Education gives 10 May date for policy letter on schools
A NEW date has been set for the publication of recommendations on the reorganisation of the island’s secondary schools.
Education, Sport & Culture intends to submit its policy letter on the future of secondary and post-16 education on 10 May this year.
It also committed itself to releasing information before then, and it said it will be giving details shortly about its ‘guiding principles’.
The policy letter had been expected to be released in time for the April States debate, and the delay has been put down to the impact of Covid-19.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, the president of ESC, said while there was still work to be done, her committee was making good progress.
‘We know there is a huge desire for this long-running issue to be resolved urgently, for the benefit of our students, staff, parents and carers and the wider community.
‘All of those groups want the very best we can deliver in terms of comprehensive secondary and post-16 education.
‘The committee very much shares those aspirations.
‘All committees were asked by Policy & Resources to review extant resolutions and come back to them, with those that they would wish to be rescinded to support the strategic policy direction of new committees.
‘We wanted to be transparent about our desire for some previous resolutions relating to secondary education to be rescinded, so went public with our plans prior to the release of the Government Work Plan.’
As the new president of ESC, Deputy Dudley-Owen was determined not to be fettered by previous decisions, and last night in a statement she underlined her commitment to non-selective education.
‘Unlike in some other areas where the rescission of resolutions might readily leave a policy vacuum due to a previous absence of political decision making in that area, if successful, the proposed rescissions will return us to the policy position of being able to find the very best way of delivering secondary education in a non-selective environment.
‘This is what we are committed to doing, not least because of the strong indication from the ballot box that this is what the electorate has called for.’
In the meantime, Deputy Dudley-Owen appealed for people to be patient.
‘We will shortly be in a position to explain in more detail the guiding principles we have developed.’
