YOUNG Islanders aged between 16 and 18 will have to either remain in full-time education or enter an apprenticeship under new government proposals to address a looming skills shortage.
Currently, students can opt to leave school at the age of 16 and enter the world of work.
However, as part of a new government skills strategy, students who leave full-time education after their GCSEs would have to enter into an apprenticeship or traineeship. This would bring the Island into line with the UK.
It is part of a government move to boost funding in education to address the Island’s skills shortages amid concerns that Jersey ranks lower than most OECD nations in provision for post-16 students.
The move was outlined in a new government report which highlighted several areas requiring attention and a number of action points – although full details of the funding requirements are not provided in the paper.
Among the proposals put forward to improve education provision are setting up a new Skills Fund to upskill the Island’s workforce and increasing funding for adult numeracy and literacy.
Children’s and Education Minister Inna Gardiner said that the Island needed to invest in education to ensure the future workforce requirements of the Island’s economy could be met.
She said: ‘The Island needs people who have the skills we need to keep the economy healthy. This isn’t just about providing an option for technical and professional education as an alternative to A-levels or IB. We must make sure that Islanders can keep learning after the age of 18, that they can build on what they know, develop new skills, or change careers.
‘There is already some great work being done in specific areas around digital skills, and through apprenticeship. These actions will build on this good work, and ensure that we have the funding and the structures in place to develop the skills we need for our future.’
The Further Education and Skills Actionable Agenda was delivered by a ministerial oversight group set up as part of Chief Minister Kristina Moore’s 100-day action plan.
It found that Jersey was an ‘outlier in several respects’, particularly in that ‘its level of funding for this stage [16-to18-year-olds] of schools is lower than most OECD nations’.
The report also stated that the school and/or training leaving age in Jersey remained 16, while the entirety of the UK, and most European nations, had increased this to 18.
The report states: ‘Numerous reports and strategies have indicated that Jersey’s economic model, though currently successful, is being challenged by developments including post-Brexit and post-pandemic labour shortages, high living costs and land constraints.
‘Due to its scale and orientation, Jersey’s economy is likely to continue to be shaped by external forces that are beyond its direct control, including AI and the reshaping of the labour market. To confront these challenges, and to continue to prosper, Jersey’s economy will need to be agile and adaptable while respecting the Island’s traditions and values. There will also be a need – particularly in the face of existing, and most likely continuing, labour shortages, and international competition – to be more productive.’
The document also highlights significant under-funding for several years at Highlands College, with students there disadvantaged in comparison with those of the same age at Hautlieu.
‘This has clear implications for the regard in which vocational education is held compared to academic provision and is deeply unfair given overall level of disadvantage amongst students at the college,’ it continues.
