ESC ‘bringing the States into disrepute’
THE POLITICIANS in charge of education have been accused of bringing the States into disrepute, ignoring democratic decisions, appearing self-serving, and losing the trust of teachers.
The leaders of the successful ‘pause and review’ requete have blasted Education, Sport & Culture for allegedly disregarding the States decision not to enter into any contractual obligations or procurement processes for the two-school model.
Deputies Andrea Dudley-Owen, Carl Meerveld and Rob Prow said they have seen email evidence that orders for Lisia School uniforms have been progressed since the vote. ‘Confirmation of the new Lisia School uniform order to proceed was given within an hour and half of the requete vote on 3 March by one of the executive leads for the committee.
‘On seeking clarification after the vote, a local uniform supplier was given further confirmation of the order on 10 March, seven days after the explicit direction not to enter into any contractual obligations or procurement processes for implementation of any elements of the 1 school on 2 sites was given.’
The deputies said they will now be forwarding their evidence to the Scrutiny Committee.
Earlier this week ESC published a new set of plans which attempt to limit the scope of the review of different models, and establish the terms of reference.
Their rationale was that investigating every single different configuration of model would take years, and a more focused approach would benefit everyone.
For the requerants the latest proposals are an attempt to ‘undermine or subvert’ the recent States decision.
‘The twelve propositions in the policy letter are a blatant attempt to re-run that very lengthy debate and to deflect the vigorous challenges from the public and professionals.
‘They appear self-serving to the ambitions of ESC to doggedly continue with the implementation of their preferred model, paying no regard the will of the States, the teaching professionals or the public.’
One of the main themes of the recent education debate was a lack of consultation with teachers, and the requerants believe that in presenting new plans involving no apparent discussions with the professionals, it is another ‘slap in the face’ for staff.
Summing up their broadside at ESC, the three requerants said it is now time for the committee members to seriously consider their positions.
‘We feel that because of this, they have shown themselves to be incapable of holding back on the implementation of the Lisia School plan and further, will be unable to produce the objective and unbiased comparisons required to enable informed decisions in consultation with teachers, support staff and other stakeholders.
‘All of this brings into question whether this committee is fit to continue serving or whether it would be in the best interests of our community for them to step down.’
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