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Jersey is spending less money to support its university students compared to almost anywhere else in Europe, a report from the Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel found.
The report suggests that the lack of funding means "...many fail to reach their potential", and it describes a "do nothing" policy amongst senior politicians, with the Treasury and Education Ministers each having been looking to the other to solve the problem.
The report warns that:
"Continuation of the ‘do nothing’ policy will irreparably damage the Island by starving it of the skills necessary to thrive in today’s world. Not only will businesses be starved of highly skilled new staff unless they import those skills, but pupils at school may question the point of working hard to obtain good GCSE or A level results if they cannot achieve what they aspire to by attending university."
It concludes that despite the rise of UK university fees to a minimum of £9,000 in 2012, the student grant entitlement hasn't changed much, meaning that some families are unable to send their children to university at all. Families with more than one child find themselves having to choose which one of their children will go.
In addition, families find it difficult to work out what their grant entitlement is. As such the Scrutiny Panel is suggesting the implementation of an on-line calculator that would be flexible enough to change as policy is amended.
The report also notes that the Higher Child Allowance tax relief is an, "...inequitable system, one which most benefits those who are better off in society and provides no benefit at all for those earning below the income tax threshold", making it "an indirect and poorly targeted method of assistance."
The Panel recommends a phasing out of Higher Child Allowance from standard rate (20%) tax payers and the introduction of direct funding in assisting higher education finances, "as it could be directly and more appropriately targeted."
Another finding from the report is that Jersey spends only 0.27% of GDP on tertiary education, less than any of the other countries listed in the OECD ratings and less than half of the lowest spending nation, which is South Africa at 0.6%, according to ratings from 2013.
While recognising that the Chief Minister has created a Sub-Committee of the Council of Ministers to undertake work on the issue, the Panel said they were "...unimpressed in how the Education and Treasury Ministers were, or more accurately were not, working together, creating an environment of inaction."
Deputy Jeremy Maçon, who led the review, said: "The Minister for Education and the Minister for Treasury and Resources have placed the responsibility for resolving the problems of student finance at each other’s door and had failed to make any significant headway on the problems."
The Panel is urging the Sub-Committee to consider some sort of student loan scheme as they found it is what many families in Jersey want. They also found that "no talks have taken place with the UK at political level in relation to removing the blockages for Jersey students entering the UK loans scheme."
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