Teachers' selection is clear
WHAT was already a tough in-tray for Education to deal with has become an even trickier task with a strong majority of teachers making it clear that they believe selection should go. A survey organised by those in the profession showed 70% supported the States decision last term to move to all-ability secondary schools – this compares with 21% who would support a different form of selection. In electing Deputy Paul Le Pelley as Education, Sport & Culture president, the States put in a man it knew backed an alternative form of selection to the 11-plus.
Most members are convinced that this is the majority public view too.
Some have also argued there was an even split in the teaching profession, a view this survey belies.
It all makes for a complicated environment for the new committee to work within.
Add to that the very real threat that some primary school teachers would rather leave than be responsible for continuous assessment and it is a volatile situation.
So where does the committee, and the States, go – against the public opinion or against the professionals?
Whichever direction it picks, those in charge need to do a better job of selling the solution than was achieved in the last-minute dash to reform secondary education that occurred in the dying embers of the last government.
It needs to get a healthy buy-in from a sceptical population and a profession that appears to overwhelmingly favour last term's decision.
Time is, however, pressing. The previous Assembly said the new system would be in place by September 2019.
We may be just a few months into this term, but the vacuum of not knowing which path the committee intends to go down is unsettling.
A massive upheaval is needed whichever system is put in place, continual assessment or all-ability schools.
A decision on selection also makes the future of La Mare De Carteret and the Grammar School clearer. Staff, parents, pupils, thousands are impacted by the change and all need clarity.
