Financial position of secondary schools recovering as a whole but differences between schools still significant

Mismatch between funding system and practice

Why do some secondary schools manage with the funds they receive and others do not? The Court of Audit published an audit report entitled Funding of Secondary Education on 30 June at the request of the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science. It presents a mixed picture. At macro level there has been an improvement in the sector’s financial position since 2010. In practice, however, there are still significant differences between individual schools and school boards. The audit of 30 school boards found that the differences were due in part to the declining number of pupils, higher than expected accommodation costs, staff composition and poor steering and operational management. A new funding system should better match the practice and schools should be given greater freedom to solve the problems themselves.