Education chief refuses to be drawn on progress of secondary review
THE new Education committee has refused to be drawn on whether it has dropped certain school models from its review of secondary education, and whether increased class sizes are part of their vision.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen faced a barrage of questions about the ongoing schools review during the States meeting.
Scrutiny president Deputy Yvonne Burford kicked matters off with a question about whether some models had already been abandoned.
The response from Deputy Dudley-Owen was that the new committee wanted to fully own the review and work at a reasonable pace.
‘We’re also very mindful that this work is running in parallel with the Policy & Resources committee work to refocus the strategic priorities in light of the island’s actual financial position, which I feel will be further impacted by the sad resurgence of Covid-19 in our community
‘So the previous committee was criticised for a lack of engagement with staff in schools. It is not for me to speculate about the fairness of that criticism now, but that was the perception and my committee will not risk a repeat of that.
‘We plan to engage with the right stakeholders at the right time, it should go without saying, but of course we recognise that States members are a key stakeholder group. However, they are not the only one.
‘For this reason, I am sure Deputy Burford will understand, but I will not be drawn into any further discussion on the work of the review in a public arena at this time, unless and until we’ve been able to engage meaningfully with all our key stakeholders. To do otherwise would be to do our hardworking staff and their representative bodies a disservice.’
Deputy Burford felt that her question had been ‘sidestepped’ so she asked it again in a different format, and she received the same answer. ‘I will not be drawn into any further discussion on the work of the review in the public arena at this time.’
Undeterred, Deputy Burford tried again, but Deputy Dudley-Owen stood firm and repeated the same answer.
Next Deputy Peter Roffey had a go, but he was re-buffed.
Then Deputy Tina Bury was on her virtual feet and had a try, wondering if previously agreed resolutions of the States could be ignored without new resolutions being put forward.
However, Deputy Dudley-Owen was determined not to let any details eke out. ‘I’m reluctant to be drawn into a conversation about how committees should be going about their work and being bound by resolutions. We’re clearly in difficult territory here, and I really don’t want to be caught into saying something that may later be used to try and bind this committee.’
Another question from Deputy Burford was about the potential for reduced space standards and increased class sizes, and Deputy Dudley-Owen said she did not want to be drawn on it.
In a change of tack, Deputy Simon Vermeulen had a more supportive question. ‘Would Deputy Dudley-Owen agree with me that the resolutions of the States are not laws and that it seems entirely possible that hundreds of them are routinely ignored, and that the committee should not be fettered from its deliberations by flawed resolutions based on ideological nonsense?’
The answer to that was Deputy Dudley-Owen did not want to say anything that could be misconstrued at a later date.
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