Guernsey Press

Colleges amendment seeks to protect comprehensive system

A DECISION on the future of College funding ‘must balance the competing interests of States and private schools’, according to a deputy who is seeking a formal guarantee that public funding will not be used to recreate academic selection.

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Deputy Matt Fallaize (Picture by Adrian Miller, 19413387)

Matt Fallaize has laid an amendment to Education, Sport & Culture’s funding proposals for the three colleges, which map out plans to phase out States support from £4.4m. to just £900,000 by 2025.

These plans are already subject to an amendment at this week’s debate by Deputies Gavin St Pier and Lyndon Trott, who want to scrap funding altogether or create a higher value assisted-places scheme.

Deputy Fallaize said his amendment, seconded by Deputy Rhian Tooley, would make sure the success of a new comprehensive education system was not compromised.

‘It seeks to establish the principle that any public funding of the colleges must be conditional on the colleges not selecting students by academic ability,’ he said.

‘It would be quite daft if the States, having recently voted to end academic selection at 11 in the States’ sector, then agreed to provide funding for the colleges and encouraged or allowed the colleges to run their own schemes of academic selection.’

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