Next States could U-turn decision to scrap 11-plus
ATTEMPTS to reverse the States' historic decision to scrap selection are 'pretty well inevitable' next term, Treasury minister Gavin St Pier has said, as the States voted through radical secondary education changes that include closing a school.
As an intense five days of debate finally ended, the States yesterday approved the abolition of the 11-plus and a move to an non-selective model by 26-20 and then other key proposals in the heavily-amended Education report, including a narrow 25-22 vote to axe a secondary school and move to three instead.
It also ordered an investigation into options for the three-school secondary school model, which explicitly includes the possibility of closing La Mare or ceasing 11 to 16 education at the Grammar School but does not rule out the other high schools.
It all came amid the warning from some deputies that uncertainty – described as the 'sword of Damocles' – would hang over La Mare and the Grammar for potentially years now as a consequence, and that firm proposals might not return to the States until the end of 2017.
An estimated £2m. would have to be spent on the La Mare schools in the meantime as well in maintenance and repairs, Education minister Robert Sillars revealed after the debate.
