‘Beau Sejour the next obvious place for sports courses’ - Education president
The response to plans for The Guernsey Institute students at Les Ozouets to use the sports facilities at Beau Sejour has been ‘reasonable and logical’, said Education, Sport & Culture president Andrea Dudley-Owen.
The deputy joined director of education Nick Hynes on the Guernsey Press politics podcast to discuss its plans for the future of secondary education in the island.
With regards to sports facilities, Mr Hynes said that ESC was working through the implications of the facilities not being built on the Les Ozouets site.
‘Certainly as part of the Beau Sejour review, which is ongoing, we will be having an active part in there to set out really clearly what requirements we would have with regards to Beau Sejour moving forward to deliver those qualifications around PE, sport and other things which require those facilities.’
Listen to the full podcast with Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen and Nick Hynes
In order to deliver these courses Beau Sejour will have to match the facilities that would have been available at Les Ozouets, he said, and there was a range of options and costs based on what would be built there in the short, medium and longer-term.
Different courses would require different kinds of facilities, such as what gym or classrooms might need to be used.
Discrete areas within the centre could become part of The Guernsey Institute.
Deputy Dudley-Owen said the review of Beau Sejour had just begun and was due to deliver in the next year but it was a long process working with multiple stakeholders with multiple interests in the centre.
There was always the risk that someone might try to bring about change through a requete to the States, she admitted, or the committee could conclude that the expenditure was such that it either did not have the power to get the funding itself or would have to go to the States because it was in the public interest.
‘It is a fact, and we were open and transparent about that, if you are not going to have the sports facilities onsite as planned originally, well where would you put them, well the next obvious is Beau Sejour.
‘A lot of people have been very reasonable and logical about that thinking and are accepting about the review and exploring the best use of States’ assets for public services.’
