Two-thirds of Jersey's schools went overbudget in 2024 with more than £2 million overspent
Newly released figures have revealed that nearly two-thirds of Jersey's government-funded schools went overbudget in 2024, leading to a combined overspend of more than £2 million.
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."
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