Poorly considered education decisions could have a disastrous knock-on effect for economy

I am following this debate in a state of increasing despair as, I am sure, are many other parents and taxpayers on this island. The final straw for me was the casual, en passant, comment from Deputy Fallaize to the effect that it will be perfectly fine to abandon Les Beaucamps, a school built only a few years ago at a cost of £37m.

This debate is shrouded in confusion and fog as a result of the fact that the initial decision to destroy the Grammar School was not taken as a result of open-minded research leading to a considered proposal but, rather, for many deputies (not all, no doubt) as a manifestation of an Old Labour hatred of grammar schools that brooks no argument, regardless of the consequences. Unfortunately, a small, rather doctrinaire group has mastered a majority of one to ram this through the States despite 62% of us voting in the consultation (remember that?) to retain the Grammar School. It is notable how few deputies who voted for this have been confident enough to put their heads above the parapet to defend their decision.

Certainly, we need to do everything possible to give our young people a world-class education but there has to be thoughtful research into how to do it. A system that has, overall, failed in the UK and which is taking it relentlessly down the international league tables is not an obvious model to follow.

If we proceed as we are, whether the States choose two or three schools, we risk damaging the prospects for Guernsey as a whole and, in particular, for all children in Guernsey except those whose parents can afford to send them to boarding school abroad.

If this direction of travel continues, the colleges are not safe either. I think we can see the metaphorical targets on their gates.

No doubt deputies Mark Dorey and Richard Graham are sincere in arguing for the two-school model, as are Deputy Le Pelley and his team on the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture in arguing for the three-school model but, really, they are trying to make the best of a bad job having, themselves, voted against the sudden end of selection. Neither proposal is fully thought through and either will lead to massive disruption with children shunted from school to school for years to come as schools are knocked down, rebuilt and probably knocked down again.

The financial costs will be enormous. Nobody really knows the final tab. What does that tell you? The figure of £110m. has been mentioned so I guess we can double that. With a population of 30,000 working people, that gives us approximately £4,000-£8,000 per worker to pay. We don’t have that to spend. Guernsey Sales Tax will be the ultimate result of this. Another burden on us all which will weaken our economy further.

There are other ramifications. The end of the Grammar School will be yet another negative for the open market, which is already flat on its back, partly as a result of other ill-considered changes to the housing laws. The diverse educational system we currently have here is a big draw for young professionals with children. It was for me, personally, 20 or so years ago. There are many other options out there for the people we need to attract here.

I would plead for the States to vote to defer any final decision on all this, including the termination of the Grammar School, until such time as full and wide-ranging research has been undertaken. Why not look at successful comparisons, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, for example? Or UK free schools and academies. (The latter might allow for us to cut down the size of our educational ‘blob’ as Michael Gove would call it. Our States costs of £10,000 per pupil per annum compared with the UK’s £5,200 might be worth looking at, one would have thought).

There are so many good options out there across the world and they should all be considered before we jump off a cliff.

If not, we will know who to vote out of office in 2020.

JOHN DYKE,

Les Effards,

Rue de la Foire,

Castel, GY5 7DJ.