A difficult question of hours
IN HIS letter explaining to colleagues that he was relinquishing his role of director of education in favour of becoming head of school rebuilds, Guernsey's most controversial public servant said he would not regret reducing his workload 'from a current average of 80+ hours per week'.
IN HIS letter explaining to colleagues that he was relinquishing his role of director of education in favour of becoming head of school rebuilds, Guernsey's most controversial public servant said he would not regret reducing his workload 'from a current average of 80+ hours per week'.
If nothing else about this affair – which the floundering Education minister insists is a non-story – rings warning bells, that should.
Taking the director's comments at face value, it means he has been putting in 11-hour days seven days a week. If he wanted a weekend, his input would have risen to 16-hour days on the Monday through to Friday, indicating regular stints of 7am until 11pm without a break.
The possibility not only that that could happen but be allowed to happen is shocking.
How could anyone be effective and on top of any job if they were expected to put in those hours? Where was the employer's duty of care to the director of education? And why did the political board allow their top man to have such a punishing schedule?
Serious concerns have been expressed over the years about the management style adopted by the department in general and the director in particular but if he was overworked to that degree then is this surprising?
Of course, it may be that the director has brought this on himself. His first love is building new schools, an enthusiasm as his new appointment indicates that has overtaken his desire to run the island's education service.
Were the extra hours needed just to stay on top of the job for which he was actually being paid rather than working in a portable office at Les Beaucamps School?
Whichever it is, it should not have happened and there was a responsibility within the system not to allow it to do so.
These are all points that would have been addressed in the interview arranged with the Education minister on Friday – precisely why her Frossard House minders closed it down at short notice.
Difficult questions are not tolerated when control of the answers might be lost.
