GFSC head questions the standard of education

William Mason used his keynote address at the commission's annual industry presentations to give make the warning.

And in a speech which echoed one of his predecessors more than a decade previously – John Roper's famous 'meringue' analogy about the state of the local industry, 'firm on top but soft underneath' – he expressed concern that local educational standards might not be good enough to build a workforce fit for future challenges.

'Many people from Guernsey have found well-paid posts in the financial services sector over the past decades with secondary school levels of educational attainment, bringing their parents' work ethic from the horticultural industry with them,' he said.

'The world is, however, becoming much more complex and competitive.

'Many firms are automating or outsourcing to lower cost jurisdictions the work which was previously done by white collar workers with modest education backgrounds.

'We need to do all we can to ensure that our children and their teachers understand that those jobs are simply not going to exist on Guernsey as we move further into the 21st century.'