Senator Lyndon Farnham said that demand for local courses was rising and far-sighted strategic investment meant that those courses were now increasingly available. And he said that he foresaw significant opportunities for young Islanders with the right skills.
His comments were echoed by Assistant Education Minister Jeremy Maçon, who said that Jersey now had a strong portfolio of academic and vocational options thanks to Highlands and many other higher-education institutions. He added that many employers in both the public and private sectors were now ‘very keen to mould their own people’, which was ‘brilliant news’ for young people.
After months of uncertainty caused by the pandemic and on the back of two years that have been punctuated by teacher strikes and changes to public exams, many young Islanders are looking to start the next chapter of their lives.
Today’s Results Week Special JEP focuses on the education, training and career opportunities available ahead of the publication on Thursday of a What’s Next supplement packed with information and advice for school leavers and graduates about taking a year off, starting university, studying in Jersey and starting work.
In today’s edition, the head teacher of the Jersey Digital Academy, Rory Steele, talks about some of the challenges that the class of 2020 have faced and explains how the academy has responded to the need to provide local higher-education opportunities and to up-skill people of all ages.
Senator Farnham said: ‘We are seeing a big increase in demand for courses such as those provided by the Digital Academy and that is something that we are going to be monitoring. I think that the Digital Academy is an essential strategic asset to add to our resources for providing educational and vocational training and reskilling.
‘The academy may need additional resources in the future to make sure that we can meet the demand for targeted up-skilling and training.’
He added: ‘We have identified the need to provide the right skills training in our community, as all the indications show that there should be a lot of opportunities for skilled labour.
‘We have already been very proactive as an island in building digital infrastructure and technological capability within our key industries. Jersey is a leader in a number of sectors and we have already identified the need to focus on skills and improve productivity and create new life-long opportunities, as well as those for young people.
‘I believe that, not withstanding the huge impact of the pandemic, that there are going to be significant opportunities, given our focus on up-skilling and particularly for young people who have grown up in a digital world.
‘I am particularly keen to make sure that we offer opportunities to our young people.’
Deputy Maçon said: ‘These students have had a lot of uncertainty to tackle over a number of years of study.
‘They should be very proud of what they have achieved.’
He said that a lot of work was being done by various government agencies to ensure that students understood their options and the opportunities available. He added that there was also a lot of work being done through Skills Jersey and in other areas to connect young people with potential employers in the public and private sectors through internships and apprenticeships.
‘There are a lot of courses at Highlands which have been developed as much as possible with businesses in mind to enable students to enter the employment market as quickly as possible,’ the Deputy said. ‘There are a lot of good academic and vocational courses at Highlands.’
Jersey, he added, had been relatively lucky because many important sectors of the economy had been able to switch to remote working quickly and, as a result, there remained good opportunities for young people.
‘Employers are very much looking to mould people when they take them on and that’s a brilliant thing for Jersey.’
Leo Boessenkool, director of technology risk at EY, works with the Digital Academy. He said: ‘If Jersey is to maintain its place as a leading offshore jurisdiction it is crucial to develop technology capabilities locally.’
