Handing powers to school boards too soon could be ‘disastrous’

She hit back yesterday at criticism that her committee was trying to retain tight control of States schools 18 months after the Assembly backed an amendment from Peter Roffey calling for extensive powers to be devolved to schools.

‘Deputy Roffey and I will agree to disagree on how to get to the most appropriate level of devolution for education governance – his gut instinct is that rushing headlong into a potentially ill thought through system is the silver bullet to delivering instant improvements for our students, but I prefer a more methodical approach,’ said Deputy Dudley-Owen.

‘Our proposals for the future of school governance are working at a pace which the island’s headteachers and principals are comfortable with and find beneficial.

‘In addition to the significant transformation work which has been ongoing over the last few years and individual school priorities, the swift imposition of an ill-considered new way of working for them would potentially be disastrous for our students and their outcomes, and that is at the heart of this issue.’

Deputy Dudley-Owen said she believed in constructive working relationships and had held a number of meetings with Deputy Roffey about school governance.

Deputy Dudley-Owen defended Education’s proposal for a new temporary committee to report to the States by September 2026 having investigated what powers could be transferred to school governance boards.

She said it would help get ‘the right people in the room’ for discussions about the boards’ future role and encourage consensus among stakeholders.

‘I have every desire to give school governance boards the appropriate powers and we must get this right for Guernsey, making changes at the appropriate pace,’ she said.