Education Ministry lifts public school grants by $757.5 million for 2026/27

Public schools throughout Jamaica are set to receive an extra $757.5 million for the 2026/27 school year. Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon announced the figure at Wednesday’s Post Cabinet Press Briefing at Jamaica House.

“On average, every public school is getting 55 per cent more funding from the Ministry of Education. That’s a significant increase and you’ll see the increase is actually higher for primary schools and special needs institutions,” she said.

According to Morris Dixon, the ministry folded existing grants into a single operational grant and then topped up that pot. Principals and boards may decide how to spend the money within fixed rules.

“Twenty-five per cent of the amount given should be used towards administration. Repair and maintenance is 20 per cent of the grant. There is also learning environments, so getting material in for teaching and learning or working on new initiatives around teaching and learning, 30 per cent of the grant can be used on that,” she said.

A further 15 per cent is reserved for technical and vocational education and training and for science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics, with 10 per cent earmarked for student welfare.

“The grants have already started going out. Every public school, in the second week of June, would have gotten their first tranche and the first tranche is 30 per cent. The second tranche goes out the first week in September and then the third tranche goes out in December,” she said. She added that the September and December payments represent 15 per cent and 20 per cent of the grant, in that order.

Morris Dixon said the size of each school’s increase depends on enrolment and other considerations, including how many students are on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education.

A ministry document obtained by the Star shows that yearly operational allocations under the new arrangement run from about $1 million to $4.8 million.

Under the present system, infant schools received an operational grant of $500,000 for the first 150 pupils, plus $2,700 for each additional pupil, and a $150,000 maintenance grant, producing a floor of $650,000 a year. “The new framework increases the minimum allocation to $1,000,000 and will provide an additional $25,942,900 in operational grant support for the 64 stand-alone infant schools, increasing total funding from $46,657,100 to $72,600,000,” the document read in part.

For primary schools, the minimum rises to $1 million from $650,000.

Special educational institutions are currently financed by the grade level of their students. Infant and primary learners follow the same $500,000-for-the-first-150 plus $2,700-per-extra-student formula, while secondary learners attract $17,000 each plus a $150,000 maintenance grant, again yielding a $650,000 yearly minimum. “The proposed framework increases the minimum allocation to $3,500,000 and the maximum to $9,500,000 and will increase operational grant support for 13 special educational institutions from $25,145,800 to $50,536,800 over two years,” the document said.

At the secondary level, the minimum yearly operational allocation moves from $2.385 million to $7 million.