By Carl Parslow
AS Jersey approaches the 2026 elections, candidates will speak often about the Island’s future. We will hear familiar phrases about economic resilience, diversification, digital skills and sustainability. But voters should ask one simple question: will the next Assembly finally treat higher and further education as essential infrastructure, and deliver on it?
For too long, Jersey has talked convincingly about a “future economy” while quietly neglecting the institutions required to make it real. Nowhere is that more evident than in the continued decline of our post-16 education system, anchored to an ageing Highlands College campus that is manifestly no longer fit for purpose.
This is not rhetoric. It is fact. Highlands College principal Jo Terry-Marchant has warned the States repeatedly that the campus is “outdated, inflexible and no longer fit for purpose”, citing urgent infrastructure risks including leaking roofs, failing boilers and degradation that directly affects student safety and learning. This is Jersey’s only further and higher-education institution. Once a source of pride, it now struggles with basic functionality.
The physical deterioration matters not only because of safety, but because it reflects years of underinvestment in young people. Successive governments have found funding for consultants, reorganisations and office relocations, yet have treated education capital spending as something that can be deferred with minimal consequence. Patching an obsolete campus rather than rebuilding it may feel fiscally cautious, but it is ultimately wasteful. It is akin to repainting a leaky lifeboat and hoping nobody notices the waterline rising.
What makes this moment different is the breadth of consensus. Educators, parents, employers and the wider community are unusually aligned. Highlands staff have been clear about what is required. Lecturers see daily the limits imposed by outdated facilities.
Businesses understand the stakes. The Jersey Chamber of Commerce has highlighted the urgent need for investment in further and higher education, noting that local firms struggle to recruit skilled staff and would prefer, where possible, to employ locally educated talent.
Public opinion reflects this reality. Multiple surveys and consultations suggest well over two-thirds of Islanders support expanding higher-education opportunities in Jersey. When educators, employers and a significant proportion of the electorate agree on a policy direction, it ceases to be a sectional plea. It becomes a mandate.
The risk of continued inaction is clear. Jersey’s longstanding reliance on exporting university education comes with a cost: policy analysis suggests that a significant number of students who leave Jersey to study elsewhere do not return. This is not merely “brain drain”, but a structural failure that deprives the Island of future nurses, teachers, engineers, digital specialists and business founders. Those unable to relocate because of cost or family responsibilities often face limited local options, reducing participation altogether. The result is a self-inflicted talent shortfall that undermines economic resilience and increases dependence on recruitment from other jurisdictions.
By contrast, the benefits of a strong, modern higher/further-education system are substantial. Education is not a discretionary spend; it is economic and social infrastructure. A skilled, locally trained workforce is essential for growth in technology, healthcare, construction, creative industries and sustainability. A credible education hub can also attract students, educators and researchers from elsewhere, enriching the Island’s intellectual life and tax base. For local families, it means opportunity without exile, social mobility without disruption, and a reason for young people to build their lives here.
In August last year, the Council of Ministers announced “Investing in Jersey”, a 25-year infrastructure strategy allocating approximately £80 million per year through a newly ring-fenced Capital Investment Fund. Crucially, a central commitment was the relocation and rebuilding of Highlands College as a state-of-the-art further- and higher-education campus in St Helier.
This decision matters. For the first time, education has been placed alongside roads, housing and healthcare as national infrastructure. It represents years of advocacy beginning to translate into policy. But in Jersey, plans do not fail spectacularly; they fade quietly. Political turnover, fiscal anxiety and loss of focus have previously derailed projects with broad support. Delivery will require sustained political resolve.
That is where this election matters. Voters should insist on clear commitments, not general sympathy. At minimum, candidates should be prepared to support:
- Delivery of the new campus. A fully funded project within the capital framework, with construction to begin within the next Assembly term, and completion within a defined window.
- Protection of education capital funding. Education must be ring-fenced as essential infrastructure, not discretionary spend, with annual public reporting on progress and expenditure.
- Expansion of local higher/further-education provision. Growth in degree-level and technical courses aligned to the Island’s skills needs, with stronger pathways between Highlands, schools and employers.
- Skills and adult learning. Full funding of the Skills Development Fund, with clear targets for reskilling and lifelong learning participation.
For too long, improvements to education provision have been postponed, someone else’s problem, for some future Assembly. That approach has already cost Jersey talent, growth and opportunity. The resources exist. Public support is strong. What is required now is political backbone.
Born and educated in the Island, Carl Parslow is an experienced Jersey advocate and notary public with over 25 years’ experience. He heads Parslows LLP business legal services department, advising corporates and individuals on a range of issues with a particular emphasis on acting for Jersey owner-managed businesses. Outside of work, he enjoys rugby and cycling with Lasardines.
