EDUCATION

Education

Our children have borne the brunt of the experiment to end selection without adequate preparation for a post 11-plus school system. These children have been failed by the States of Guernsey again and again, shunted from one location to another, with ever-changing teachers. A specific example of the failure to get the matter under control was the largely pointless ‘Pause and Review’ process that started with the outgoing Assembly.

Even now, almost 10 years after the vote to end the 11-plus, we have children who are about to embark on their A levels being moved to a temporary home at the crumbling La Mare De Carteret site while works on the new sixth form centre (at what was once St Peter Port School) are on hold. The finalisation of our school building plans needs to be treated as a priority for the next States Assembly.

Our children are the island’s future and need to be encouraged to embrace post-GCSE education be it through A levels or the IB at the Sixth Form Centre or much needed skills for local industry through vocational studies and apprenticeships at The Guernsey Institute/College of FE, and I believe that they need stability and to be provided with the very best facilities to make this an attractive option for them.

Recently we learned that the number of students transferring from the grant-aided colleges to the Sixth Form Centre are down from 29% six years ago to just 13% next term, which no doubt is in part related to Blanchelande College re-introducing a sixth form during that period - but I would suggest that the drop in numbers is also responsible for the decision to abandon this year’s flagship International Baccalaureate course. It may also be the case that these children are reluctant to commit to 2 years’ study in a crumbling school site not long ago described as derelict.

Against the backdrop of an aging population, it is a concern that our children are choosing to move away from the island after finishing their education here. This is attributed to many factors such as the high cost of living and unaffordable housing, but I would also suggest that the States failure to adequately prepare for a post 11-plus school system, and the terrible treatment that these affected young people have received from ESC over the intervening years, will not have filled them with a feeling that Guernsey is a place where they want to settle, raise a family… and school their children.

But we should not dwell on past mistakes, and if elected, I will do all I can to ensure that the State School system is given every encouragement and assistance to guarantee that the renovation and building works are completed swiftly, in order to provide a stable environment where our children can get the very best experience, and support they need to excel during their school life on the island.

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