Education president must resign
A PAINFUL extraction of information about the future of secondary education yesterday revealed an Education president at odds with his committee and out of his depth in the role. The inadequacy of Deputy Paul Le Pelley's opening statement soon became clear as deputy after deputy confessed to being thoroughly flummoxed. It eventually transpired that there had been a change of heart at a meeting of the board on Tuesday and its president was on the losing side.
Rather than seeking a version of selection and the retention of four secondary schools, Education, Sport & Culture would return to the States in June next year with a scheme that followed the original resolutions, ie. a non-selective, three-school system.
After more tooth-pulling it also emerged that it was unlikely the deadline of September 2019 for starting the new system would be met. It could be another five years.
Even putting aside yesterday's woeful performance, it has to be doubtful whether Deputy Le Pelley can continue as president.
With the timeframe already slipping, Education needs clear direction and strong leadership if it is to have any hope of success.
To have at its head a deputy who stated with pride his continuing and fundamental objection to the most important policy decision within its mandate would be disastrous.
Deputy Le Pelley insists that he can live with the committee's change of heart.
However, he must consider whether the island can live with retaining a president who knows that this is a decision of monumental importance and insists that it must be 'right first time' but does not agree with the States resolution, the majority of his committee, his staff or most teachers and heads.
The president's resignation would also offer the States a chance to indicate sooner rather than later if it, too, has had a change of heart. Otherwise, the board could spend nine months wasting its time pursuing a non-selective policy which this Assembly of deputies do not support and will not vote for.
The alternative to resignation is a vote of no confidence in the whole committee. That disruption can be avoided if the president does the right thing.
