If you think ‘money talks’, then a budget document can be considered a declaration of an organisation’s priorities.
With that in mind, what does the nearly $385 million in appropriations the PACT is requesting for the Ministry of Education over the next 2 years say about the government’s goals?
In terms of overall spending, the top item in the 2-year education budget is the $74.5 million earmarked for capital projects, including the new John Gray High School project and other school expansions. This so-called ‘equity investment’ accounts for 19.4% of ministry appropriations in 2022 and 2023.
Next is funding for government primary schools ($72.0 million) and government secondary schools ($68.8 million).
Primary school funding is projected to increase by 6% from 2021 to 2022, and again by 16% from 2022 to 2023.
In terms of new or expanded budget items, the allocation for the free school meals programme is expected to grow by 140% to $7.5 million in 2022 and another 100% to $14.9 million in 2023.
The school meal programme will comprise about 6% of the government’s education spending over the next 2 years.
The government is also greatly increasing its spending on capital projects for the University College of the Cayman Islands, totaling $6.4 million in the 2-year budget.
(Note: The 451% increase in funding from 2021 to 2022 is skewed because only $600,000 of the $2 million in UCCI capital funds budgeted for 2021 are forecast to be spent.)
The government is increasing its allocation by 263% for ‘private and public school grants’, totaling $380,000 in 2021 and $1.4 million per year in 2022 and 2023.
The government is also doubling the amount of grants being given directly to private schools to $2 million per year.
Other notable increases include a 10% increase in funding for early childhood education ($9.5 million in 2022), followed by another 4% increase ($9.4 million in 2023); as well as a 9% increase in funding for special education needs services ($11.6 million in 2022), followed by another 2% increase ($11.8 million in 2023).
We have taken information from the government’s main budget document, the ‘2022 and 20223 Plan and Estimates’ and created a searchable and sortable table, containing the requested appropriations for the Ministry of Education.
Explore below:
| Reference | Name | 2021 ($M) | 2022 ($M) | 2023 ($M) | Change, 2021 to 2022 | Change, 2022 to 2023 | % of spending, 2022/2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | Ministry of Education | $181.50 | $192.63 | $191.84 | 6% | 0% | 100% |
| EI 12 | Ministry of Education (Equity Investment) | $42.92 | $45.37 | $29.12 | 6% | -36% | 19% |
| EGA 5 | Primary Education Services | $31.88 | $33.37 | $38.60 | 5% | 16% | 19% |
| EGA 6 | Secondary Education Services | $31.60 | $33.49 | $35.32 | 6% | 5% | 18% |
| EGA 8 | Facilities Maintenance and Operational School Support Services | $13.35 | $14.73 | $14.76 | 10% | 0% | 8% |
| EGA 7 | Education Services for Students with Special Needs | $10.63 | $11.62 | $11.83 | 9% | 2% | 6% |
| NGS 91 | Public School Meals Programme | $3.10 | $7.45 | $14.91 | 140% | 100% | 6% |
| TP 30 | Local and Overseas Scholarships and Bursaries | $16.54 | $10.04 | $10.04 | -39% | 0% | 5% |
| EGA 10 | Education, Early Childhood and Support Services | $8.62 | $9.51 | $9.87 | 10% | 4% | 5% |
| EGA 1 | Policy Advice, Governance and Ministerial Support Services | $6.79 | $6.59 | $7.02 | -3% | 7% | 4% |
| CCO 1 | Teaching of Tertiary Level, Professional and Vocational Programmes (UCCI) | $6.68 | $6.68 | $6.68 | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| EI 46 | UCCI (Equity Investment) | $0.60 | $3.28 | $3.16 | 451% | -4% | 2% |
| NGS 34 | Primary and Secondary Education by Private Schools | $1.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | 100% | 0% | 1% |
| EGA 4 | Public Library Services | $1.84 | $1.72 | $1.74 | -6% | 1% | 1% |
| TP 93 | Private and Public School Grants | $0.38 | $1.36 | $1.36 | 263% | 0% | 1% |
| TP 82 | Scholarships – Special Education Needs | $1.27 | $1.27 | $1.27 | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| TP 61 | Student Enrichment and Support Services | $0.93 | $0.93 | $0.93 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| TP 83 | Scholarships – Medical Specialization | $0.86 | $0.86 | $0.86 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| OE 12 | UWI Membership | $0.82 | $0.82 | $0.82 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| TP 27 | Pre-School Educational Assistance | $0.78 | $0.78 | $0.78 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| TP 51 | Other Educational and Training Assistance | $0.26 | $0.26 | $0.26 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| NGS 25 | Teaching of Tertiary Education Courses (ICCI) | $0.25 | $0.25 | $0.25 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| TP 94 | Superior Auto Apprenticeship Programme | $0.30 | $0.15 | $0.15 | -50% | 0% | 0% |
| NGS 79 | K-9 Security Services | $0.05 | $0.05 | $0.05 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| CDB 1 | Disbursement of Government Scholarship Funding | $0.04 | $0.04 | $0.04 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| OE 11 | Subscription to CXC | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
PACT budget details $384M in education spending over 2 years