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The Government is being urged to increase funding for apprenticeship schemes amid concerns that those in vocational training receive significantly less financial support than those in academic education.
The Children, Education, and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel is calling on the Government to increase investment in apprenticeships, and review the existing scheme to better meet the needs of students and employers.
While the Government has allocated £500,000 of additional funding for apprenticeships in 2025 within its Budget, the Panel is arguing this money is only set to cover increased costs of existing programmes rather than expanding or improving them.
Pictured: Deputy Catherine Curtis is the chair of the Children, Education, and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, which lodged the amendment.
The proposed review would aim to ensure transparency in funding by outlining how resources are allocated, and making this information accessible to employers, apprentices, and the public.
It would also look at how vocational schemes could be better aligned with emerging industry needs to reflect changes in sectors like renewable energy and sustainable construction
In a report accompanying the amendment, the panel wrote: "The Panel was interested to note that the additional public investment of £500,000 does not change the scheme and that the improvements it will provide are in order to help it keep pace with changes to industry standards and awarding body regulations.
"The Panel believes that, as the additional expenditure growth does not extend the current scheme of apprenticeships but supports the existing provision, further work should be undertaken to review the scheme available for apprenticeships, to ensure that it is providing the right skills for students, but also incentives for employers to employ apprentices and teach required skills.
"Access to the scheme, and funding and support for apprentices and employers should be transparent and easily accessible."
Pictured: Ex-Minister and panel member Deputy Inna Gardiner has previously called on the Government to provide equal funding for all 16 to 18-year-olds in education or professional training.
The panel also cited a report published by the previous Government that found the apprenticeship system is underfunded, heavily reliant on cross-subsidies from other Highlands College programmes and lacking integration with off-the-job learning such as classroom work.
Published in 2022 by then-Education Minister Deputy Inna Gardiner, the 'FE and Skills Actionable Agenda' also found "disparities" with "international norms", with Jersey's "relative lack of systematic through-life learning beyond age 19 is most striking."
The report reads: "Improvements in apprenticeship funding and more streamlined administration would allow Jersey to build upon the strengths of the current system to expand apprenticeship provision for young people and for existing employees to upskill."
The disparity in funding between academic and vocational paths has come under scrutiny in recent months.
Pictured: Students at Hautlieu School receive £7,000-£8,000 annually from the Government, while those in vocational apprenticeships at Highlands College receive only £1,600 per year.
According to figures published by Deputy Gardiner in June, students at Hautlieu School receive between £7,000-£8,000 in annual Government support while those pursuing vocational apprenticeships at Highlands College receive just £1,600 per year.
At the time, Deputy Gardiner argued that students in professional training should be given the same Government funding as those in education to ensure "equal opportunities" for all.
Meanwhile, the director of a local hairdressing salon and school recently joined calls for reform and greater investment in vocational studies across the island.
Pictured: Victoria Queree is the owner of NEON hair salon and training school.
Speaking to Express in September, Victoria Queree of NEON training school, said: "The vocational options we have [in Jersey] need a funding review if they are to be sustainable.
"There needs to be more value placed on the funding of vocational study in Jersey.
"At the moment, there is a disparity between academic and vocational studies and how they are supported."
The Panel's proposed amendment to the Government's nearly £1.3 billion spending plans for 2025 to 2028 forms part of a series of changes that Members have been putting forward in recent weeks.
Politicians are due to start debating the Budget and the amendments – of which there are now nearly 30 lodged – on Monday 25 November.
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Q&A: "There needs to be more value placed on the funding of vocational study in Jersey"
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