Ministerial responsibility for the Department of Education and Training is held by the Hon. Clive Beltran.

The Department of Education & Training, under the control of the Director of Education and Training, is responsible for the management of education and training.  The Director, subject to the directions of the Minister, has a duty to promote the education of the people of Gibraltar generally, to control and direct educational policy, to administer and inspect all schools and to ensure the due administration of the provisions of the relevant legislation.

The Senior Staff of the Department consists of:

 The Department has responsibility for the development and implementation of an effective framework for learning in all its forms - full and part time, academic and professional.

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

There are 14 schools and 1 College of Further Education in the territory.  All teacher-training takes place in UK universities and colleges.  In addition, teachers must have a registration number issued by the DCSF (UK).

Details of the schools and Gibraltar College are as follows:

PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

The Gibraltar Government provides a number of places in nursery units for children of pre-school age.  Current Government provision for pre-school children is catered for by Varyl Begg Nursery, St Paul’s Nursery, St Mary’s Nursery, Governor’s Meadow Nursery, St Bernard’s Nursery, Notre Dame Nursery and St Joseph’s Nursery.  There is also a Nursery attached to St Martin’s Special School.

A number of privately run playgroups and nurseries augment Government provision.  There are currently 9 private playgroups/nurseries registered with the Department of Education and Training.  These are inspected jointly by the Environmental Agency, City Fire Brigade and the Department of Education & Training to ensure minimum standards of accommodation, numbers on roll and staffing levels.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Primary Education is free, full-time and compulsory for Gibraltar residents between the ages of 4+/7+ (Years R to 3) and in Middle Schools for the 8+/12 age-range (Years 4 to 7).  All these schools are co-educational and English is the language of instruction. Spanish is introduced formally in the Middle School (Year 4), although in certain circumstances relating to special needs and work with reception class  children, the use of Spanish is not discouraged in first schools. All curricula are governed by the National Curriculum Regulations which is based on the National Curriculum for England. There are specific differences in respect of Spanish and other subjects (including Religious Education) which reflect local realities.

Entry to formal education in the First Schools and the Hebrew Primary School takes place at the commencement of the Autumn Term each year.  This is organised in such a way that all children who will attain the age of 5 during the academic year are enrolled at the beginning of the academic year.  To ease the transition into schooling, morning sessions only are attended for a period of time.  Morning sessions plus afternoon sessions follow this later on during the year.  Finally, full attendance for both morning and afternoon sessions follow.  Schools are free to determine when and how often children start attending afternoon sessions.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Secondary Education is free, full-time and compulsory for Gibraltar residents between the ages 12+ and 15+ years. The 11+ selective system came to an end in 1972, with the two single-sex grammer schools, and the four single-sex secondary modern schools merging into the two existing single-sex comprehensive schools.

As is the case at Primary level, the secondary curriculum is defined by National Curriculum legislation.  In the first two years (Years 8 and 9), both secondary schools offer a broad compulsory curriculum which includes English, Mathematics, Science, French or European Studies, Spanish, History, Geography, Art, Music, Religious Education, Physical Education, Design and Technology and Information and Communications Technology. In Years 10 and 11, pupils opt for a number of subjects from a range of disciplines, always keeping and Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education.  In Years 10 and 11, pupils opt for a number of subjects from a range of disciplines, always keeping to National Curriculum requirements, in order to enable them to study this reduced number in greater detail for public examination purposes.  In addition, all pupils take the core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science), Religious Education and Physical Education.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

St Martin’s School was opened in September 1976 and essentially caters for a wide range of special needs for children between the ages of 5+ and 16+.

A Special Unit for children of First School age was established in January 1985 at Bishop Fitzgerald. These units cater for children for whom St Martin's would be inappropriate but whose special needs cannot be met satisfactorily in the mainstream classroom.  Special needs provision at secondary level is enhanced by providing a special unit at each Secondary School.  There is also an Alternative Learning Centre at Bayside School which aims to provide support for disaffected pupils.

GIBRALTAR COLLEGE

Full-time provision is for Gibraltar residents and is primarily centred on Intermediate and Advanced Courses in Information Technology, Business and Finance Studies and Built Environment Studies. Day-release provision in the main leads to NVQ Certificates at Level II and III in such areas as Retailing, Administration, Bricklaying, Plastering, Carpentry and Electronics or BTEC National Certificates in IT, Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering.

An area of rapid growth is that of courses leading to professional qualifications. The College is providing tuition/tutorial support for professional bodies such as ACCA, ILEX, ICSA, AAT or the Institute of Bankers.  There are also a large number of qualifications ranging from GCSE to AS/A levels being offered to full-time students in partnership with the two secondary schools as well as part-time courses in the evenings.

HIGHER EDUCATION

There are no facilities in Gibraltar for full-time higher education, and consequently, all students must study elsewhere at degree-equivilant level and certain non-degree courses.