britain via unauthorised routes can tackle small boat crossings. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing. 'The only clear and enforceable plan is the Conservative Deportation Bill, a no-nonsense strategy that allows us to detain illegal arrivals immediately and remove them without delay. The British public deserve focused action, not more of Labour's dithering.'
Leader Live
44 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Social media ads for Channel crossings to be banned under new offence
Ministers are seeking to create a new offence that would also outlaw the promise of illegal working being promoted online and could carry a large fine. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also said she plans to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, with the aim to turn around decisions within weeks. The Government is under pressure to speed up asylum processing and bring down small boat crossings, with arrivals passing more than 25,000 for 2025 so far on Wednesday – a record for this point in the year. Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe a new offence will give more powers to police and other agencies to disrupt criminal gangs. Around 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat told officials they used social media during their journey, including to contact agents linked to people smuggling gangs, according to analysis by the Home Office. 'Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country – whether on or offline – simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,' the Home Secretary said. 'These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate.' She told The Sunday Times that Labour was planning a 'major overhaul' of the asylum appeal process in the hope it would help to make a significant dent in the numbers. 'We need a major overhaul of the appeal [process] and that's what we are going to do in the autumn… If we speed up the decision-making appeal system and also then keep increasing returns, we hope to be able to make quite a big reduction in the overall numbers in the asylum system, because that is the best way to actually restore order and control,' Ms Cooper said. The aim would be to compress the process so decisions and returns could happen 'within weeks', the newspaper reported, citing a source familiar with the plans. Ms Cooper had previously said she wanted to put a 'fast-track' system for decisions and appeals in place so that people from countries considered safe would not sit in the asylum system for a long time. 'That would mean a fast-track system alongside the main asylum system, I think that would be really important in terms of making sure that the system is fair,' she told the Home Affairs committee in June. 'That will require legislation in order to be able to do that, as well as a new system design.' The plans to tackle the online promotion of Channel crossings would see a new offence created under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament. The National Crime Agency (NCA) already works with social media companies to remove posts promoting crossings, with more than 8,000 taken offline in 2024. But the proposed new offence will give them more options of how to target gangs and their business models, NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said. The case of a Preston-based smuggler jailed for 17 years for posting videos of migrants thanking him for his help could have been targeted under the proposed offence. Albanian smugglers who used social media to promote £12,000 'package deals' for accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival would also be in scope. The Conservatives said it was 'too little, too late' and that only their proposal to automatically deport people who enter Britain via unauthorised routes can tackle small boat crossings. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing. 'The only clear and enforceable plan is the Conservative Deportation Bill, a no-nonsense strategy that allows us to detain illegal arrivals immediately and remove them without delay. The British public deserve focused action, not more of Labour's dithering.'
North Wales Chronicle
44 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Social media ads for Channel crossings to be banned under new offence
Ministers are seeking to create a new offence that would also outlaw the promise of illegal working being promoted online and could carry a large fine. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also said she plans to introduce a fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog, with the aim to turn around decisions within weeks. The Government is under pressure to speed up asylum processing and bring down small boat crossings, with arrivals passing more than 25,000 for 2025 so far on Wednesday – a record for this point in the year. Assisting illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe a new offence will give more powers to police and other agencies to disrupt criminal gangs. Around 80% of migrants arriving to the UK by small boat told officials they used social media during their journey, including to contact agents linked to people smuggling gangs, according to analysis by the Home Office. 'Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country – whether on or offline – simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,' the Home Secretary said. 'These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them, wherever they operate.' She told The Sunday Times that Labour was planning a 'major overhaul' of the asylum appeal process in the hope it would help to make a significant dent in the numbers. 'We need a major overhaul of the appeal [process] and that's what we are going to do in the autumn… If we speed up the decision-making appeal system and also then keep increasing returns, we hope to be able to make quite a big reduction in the overall numbers in the asylum system, because that is the best way to actually restore order and control,' Ms Cooper said. The aim would be to compress the process so decisions and returns could happen 'within weeks', the newspaper reported, citing a source familiar with the plans. Ms Cooper had previously said she wanted to put a 'fast-track' system for decisions and appeals in place so that people from countries considered safe would not sit in the asylum system for a long time. 'That would mean a fast-track system alongside the main asylum system, I think that would be really important in terms of making sure that the system is fair,' she told the Home Affairs committee in June. 'That will require legislation in order to be able to do that, as well as a new system design.' The plans to tackle the online promotion of Channel crossings would see a new offence created under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill already going through Parliament. The National Crime Agency (NCA) already works with social media companies to remove posts promoting crossings, with more than 8,000 taken offline in 2024. But the proposed new offence will give them more options of how to target gangs and their business models, NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said. The case of a Preston-based smuggler jailed for 17 years for posting videos of migrants thanking him for his help could have been targeted under the proposed offence. Albanian smugglers who used social media to promote £12,000 'package deals' for accommodation and a job in the UK on arrival would also be in scope. The Conservatives said it was 'too little, too late' and that only their proposal to automatically deport people who enter Britain via unauthorised routes can tackle small boat crossings. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour still has no clear plan to deter illegal entry, no effective enforcement and no strategy to speed up removals. This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing. 'The only clear and enforceable plan is the Conservative Deportation Bill, a no-nonsense strategy that allows us to detain illegal arrivals immediately and remove them without delay. The British public deserve focused action, not more of Labour's dithering.'
