It agreed at the end of last week that it would back draft legislation, which was put through by its predecessors right at the end of the last political term, when it goes before deputies for approval in September.
‘We recognised the importance of this work right from the outset and have already devoted considerable time to it. We are determined to put communities at the heart of education, and at the same time we want to ensure our education settings and their headteachers and principals are well-supported by governance boards that are empowered and appropriately accountable as they take on more responsibility,’ said Education, Sport & Culture president Paul Montague.
‘As a new committee, we are encouraged by the possibilities the new legislation opens up, and we are very keen to ensure each governance board has the tools they need to make a positive contribution to the lives of the children, young people and the adult learners they support.’
The proposal before the States, amending the Education Law, would provide every States school with a governance board to carry out any functions delegated by the Assembly or the committee.
It would also scrap school management committees, which include parish representatives and have responsibilities for property and behaviour, and are the only partially independent bodies currently involved in the operation of States schools.
Support for the move within the States has not always been fulsome and it was speculated that the new committee might have wanted a rethink.
But Education has now described it as ‘a major step forward’ and ‘a key milestone in the ongoing, complex work to strengthen the way States education is overseen in Guernsey’.
In February 2025, the States decided to introduce governance boards for all States education settings and recruitment began for the chairs of the governance boards. The committee now intends to complete this recruitment process.
Deputy Montague said that applicants for the chair positions had been impressive.
The chairs will be expected to work closely with the committee to ensure that strategic policies are well informed, and that objectives are met once they are implemented.
Later in the year, there will be a further round of recruitment for board members.
The committee said it was also keen to strengthen local engagement and would be looking to meet parish officials next term to discuss the role of the parishes.
The control and oversight of States schools has been a controversial issue since an external review carried out in 2011 claimed that schools and their children were being let down by outdated centralisation and bureaucracy.
School governance became a major issue again in the last political term. Votes held in 2023 and 2024 indicated majority support for devolving extensive powers to school governors and leaders, but earlier this year deputies backed ESC’s move for gradual and less far-reaching reforms.
Supporters of devolving powers to schools fear that the current proposals would create school boards without any real powers or influence.
But the previous ESC claimed that devolving powers to schools too quickly could ‘de-stabilise the education system’.
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