Transparent government is an education

The report's suggestion that three high schools and a grammar was one too many given the island's school population was always going to provoke speculation, uncertainty and concern among pupils, parents and teachers at all the relevant schools.

At a stroke, Education's hopes of a carefully managed and informed debate about the 11-plus, selection and the department's direction of travel were ruined as the match started before all the players were on the pitch.

It now faces weeks, or perhaps even months, of questions and conjecture about a subject that has proven divisive and emotive.

Education, of course, knows more than most about the flip side of transparency. Years of deception over GCSE results hid the truth about the island's education service and the gulf that existed between those schools which were working and those which were not.

That deception stymied the honest debate which could, decades ago, have helped avoid the cart-before-horse mess in which the island now finds itself.

Guilt about having let down so many pupils at La Mare in rotting buildings with sub-standard leadership and resources was also no doubt a factor in why Education did not tackle the 11-plus issue before it brought the rebuild proposals to the States. La Mare's time had to come, irrespective of the wider picture.

With the report published and the cat out of the bag the question now though is how to move forward. The response, so far, has been to sidestep the issue. 'The report is what it is', to quote the Education and Treasury ministers.

That cannot be good enough. Too many people's lives depend on getting this right. A debate about what system might replace the 11-plus will happen whether deputies get involved or not.

So the answer is more transparency, not less. Open, honest, from-the-heart government with as much information as possible as quickly as possible.