Elena Arias Ortiz, Justin Dayhoff, Cynthia Hobbs
When was the last time you associated “fun” with funding? It might sound unusual but making education finance engaging is a pressing challenge. How do we spark interest in a seemingly tedious administrative task?
School leaders today have widely varied responsibilities. They are instructional guides, and they also are expected to act as CEOs of their institutions with the ability to manage the school’s finances. Their effective resource management is essential for success. But to guarantee success, they need support. Systems and institutions must ensure that school leaders are equipped to excel in their roles.
Digital Transformation in Jamaica
In Jamaica, the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information (heretofore Ministry of Education) is embracing a monumental digital transformation, spurred by the recommendations of the 2021 Jamaica Education Transformation Commission Report.
The Ministry’s seven-pillar strategy aims to overhaul student learning, governance, financial systems, and digital infrastructure. Initiatives like the Transforming Education for National Development (TREND) reflect serious efforts to deliver high-quality instructional materials, professional development opportunities, and scalable support for the approximately 1,000 institutions under its umbrella.
One key aspect of this transformation is financial reform. Traditionally, schools in Jamaica have managed their finances individually, relying on private bank accounts and manual record-keeping. As part of the TREND initiative, the Ministry is looking to digitally transform financial management at the school level, adopt new practices and use platforms that can improve the efficiency and transparency of school spending.
At the same time, digital transformation is also happening at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service with the rollout of the Government Financial Management System, centralizing financial operations for greater efficiency and accountability. This effort is supported by the Accountant General’s Department in charge of training and onboarding Jamaica’s Ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the schools.
Empowering Principals Through Simplified Systems
To support both the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance in this effort, the Inter-American Development Bank initiated in 2023 an innovative program to test and implement a system to track and analyze school-level income, expenditures, and student data to make day-to-day financial transactions easy, electronic, and efficient. The program includes a centralized platform for viewing and managing financial data in schools, Education Regions, and central Ministry; development of operating procedures for the timely use of financial data to make informed decisions about funding allocation; and training of school leaders in the use of the platform and the Government Financial Management System.
To do this, a partnership was launched with PowerSchool Allovue to pilot their solution for school management, Manage, in 51 schools in Jamaica. Lessons learned in this first phase will pave the way for wider implementation. The Ministry of Education’s approach to financial transformation reflects a learning posture—testing solutions through pilots and exploring systems tailored to school needs.
Making Education Finance Fun
The goal of the Manage platform is to relieve principals of tedious financial tasks while empowering them to strategically align resources with student needs. Clear, accessible financial insights help leaders maximize their resources and focus on what truly matters: serving children and their communities.
However, expanding principals’ capacity for strategic resource management should not require them to be full-fledged accountants. Instead, the focus of this approach is on making financial learning engaging and practical.
Recently, during on-site efforts in Jamaica, our team found ways to make finance fun, using tools like PowerSchool Allovue’s Manage platform to support the transition to GFMS. Team games around accounting concepts, moments of shared laughter, and a willingness to embrace mistakes made the process educational and fun.
Moving Forward with Better Tools
The integration of the Government Financial Management System data with the Manage platform aims to empower school administrators and Ministry of Education’s staff to access real-time financial data, track spending, and make data-driven decisions that improve resource allocation and educational outcomes.
To date, the first 51 schools have participated in orientations and training to learn how to upload their financial data to the Government Financial Management System and to visualize that data in different ways using the Manage platform. The goal is to have all schools from the pilot using the platform by April 2025. In addition, the IDB’s team is developing guidelines to make onboarding more streamlined for the remaining 950+ schools.
While the immediate result should be more agile financial management of school resources, at its heart this transformation is about driving positive outcomes for children. By empowering school leaders with the tools and knowledge they need, we ensure that education systems are equipped to meet their students’ unique needs. And yes, we prove that even something as serious as school finance can be tackled with a sense of joy and creativity.