Strategic moves over access to Education plan

This, it seems, is the path down which the Education, Sport & Culture committee’s much-vaunted Education Strategy has been heading.

Described as ‘the most significant piece of work’ that the committee has started, president Andrea Dudley-Owen says all its education-focused activity is linked to it. It is ‘the overarching framework that lays out our aspirations for all learners’, ‘carefully designed by leaders right across the education system’, and all the education-focused operational plans and policies and ‘great work’ carried out in schools are aligned with the strategy.

So given its importance, and the fact that deputies are given full access to the committee’s aspirations in the other elements of its mandate, it’s no surprise that some are taking a keen interest.

And after a rather underwhelming open letter published earlier this week by the Education president detailing progress on the strategy – many interested parties summed it up as ‘we seek to do what’s best for the children’ – interest was heightened still further.

The continued absolute refusal to allow debate on the education strategy – the president told the States this week she had ‘no intention’ of this happening – would have been provocative to some.

‘The strategy will stop,’ said Deputy Dudley-Owen, ‘and all benefits our children are receiving will be stopped’. Encouraged by colleagues’ questions, she reinforced that the committee would continue to step away from operational issues and was getting better results than its predecessors.

But it seems fortunate that somehow, during question time, a compromise was reached on the hoof, with deputies now set to be invited to a presentation, and then the action points of the strategy should be published before the summer holidays start.

That political and public oversight should probably allow Education and its teacher network, heavily engaged in this process, to move forward and enable the strategy to live up to its lofty aims.