Uni plans are grand - but not risk-free

GUERNSEY'S chief minister insists that a lot of progress is being made in pursuing plans to establish a University of the Channel Islands in Guernsey and officials are working with the private business behind it to ensure it happens.

And there is something seductive about the island having its own world-class uni bringing in students from all over the globe. Quite apart from the benefits to GDP, it would be a further indication of Guernsey's significance as an international business centre.

But the fundamental question is whether this is what the island wants or needs.

It is clearly a beguiling prospect, which is why ministers and the Assembly have endorsed it.

But the project is purely commercial and its backers merely the first set of punters to come along, pitch it as an idea only to find a receptive audience.

If having a Guernsey university is such a good idea, might it have made more sense for government to sponsor it – having first set the criteria to meet island needs – and then sought interest from relevant academic bodies?

The existing, States-controlled, GTA University Centre would have provided another route for the island to pursue if it chose.

As it is, both 'degree' and 'university' are protected terms in the UK and the only reason companies can become academic institutions is because the UK government has lowered the bar to the full 'university' title and created a new route to the title for companies and their subsidiaries.

That has brought the minimum size down from 4,000 students to 1,000, coincidentally the size now being recommended for the Guernsey university.

In reality, the Policy Council has given away the title University of the Channel Islands to something that currently does not exist, is not a university and cannot award degrees.

If it does open and anything goes wrong, who will take responsibility for the Chinese, Indian and Gulf students attracted here and potentially pay for their repatriation?

It is an ambitious project and one that can – and possibly should – succeed.

But despite a gung-ho government response all that really exists are the pitfalls.