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Guernsey politicians asked to change terms of secondary education review

BBC Guernsey secondary schools. Clockwise from top left; Grammar School, St Sampson's High, La Mare de Carteret High and Les Beaucamps HighBBC
If approved, the changed review would compare education reforms against the current system of four secondary schools

A proposal to change an ongoing review into the future of secondary education will be put to the States of Guernsey.

Deputies will be asked to overturn all resolutions made on secondary education to "clear the decks", the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture said.

If approved, the review would compare education reforms against the current system of four secondary schools rather than the "one school, two sites model".

The States agreed a "pause and review" of education reforms in March 2020.

The date for when the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture's (ESC) proposal will be put to politicians has not been revealed.

'Cannot be delivered'

The committee argued the current review was "illogical" and existing agreements "serve only to impede our work".

The States approved a requete on 3 March, a delaying motion, which postponed the £78m transformation of the island's secondary schools.

The original plans, agreed in September 2019 as part of a £157m slate of education reforms, would have transitioned the secondary education system into a single school split across two sites for 11 to 18-year-olds.

This model is the current baseline education models are set to be measured against as part of the review.

Rescinding agreed States resolutions would allow the committee to "clear the decks" to complete the review "unfettered by the complex web of previous resolutions", an ESC spokesman said.

"The committee believes it illogical to compare models to a baseline that is neither in operation or deliverable due to the strong opposition of the teaching profession and many islanders," he added.

Deputy Dudley-Owen and supporters
Deputy Dudley-Owen helped lead efforts to delay the reforms before taking over as ESC president in October after the general election

Committee president Andrea Dudley-Owen said the amended terms would allow the review to have a more "focused scope" and would not "dedicate time to solutions that cannot be delivered".

She argued the change would not put the review "back to square one" and the committee would publish details of "what options remain on the table" for reforms soon.

Deputy Dudley-Owen said: "For now though our focus is on seeking States approval to rescind previous resolutions that serve only to impede our work in this important area of our mandate."

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