Almost £4m. has been spent on drafting plans for two-college model

Education, Sport & Culture has been trying to establish whether the politicians leading calls to ‘stop and review’ want similar amounts of money spent on drafting proposals for other types of schooling models.

The committee met recently with two of the politicians behind the requete.

The vice president of ESC, Deputy Richard Graham, said unfortunately it was not a very productive meeting.

‘When we brought the current model to the States in September last year it was on the back of 130 pages of policy letter, 174 pages of a programme business case, and they’re saying that was insufficient in order for the States to make a decision.

‘Now if we were to work up all the five of six models to that degree, we’d still be doing that in four or five years’ time because it has taken us two years and nearly £4m. to get to where we are now.’

It is anticipated that the requete will face amendments when it comes to the debate, but none has been tabled so far.

The committee is determined to fight the motion because it believes it lacks substance.

That view is countered by the requerants, who say the two-school model would be a disaster for the island and teachers and that the public are against it.

In contrast to the meeting between Education and the requerants, Deputy Graham thought Wednesday night’s meeting with Castel School parents was very useful.

‘We’ve found that when we can get away from all the toxic stuff and sit down face-to-face, particularly with parents of children who are in the system, we get a fair reflection of the anxieties and uncertainties, and also the degree of support there is for some aspects,’ said Deputy Graham.