Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, Deputy Rob Ward

Over a year on from this Government taking office, and just ahead of the end of the summer term for our schools, I wanted to take stock of how far we have come and what we still have planned for this term of my role as Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning. 

The portfolio split and re-naming of what is my current title, was one of the first changes myself and the Minister for Children and Families, Connétable Richard Vibert, made back in February 2024. 

At the time, I said there were several areas that I saw as vital for the future of the department:  

• The development of the school meal provision across our schools 

• Addressing our nursery provision  

• Making inclusion truly work in our schools and colleges 

• The need for replacement school facilities in central St Helier.  

The first of these priorities was completed in December 2024; all Government primary schools now have a hot school meal provision each day and work is underway to expand this to our secondary schools too. I’ve visited a number of the schools during their mealtimes and had the privilege of sharing lunch with some of our children; the impact of this service shouldn’t be underestimated. It works towards reducing inequalities in our society, improves healthy eating and helps to reduce the cost-of-living pressures for Islanders.  

A significant amount of work, involving a number of pilots, has gone into addressing our nursery and early childcare provision. Last October, a brand new specially-targeted provision for 2-to-3-year-olds opened in the grounds of d’Auvergne school. Feedback from parents, carers and the staff in the provision is extremely positive. This is being run by the Jersey Child Care Trust (JCCT) and I’m extremely grateful for their hard work to make it the success it is. We continue to work towards an offering for all 2-to-3-year-olds and recently sought parental views, via a survey, on how we can best shape this. 

We’ve also worked to trial the extension of wraparound care in some of our primary schools; we know the hours of our Government pre-school provisions can be a barrier to some families choosing this option, so we are trialling the impact of extended hours. 

We remain focussed on developing the inclusion work across our schools; teachers and schools have always had to juggle competing demands and the different needs of each child. However, as I have publicly said a number of times, the need now is greater than ever before. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact the number of children and young people with a Record of Need has doubled over the last five years. 

This isn’t unique to Jersey: it is being seen nationally. The Covid pandemic and impact of that period on our children and young people cannot be overestimated; it has undoubtedly contributed to some of the behavioural challenges our staff are experiencing now.

I recently attended the World Education Forum in London, and it was remarkable yet reassuring to speak to colleagues from around the globe who are experiencing many of the same challenges that we are here in Jersey. This includes greater need, the ongoing challenges relating to technology and how to best educate our young people to use it proportionately and safely. As part of this, we must ensure we are raising a generation that are able to grow up in a safe and meaningful online environment.   

We are constantly reviewing our approach in schools and will continue to act to address the evolving challenges we face with technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Going forwards, we need to ensure funds are available within the Education portfolio to spend on inclusion and to support children with emerging and increasingly complex behaviours alongside their peers.

This is where my role in the Assembly, alongside the Council of Ministers comes in. In a recent public Scrutiny hearing, I referenced the fact that we will always be grateful for more money because that enables us to do more! But there are some difficult conversations to be had around the funding for the CYPES portfolio, and I am more than willing to have those. I fully support our teachers and support staff and know the challenges they face each day. 

I firmly believe by investing in our children and young people now the benefits will be vast and include saving the public purse in the future. 

There has also been a lot of good work in the Higher Education space, in the last year we have:  

• Made changes to the application criteria for the Jersey Bursary to make it more accessible by removing the need for academic references, including part-time and distance learning and removing the need for a 2:1 degree. 

• Made increases to higher education grants via a Ministerial order. The changes come into effect from September 2025, and will increase income thresholds by 5.2%, increase tuition fee grants by 3.1% and include an inflation uplift of 2.5% to maintenance grants. These changes apply to both campus and distance learners. 

• Developed work between Skills Jersey and the industry to identify skills gaps which has provided us with rich data and quality insight. This ongoing work will enable us to continue to develop targeted and effective apprenticeships that are tailored to future need. 

• Alongside my Assistant Minister, Deputy Carina Alves, we continue to hold meaningful and extremely useful engagement sessions with our young people in the 16+ cohort to best understand their views on the opportunities for post-16 education in the Island. Their views are being listened to and will influence decisions going forwards on how the overall offerings could be adapted to better suit our population. 

I remain committed to plans for achieving much-needed modern, replacement school facilities in central St Helier. The delivery of this project is long overdue, and the facilities planned are increasingly important for our ability to cater to the increase in need we are facing. The reality is that many of our school buildings are not fit for purpose anymore, which only adds to the complexities when trying to support our children and young people as best as possible. 

I’ve spent the majority of my working career in education and as such, have great pride in the profession. Education is a day-to-day, real-life experience that centres around children and people. I understand the challenges that our teachers face each day in our schools and colleges, and I will continue to work tirelessly to do all I can to support our schools, staff, and most importantly our young people who are our adults of the future.