Deputies to force debate as school rolls fall again
EDUCATION is facing a move to speed up a review of primary schools.
Deputies impatient about a lack of progress on the long-awaited review are ready to insist on a States debate before the general election, as new figures indicate another big drop in primary school rolls.
The number of children registered to start reception in the States’ mainstream schools next year has fallen to 440 – nearly 50 fewer than at the same time last year and nearly 90 fewer than three years ago.
In recent years, the number of children entering reception each September has been up to 11% lower than the number initially registered, which means the total size of the 2025 reception year could fall close to or even below the 400 mark for the first time.
There is capacity for just under 650 in each year group, although space is unevenly distributed across the island.
‘Of course it is too late to implement a rationalisation programme in the primary sector in this political term, but it is not too late to instigate one,’ said Deputy Peter Roffey.
‘I really hope that Education, Sport & Culture grasps the nettle given the parlous state of public finances. If not, then I think the States really do need to insist on it.’
A review of primary schools – with the intention of bringing capacity closer to demand for places – was initially intended for 2022 at the latest, but early in this political term deputies agreed to defer the project, with ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen saying it would ‘not begin until the next States term at the earliest’.
Deputy Dudley-Owen has since said she was ‘sure it will be a priority for the next committee’, but there remains no States resolution directing a review of primary schools or setting a timetable for recommendations to be submitted to the Assembly.
Deputies who want to speed up progress could essentially have two options – they could lodge a requete or alternatively insert a proposal into the mini-Budget debate expected early in the new year to address an anticipated deficit in States finances.
‘One of the biggest drivers of extra States expenditure is the need to fund extra health and social care services required by the growing number of elderly islanders,’ said Deputy Roffey.
‘If we don’t have the strength to make the savings which the dwindling number of children in the island make possible then there is no way we can hope to balance our books.’
