Letter - Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel re Further Education and Skills Agenda - 17th January 2023

States Greffe

Deputy Inna Gardiner

Minister for Children and Education

BY EMAIL

17th January 2023 Dear Minister,

Further Education and Skills Actionable Agenda

I am writing on behalf of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel in relation to the Further Education and Skills Actionable Agenda (Agenda).

Further to the private briefing provided to the Panel on 8th December 2022, we have considered the Agenda following its publication on 20th December 2022, and wish to feedback the following comments:

1. The Panel welcomes the proposed actions to address challenges in respect of further education and skills.
2. The Panel notes that the Agenda highlights that the level of funding in Jersey for 16- 18 years "schooling is lower than most OECD nations".
3. The Panel accepts that Jersey's low-tax and spend economy is different from that of Nordic countries. However, the Panel believes that this should not be a barrier to analysis of the skills systems provision in Nordic countries, that would deepen understanding of the potential impact of greater spending by Jersey in this area.
4. The Panel believes it would be beneficial to keep abreast of the scope and variety of undergraduate and post-graduate courses run by universities and colleges.

I should also be grateful if you could respond to the following questions:

1. The Panel notes the absence of references to training and transferable skills for essential workers such as teachers, nurses, doctors, emergency services workers and care workers in the Agenda. What consideration has been given to the prioritisation of training and transferable skills in these core sectors?
2. Will an increase to the age of participation up to 18 years, for 16-19 Technical Education, also provide flexibility and choice for participants, such as work in the charity sector for example?
3. Please could you advise whether the Student Finance department has adequate staff resources and whether any processes used by Student Finance have been digitised?
4. Has the funding allocated to Student Finance grants been linked to the Retail Price Index?
5. Please could you confirm how Student Finance ensures that processes for postgraduate course selection criteria are equitable?
6. Please could you provide more information about how the Actions' set out in the Agenda will fund and prioritise lifelong learning?

The Panel looks forward to your formal response and would request this is received by Tuesday 24th January 2023. Please direct any response or queries to the Panel through our Committee and Panel Officer, Katherine de Carteret by email at [email protected] or telephone on 01534 441041.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Catherine Curtis

Chair, Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel