A successful education system is fundamental to the performance, growth and productivity of any country. Education funding represents investment in economic growth and should reflect the expectations of our global positioning in future years. Expenditure on the education system should not be regarded as a cost but as an investment to secure the right of every child to reach their educational potential.

It is our view that the principles that should underpin the national formula are:

• The overall national education budget should be set such that all schools and colleges can be funded at a level that enables them to provide an outstanding quality of education for their pupils.

• The distribution of the national education budget to educational institutions should be sufficient, sustainable and equitable.

• An individual school or college budget allocation should be transparent and predictable to enable effective strategic financial planning by schools.

• A national funding formula should take into account the needs of educational institutions and their pupils. This should not be predicated on the historical way in which funding is allocated.

• A reformed funding formula is not about creating winners and losers – it is about sufficiency and establishing an equitable base level of funding.

Read the full response here.
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